A Day in the Life of a Flatpacker
Jackson Clifford is studying Media at Stratford Upon Avon College and joined us at Flatpack HQ for a week-long work experience placement to learn about all things film. Read on for a snapshot of his experience...
Turns out there's more to work experience than tea-making (although, that being said, a lot of tea is consumed at Flatpack HQ)...
Day one was spent in the Flatpack office at the Custard Factory in Digbeth where I met the team behind Flatpack Film Festival and helped out with the organisation of different festival events (the festival is due to take place 13-22 April 2018).
The week has been a crash course in Flatpackery. I was given an intro to programming by Amy Smart, Partnerships and Interventions Manager at Film Hub Midlands, and got to try my hand at a bit of programming too by researching short film content for a festival set to take place in Stafford in March (Pocket Film Festival). I’ve spent some time researching distribution methods for a few different films including Moonlight and The Room, and I can also leave this week equipped with skills to market and promote film and film events through a range of social media platforms.
A highlight of the week was a trip to the Electric Cinema for a presentation about the newly launched Film Hub Midlands. It was really interesting to hear from the other people attending (a range of exhibitors and filmmakers) about their ideas and productions - the attendees were clearly highly interested in film and some were filmmakers themselves.
Whilst at the Electric I was given the opportunity to screen a film I wrote and starred in called Killa Bedding, a fun film made within 12 hours.
Here I am watching Killa Bedding on the big screen! It was great to see the audience being entertained by what they watched. Not to mention that the director of Coventry Film Festival was there and asked me if he could show Killa Bedding at the festival which I thought was a really good opportunity!
I really enjoyed working with Flatpack. I gained a variety of knowledge on films and marketing, and had the chance to learn about other people's films and events. I was also given really exciting opportunities - I’m currently involved with a filmmakers network (Gen. 2) and this week has helped me to understand how different film events are organised, as well as to make connections with people associated with filmmaking, expanding my options for the future and overall understanding.