Film Festival Interview with Geoff Cockwill

Film Festival Interview by Chris Olson

What can you tell us about the upcoming Horsham Film Festival and how it came to be?

The Horsham Film Festival is an event sponsored by the Horsham District Year of Culture which takes place in 2019 and celebrates art, dance, music, theatre and film by funding events which successfully pitched to be put on. This is a chance for us to celebrate the local filmmaking talent, meet new filmmakers and see what films there are around the rest of the country as well.

Can you tell us about yourself and your role within the festival?

I run Silvertip Films, which is a video production company, now in its thirteenth year. We make promo videos, corporate videos, shoot live event coverage, make motion graphic animations and a whole lot more. I am the Director of Silvertip and my role in the festival is lead of the creative team which is organising the event.

What has the response been like from filmmakers in the area?

We asked people to register their interest in the event, so we could gauge whether or not enough films would be made and submitted and we’ve had a great response and received far more applications than we expected and since we announced the event, we had a lot of feedback from people further afield wanting to enter, so we signed up with FilmFreeway and received even more entries through there!

Are there any particular obstacles in running a brand new film festival? How do you plan to overcome them?

I think the main obstacle of course is getting the word out there about the festival and ensuring the right people see it and are inspired enough to want to go out and make a film, maybe for the first time, and enter it or enter something they have already made.

How can filmmakers get involved?

If you have already made a film, it can be submitted to us via www.filmfreeway.com/horshamfilmfestival but if you haven’t made one yet, you have until November 30th to submit your finished film. If you want to get further involved with the festival and be kept up to date on all the news associated with it, sign up to our mailing list at www.silvertipfilms.co.uk or like our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/silvertipfilms

Are you also looking for volunteers? What sort of roles do you have?

We currently have all the roles sorted for the planning of the event but will no doubt need help on the night itself (February 21st 2019) to help the awards night run smoothly so anyone interested in getting involved behind the scenes, do get in touch!

Where can people find out more info?

All the info about the festival can be found here - https://www.silvertipfilms.co.uk/silvertip-horsham-film-festvial/

What would you say if you were a dolphin?

Click-click-clickity-eee-eee-filmeee-festivaleee!

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