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Film Festival Insider

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December 3, 2025Heather Brittain

Festival Fixr™ Variety article

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theheatherbritt

🎬Helping indie filmmakers submit with strategy - not hope
🎟️Festival Programmer + Filmmaker
Founder @filmfestinsider
📰 As seen in Variety
👇 Start Here

I had a conversation the other day with Matt Toigo

I had a conversation the other day with Matt Toigo, General Manager at FilmFreeway, and I left our call impressed.

Matt joined FilmFreeway just about two years ago, and in that time, he’s been working with his team to overhaul the platform from the inside out. Stronger standards for festivals. New search and filtering tools. A DCP creation service. A partnership with the Film Festival Alliance. Real, meaningful changes that most filmmakers haven’t heard about yet.

Swipe through to see what’s new - and why it changes how you should be thinking about your FilmFreeway presence.

Because here’s the thing: FilmFreeway isn’t just getting better for filmmakers. It’s getting better for festivals too - including how programmers search for and discover films. Your page isn’t just a submission form. It’s how you get found.

Comment FREEWAY below and I’ll send you the details on Freeway Fixr™ - the mini-course that makes sure your FilmFreeway page is working as hard as your film does.

👉🏻 Save this one. You’ll want to come back to it.

#filmfreeway #filmfestivalinsider #filmmakers #filmfestivals #filmfestivalalliance

One of Europe’s most celebrated genre festivals, h

One of Europe’s most celebrated genre festivals, held in the heart of Paris since 1993. Long lines. Packed screenings. Films that defy every category you thought you knew. 💅🏻

L’Étrange Festival is entirely curated - no submission platform, no open calls. But if you make the kind of film they love, there is a path in. I broke it all down in my latest blog post, including exactly how filmmakers can get their work in front of the team.

Merci beaucoup to Marc Troonen, Géraldine Macé, and the entire @etrangefestival team for welcoming me so warmly. Paris delivered, as always. 🥂

Read the full post at filmfestivalinsider.com

#filmfestivals #genrefestival #filmmakers #filmfestivalinsider #letrangefestival

If you’ve just found this page - welcome. Here’s e

If you’ve just found this page - welcome. Here’s everything you need to know about who I am and how I can help.

I’m Heather Brittain. Award-winning filmmaker. Active festival programmer. Founder of Film Festival Insider™.

I’ve sat on both sides of the submission table - as a filmmaker navigating the circuit and as a programmer deciding which films move forward.

That dual perspective is the foundation of everything I teach.

Whether you’re preparing your first festival run or you’ve been submitting for years and the results aren’t adding up - there’s something here for you.

Swipe through to find your starting point, then hit the link in my bio to get moving. 🎬

#filmfeativals #filmfestival #festivalstrategy #filmfestivalinsider #filmfreeway

Right now, while you’re reading this, a programmer

That’s a wrap for me on HollyShorts 2026. (But it’

That’s a wrap for me on HollyShorts 2026. (But it’s still happening through Sunday so if you’re in town, definitely stop by!)🎬
Grand prize wins, world premieres, incredible films, and conversations I’ll be thinking about for a while.
If you’re an LA filmmaker and you miss it this year — put it on your calendar for next year. It’s worth it.
See you at the next one. 💌

#hollyshortsfilmfestival #filmfestivalinsider #filmfestivals #filmfestivalstrategy #indiefilm

I just spent the last week at @hollyshorts - one o

I just spent the last week at @hollyshorts - one of the top Oscar-qualifying short film festivals in the world - and I was there in the best possible way. Supporting clients who showed up and delivered.

@lisasteadman won the @stage32 Grand Prize on Opening Night. Her film @taintedloveshort opened the festival to a packed room.

@arbyrnes had his world premiere as a Made in LA finalist. His film Viewfinder was nominated for the Made in LA Award.

I work with independent filmmakers on festival strategy - helping them figure out where their films actually fit, how to position their work, and how to turn a festival run into real career momentum. Nights like Opening Night at HollyShorts are why I do it.

Another standout event was a panel on the relationship between novels and screenplays - which connected directly to a project I'm producing right now. @variety covered it this week: director @christiankangbachini wrote the novel for Haunting Skies after agents pushed rewrites that weren't serving his story. He said no, published it independently, and it's now an Amazon bestseller. The film is moving forward on his terms — and I'm on board as producer.

If you're doing festivals with your film and want strategic support - feel free to shoot me a DM, or hit one of the links in my bio!

#hollyshorts #filmfestivalstrategy #indiefilm #filmfestivals #filmfestivalinsider

Day 2 at HollyShorts left me feeling inspired. Aft

Day 2 at HollyShorts left me feeling inspired.
After an exciting Opening Night - where my client @lisasteadman short film @taintedloveshort won the @stage32 Grand Prize and kicked off the festival with a fantastic block of films - today’s highlight was attending Beyond the Pages, a terrific panel hosted by Jean Vallesteros @jeanbooknerd .
A big thank you to Jean and the incredible author panelists - Mary Ting, D.J. MacHale, Angela Corbett, Clarissa Jacobson, Bradley Beaulieu, Angel Payne, and Lauren Kate - for such an engaging conversation about the relationship between novels and screenplays.
One of the ideas that really resonated with me was that, for many filmmakers, writing a novel isn’t a detour - it’s simply another path to getting the movie made. There isn’t one “right” way into this industry, and sometimes the story itself tells you what medium it wants to live in first.
Looking forward to another few days of great films, great conversations, and meeting more talented filmmakers.
And a special shoutout to my client @arbyrnes , whose beautiful short film Viewfinder has been nominated for the HollyShorts Made in LA Award. If you’re at the festival, don’t miss it - it screens Wednesday, August 19 at 12:00 PM as part of the Made in LA block.

