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Author: Heather Brittain

Home Articles Posted by Heather Brittain
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http://heatherbrittain.com

🎬 What Is Festival Fixr™? Watch the 2-Minute Video That Breaks It Down

December 4, 2025Heather Brittain

If you’ve been seeing the name Festival Fixr™ pop up lately and wondering what this new tool actually is… I made this video for you. This short intro walks you through why I built Festival Fixr™, what it does, and how it helps independent filmmakers submit smarter — without the second-guessing, burnout, or endless Googling….

Variety Just Featured My Latest Creative Project

December 3, 2025Heather Brittain

  Every once in a while, a full-circle moment happens – and today, I had one. Variety published an exclusive feature on a tool I built from the ground up for independent filmmakers: Festival Fixr™, the first AI-powered strategist designed to help artists navigate the festival circuit with clarity, not chaos. 👉 Read the full…

Shiny New Dramatic Reel

June 24, 2025Heather Brittain

With all of my recent attention being on Film Festival Insider, I only just now got around to updating my dramatic acting reel with a new clip from Victim No. 6, as well as a brand new scene from A Suit and a Straight Razor, directed by John Veron! 🔪 It also includes clips from…

The Precipice of Delusion: Podcast Interview

December 28, 2024Heather Brittain

I had a fantastic time as a guest on the Precipice of Delusion podcast, with Julian Gavilanes. We chatted about the artist’s struggle, following your joy, and, of course, film festival strategy!  …CHECK IT OUT HERE!

FREE Film Festival Webinar is LIVE!

September 27, 2024Heather Brittain

I am thrilled to announce that my new webinar – HOW TO MASTER YOUR FESTIVAL STRATEGY LIKE AN INSIDER (Without Making Costly Mistakes in the Process) is now available to the public to watch FOR FREE! As an award-winning filmmaker, film festival organizer and founder of Film Festival Insider, I present a short FREE webinar…

Film Festival Insider – Brittain To Release Free Webinar

July 6, 2024Heather Brittain

Hi guys…! I am very excited to announce a new endeavor of mine (it’s actually a years-long endeavor, which I am just now making more official) – Film Festival Insider! I help independent filmmakers gain insider knowledge and find success on the film festival circuit without having to navigate the complex industry on their own…

Brittain Nominated for Best Actress at Panic Fest

April 11, 2024Heather Brittain

Thank you so much to the jury at Panic Fest for this recognition! Congratulations to all of the nominees – and much appreciation to writer/director John Veron for bringing me on board for his film A Suit and a Straight Razor!

“Brittain delivers…” – Cinefied Movie Review

June 5, 2023Heather Brittain

A huge debt of gratitude to Connor Petrey of Cinefied for a fantastic review of VICTIM NO. 6! “Victim No. 6 is a 22-minute thriller that treats every second with a purpose until the credits begin to roll.” Check out the full review HERE!

Garden State Film Festival a Roaring Success

March 30, 2023Heather Brittain

One of my great passions is my involvement as Vice-Chair of the prestigious Garden State Film Festival. GSFF is the largest (and first!) film festival in New Jersey and this year we celebrated our 21st year! I derive great satisfaction from promoting independent film and providing my fellow independent filmmakers with this fantastic platform to…

VICTIM NO. 6 Wins at Nightmares Film Festival!

October 25, 2022Heather Brittain

Victim No. 6 was awarded the inaugural Etheria Spirit Award at Nightmares Film Festival!!! Sponsored by Etheria Film Night, this award is for the female filmmaker who best captures the spirit of Etheria Film Night festival. We couldn’t be more honored for this recognition! Thank you to Stacy Pippi and the Etheria team for loving…

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  • Variety Just Featured My Latest Creative Project
  • Shiny New Dramatic Reel
  • The Precipice of Delusion: Podcast Interview
  • FREE Film Festival Webinar is LIVE!

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theheatherbritt

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

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 Right now, while you’re reading this, a programmer somewhere has your FilmFreeway page open.
 
Before your screener loads. Before a single frame plays. An impression is already forming.
 
Your logline. Your stills. Your synopsis. Your filmmaker profile. Your cover letter. All of it is creating context - and that context follows your film into the screening room whether you know it or not.
 
Most filmmakers have never been shown what a programmer actually sees when they land on that page. Which is exactly why the same avoidable mistakes show up on pages from first-time filmmakers and seasoned veterans alike.
 
Your film deserves better than that.
 
Freeway Fixr™ is five lessons built from both sides of the table - as an award-winning filmmaker and as a working festival programmer. For less than the cost of one wrong submission, you’ll know exactly how your page reads before the next deadline hits.
 
Comment FREEWAY below and I’ll send it straight to your DMs.
 
#filmfreeway #filmfestivalinsider #filmfestival #indiefilm #filmfestivals
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
Filmmakers are out here building their entire fest Filmmakers are out here building their entire festival strategy like this…

and no one is questioning it.

“You can use the filters on FilmFreeway to find festivals that are a good fit.”

“Look at films similar to yours and submit to those festivals.”

“Look for festivals that are IMDb qualifying.”

It sounds logical.

It feels like you’re being strategic.

But none of that actually tells you how your film is going to land in a programming room…

or if the rooms you’re choosing are even right for your goals and your film.
And that’s the part that determines everything.

Because festivals are not selecting films based on filters, labels, or surface-level similarities.

They’re programming for tone, audience, timing, identity, and how a film fits into a much bigger conversation.

Most filmmakers aren’t lacking effort.

They’re making decisions based on signals that look credible…

but don’t actually mean anything when it comes to selection.

So the strategy ends up feeling scattered.

Inconsistent.

Hard to trust.

If that’s been your experience, it makes sense.

You’ve been given tools…

but not the framework for how to use them.

If you want support building a strategy that actually fits your film, I have resources for every stage of the process.

You can explore more at filmfestivalinsider.com or send me a DM if you’re not sure where to start.

#festivalstrategy #filmfestivals #filmfestivalinsider #filmfestivalsubmissions
There are moments in life that remind you why you There are moments in life that remind you why you started.

Walking the Croisette. Sitting in packed theaters. Listening to filmmakers share stories they’ve spent years bringing to life. Watching audiences react. Feeling the energy of thousands of people who still believe that cinema matters.

This week in Cannes was one of those moments.

I came to support two incredible filmmakers whose work was showcased on an international stage. I left with something even greater: renewed faith in storytelling and the people brave enough to pursue it.

Behind every screening, every award, every premiere, every red carpet photo is years of uncertainty, sacrifice, rejection, persistence, and belief.

That’s the part people don’t always see.
But standing in Cannes, surrounded by artists from every corner of the world, I was reminded that great stories continue to find their way forward because people refuse to give up on them.

Feeling grateful. Feeling inspired. Feeling excited for what’s next.
The future of independent film is in very good hands.

🎬❤️

#CannesFilmFestival #filmfestivals #WomenInFilm #festivalstrategy  #FilmFestivalInsider
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  • Variety Just Featured My Latest Creative Project
  • Shiny New Dramatic Reel
  • The Precipice of Delusion: Podcast Interview
  • FREE Film Festival Webinar is LIVE!
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