JOB DESCRIPTION – WINDRUSH CARIBBEAN FILM FESTIVAL 2022 FESTIVAL MANAGER
The Windrush Caribbean Film Festival (WCFF) is seeking an experienced project or event management professional to join its small team as Festival Manager. This is a part-time 3 day/24 hours a week role starting immediately to support the 2022 Festival launched in June 2022. The role is budgeted at £46,080 pro-rata or 3,840 per month for 6 months beginning February 2022 and ending July 2022, with an option to extend.
The chosen candidate has overall responsibility for implementing the strategic ideas and creative vision of WCFF 2022 via exceptional project management, strong funding and partner relationships and leading a WCFF 2022 team of committed staff and volunteers.
The Windrush Caribbean Film Festival (WCFF) successfully launched in 2020 with a mission to engage and educate audiences across the UK about the contributions of the Windrush generation and its impact on the country through screenings, talkbacks, interviews, workshops and a microcinema challenge to create new short films. WCFF is a joint venture Community Interest Company established in 2019 between Caribbean Tales TV in Canada, the largest collection of Caribbean films in the world, and Recognize Black Heritage and Culture in Birmingham, a social enterprise that provides access to the heritage and culture of the African Caribbean community following the successful nationwide screenings of the award-winning film HERO. The WCFF annual film festival is delivered by a consortium of community partners as a traditional multi-city/venue film festival in 2019 which pivoted into a Covid secure Digital Film Festival using live-streaming and interactive social media and will move forward in 2022 as a hybrid event as required.
Overall Accountability
The WCFF 2022 Festival Manager will work in collaboration with and have the support of the WCFF Steering Group: Garry Stewart (community partners and arts funders), Patricia Hamzahee (sponsors and commercial partners), Evadney Campbell (publicity and advertising) and Frances-Anne Solomon (filmmakers, artists and CTTV team)) for strategy and UK execution; and with the Caribbean Tales TV Festival team, Diana Webley (CTTV’s WCFF Festival Director) for WCFF strategy and Festival delivery as well as other CTTV colleagues to coordinate partnerships and technical/operational logistics. S/he will also work with the WCFF Marketing Manager, Administrative Manager, Programming team, PR agency and Social Media team to support the Festival’s promotional campaign.
The Festival Manager will report to the WCFF Directors and CTTV’s WCFF Festival Director. The Festival Manager will oversee the activities of the WCFF Marketing, Publicity, Social Media and Administration managers.
Main responsibilities:
The WCFF Festival Manager’s primary accountabilities are to:
- Review, develop, setup and manage the WCFF 2022 critical path in conjunction with the Festival Director
- Develop and deliver the overall WCFF 2022 Festival strategy, including overall theme, programming content, budgeting and resource planning, fundraising strategy, marketing and audience development strategies in cooperation with the Steering Group
- Develop and implement venue and funding partnerships in collaboration with designated WCFF Festival Partners
- Manage the Festival’s Administration, including overseeing financial reporting, budgeting and meeting scheduling as well as compiling and distributing schedules, action points, planning documents, MOUs and TORs to staff and partners
- Manage funding and sponsor relationships
- Ensure all communications with selected and competition filmmakers, as well as hots and speakers, is clear and deal with queries as they arise
- Coordinate online and in-person screening technical partners, ensuring that they have the most correct and up-to-date information (film credits, copy, images etc)
- Deliver festival feedback, monitoring and reporting from audiences, staff and partners
- Create WCFF 2022 Festival marketing and promotional strategies with the Marketing Manager, Publicist and Social Media teams
- Support the Marketing Manager to:
- Ensure a strong, cohesive brand proposition
- Create, manage and maximize Community, Media and Marketing Partnerships to help build audiences and drive ticket sales.
- Manage and implement the advertising budget and deliverables, including agreeing on creative assets and securing advantageous deals where required
- Develop and disseminate content for the WCFF website, WordPress blog, Mailchimp newsletter, printed materials as well as donor/sponsor/partner thank you letters, awards acknowledgements and helping with the final Impact report.
- Support existing teams in the UK and Canada to deliver programming activities locally, including delivering talkbacks, donor thank-yous, and other events plus assist the social media team with Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Instagram promotion
Essential skills and experience:
- Knowledge of Film Festivals and an interest in film and culture
- Complex project management expertise
- Fundraising, including writing and reporting on funding applications
- Developing media, marketing and sponsorship agreements
- Audience development strategy and execution
- Ability to prioritize tasks in a deadline-oriented, detail-focused environment
- Create and manage databases and lists
- Excellent written, verbal and analytical skills
- Ability to work effectively and collaboratively as part of a small team and individually
- Knowledge of Google Docs, Microsoft Excel, Asana and/or other software and project management tools
- Excellent organizational skills and a keen eye for detail
- Ability to work a flexible schedule, including evenings and weekends if necessary
- Knowledge of Black history and culture in Britain and the wider diaspora is welcomed
Desirable skills and experience:
- Festival programming experience
- Knowledge of technical, administrative or producing processes associated with the creative industries
- The existing film, venue, cultural and funding partner contacts
If you would like to discuss this role further before you make an application, please contact garry@recognizeonline.com
Please send a CV and cover letter outlining your suitability for the role in relation to the person specification to fernanda@caribbeantales.org
Interviews will be held on a rolling basis from 26 January 2022, so please apply as soon as you can as we are looking to hire before the end of February 2022. We will contact shortlisted applicants to arrange a preliminary virtual interview to allow both parties to assess the fit. A formal interview will follow if both agree there is a fit. Download Job Description