#hollyshorts #filmfestival #filmfestivalinsider #filmfestivalstrategy #filmfestivals

I posted a reel the other day. Asked filmmakers to

I posted a reel the other day. Asked filmmakers to comment FREEWAY if they wanted the link.

My phone was blowing up.

Every comment is a filmmaker who didn’t know their FilmFreeway page was a pitch. And it was costing them.

Filmmakers are catching on.

Don’t let your next submission go in blind.

Comment FREEWAY below. 🎬

#filmfestivalinsider #filmfestivals #filmfestivalstrategy #filmfreeway #filmfestival

I’m in the middle of reviewing submissions for our

I’m in the middle of reviewing submissions for our 2027 festival right now.

And I’ll tell you what I see before I press play on your film — because most filmmakers have no idea this is happening.

Your FilmFreeway page lands in front of me before your screener does. And it’s either telling me this filmmaker is serious, or it’s not. That impression follows your film into the screening room whether you know it or not.

It’s not just newer filmmakers either. Some of the most experienced filmmakers I see have the most incomplete, unprofessional project pages. Which tells me nobody ever showed them what a programmer actually looks at.

FilmFreeway is a marketplace. Your page is positioning your film — whether you’re doing it intentionally or not.

I built Freeway Fixr™ because I kept seeing strong films get passed over for reasons that had nothing to do with the film. Five lessons. Both sides of the table. Less than the cost of one wrong submission.

You really can’t afford another wrong submission.

Comment FREEWAY below, and I’ll send you the link. 🎬

#filmfestivalstrategy #filmfestivals #filmfestivalinsider #filmfestival #indiefilm

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the U.S

Last night I had the pleasure of attending the U.S. premiere of my client Lisa Stedman’s short film, tAInted Love, at LA Shorts International Film Festival—an Oscar®, BAFTA, and Canadian Screen Award qualifying festival.

It was a packed house, a strong block of films, and tAInted Love was a clear standout. It was fantastic hearing the audience respond throughout the screening, and wonderful to finally experience the film on the big screen.

Congratulations, @lisasteadman ,on a terrific premiere. I’m so excited to see where the rest of the festival journey takes this film.

One of the most rewarding parts of what I do is helping filmmakers build a thoughtful festival strategy, then getting to celebrate moments like this alongside them. There’s nothing quite like watching months of planning culminate in a room full of people connecting with a story. 🤍🎬🤍

#filmfestival #filmfestivalinsider #festivalstrategy #filmfestivals

Online film festivals exploded during COVID for a

Online film festivals exploded during COVID for a reason — the world needed connection and they delivered it.

But here’s what most filmmakers don’t account for when they’re chasing laurels from an exclusively online festival: you’re submitting your film into a fish bowl. Someone might fish it out. They probably won’t remember who put it there.

Your film is a very expensive business card. And handing a business card to someone in person — making eye contact, having a real conversation — is categorically different from dropping it into a pile.

The connections you make in the room with other filmmakers. The live audience reaction when that jump scare actually lands. The moment someone remembers you and not just your film.

That’s what online-only festivals can’t replicate.

I was on the Film, Tech & Finance podcast with Kostantinos Kovanis breaking down exactly why in-person festivals are still where careers are made — and what filmmakers need to understand before they submit.

Full episode linked on my blog at FilmFestivalInsider.com. 🎬

#filmfestivalstrategy #filmfestivalinsider #filmfestivals #festivalstrategy #indiefilmmaker

FilmFreeway is a marketplace. And most filmmaker

FilmFreeway is a marketplace.

And most filmmakers are treating it like a filing cabinet.

Right now I’m reviewing submissions — and I’m watching it happen in real time. Talented filmmakers. Strong films. Submission packages that are quietly undermining everything they worked so hard to create.

The frustrating part? They don’t see it. And no one is telling them.

What’s obvious to someone who has sat on both sides of the submission table is completely invisible to the filmmaker on the other side of it. Until it isn’t.

That’s the moment everything changes.

I built Freeway Fixr™ for that moment. Five video lessons that show you exactly what programmers notice before they press play — so your submission package finally works as hard as your film does.

This is the foundation of your entire festival run. Get it right.

Link in bio. Or comment FREEWAY and I’ll send it straight to your DMs. 🎬

#filmfestivalstrategy #indiefilmmaker #filmfreeway #filmfestivalsubmissions #filmfestivalinsider

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🎬 What Is Festival Fixr™? Watch the 2-Minute Video That Breaks It Down
Variety Just Featured My Latest Creative Project
Shiny New Dramatic Reel
The Precipice of Delusion: Podcast Interview
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