#12 Dr. Rebekah Louisa Smith | Visualizing Success in the Film Festival World

Dr. Rebekah Louisa-Smith, founder of the Film Festival Doctor, discusses her journey into the world of film festivals and the importance of mental health in the industry. She emphasizes the need for a strategy when entering film festivals, provides tools to cope with rejection, and offers advice on self-care and finding support!

Check her out with the links below

https://www.thefilmfestivaldoctor.com/dr-rebekah-louisa-smith/
Insta: @rebekahfilmdr

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Podcast Host

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Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Dr. Rebekah Louisa-Smith and the Film Festival Doctor
• 1:30 Discovering a Passion for Film Festivals
• 7:00 Coping with Rejection in the Film Industry
• 10:57 Prioritizing Mental Health in the Film and TV Industry
• 14:57 Emerging Opportunities in Dallas and Atlanta
• 19:31 Harnessing the Power of Vision Boards and Journaling
• 22:32 The Importance of Downtime Activities
• 26:08 Networking in the Film Industry
• 27:31 A Guilty Pleasure: 'The Only Way is Essex'
• 33:53 Current Projects and Future Endeavors

Transcript

Shay (00:01.934)
Hi everyone, this is Shayla Tharp and you're listening to Having a Laugh. Today we have Dr. Rebecca Louisa -Smith, an award -winning film festival strategist and founder of the Film Festival Doctor. You've helped people win over 2 ,200 awards. You've done BFI, London Film Festivals, Tribeca, Palm Springs, all of them.

And you're also very passionate about the mental health surrounding the acting industry, surrounding the film festivals, and more actors might need more support. So that's kind of where you come in. Thank you so much for coming to chat. And I have to admit, I'm not like the most knowledgeable when it comes to the film festivals and things like that. So I'm quite excited to get to know more.

rebekah (00:43.805)
Thank you.

rebekah (00:56.765)
Well, it's a fun world, so.

Shay (00:59.182)
Yeah, how did you kind of stumble into that? What is your everyday kind of work kind of like then?

rebekah (01:06.205)
Well, it all kind of came about by accident. I thought what I wanted to do was work in the world of academia and become a researcher, because I had a big interest on Tarantino and his films. You can tell with the background. I give the game away, cut out the back. So I had a big interest, but I wasn't really sure if academia was like my calling and my sole purpose. But I thought, let me just go with it and see what happens.

Shay (01:11.63)
Mm -hmm.

Shay (01:17.038)
I can see the poster.

Shay (01:29.87)
Mm -hmm.

rebekah (01:32.125)
And then a friend of mine who runs a theater in the university, Cambridge University, got asked to put on by the Film Council of Wales, a horror film festival, because there weren't any in Wales at the time. So he said, do you want to help out? And I was like, yes, because I need something to distract me, because it's a lot of intense, solitary work doing the PhD. And doing a thesis is a lot of time. And when I started working then, I was like, I think I prefer this world, the world of film festivals, academia.

And I just love producing the festival with the team, you know, co -producing it, programming, looking after guests. And I just saw there was a gap in the market because I asked filmmakers what they liked and disliked about festivals. And they all said, we love festivals. We love coming to them and get our film scene. We don't know who to ask to help us get our films into festivals. We don't know what we're doing. I was like, there must be someone doing this. And there wasn't really anybody really doing it full time. There was one company, but it was very much that needed development, but it was pretty sparse.

Shay (02:18.574)
Mm -hmm.

rebekah (02:28.637)
So I was like, well, I think now there's a gap to fill here. So I use my knowledge from programming and knowing people to put my business together. So that's how it all kind of came about by accident, which is nice. Yeah.

Shay (02:38.35)
Mm -hmm, yeah. That's so interesting. I mean, like, as an actor, I truly, I wouldn't even know what to do, you know, how to begin with the festivals. Like, I just, it's something I've stayed away from because it doesn't, it seems kind of elite, like, only, you know, a certain group or clique can kind of do it and get into it. And so I've just kind of been like, I don't know.

rebekah (02:59.869)
Yeah, it's you need to have a strategy is the golden rule. I mean, obviously I have worked. I do it with a lot of actors who would now can become directors or producers. And for them, it's you're right. It is a brand new world. It's a little bit like I do compare the film festival world.

to acting and that you know you get loads of rejections and you do get some. Someone said to me like it was an act so he said I'm used to it 10 000 no's and one yes well it's kind of the same thing to some degree but then obviously I always create strategies that are very focused and get more than that more results but you do need to have that plan because it is a very kind of eel -like kind of slippery

Shay (03:17.134)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Shay (03:24.142)
Sounds about right.

Shay (03:31.022)
Mm -hmm.

rebekah (03:37.309)
process to the world and it's very different how people might think. It looks on the surface, it might be simple but it isn't because you've got so much to compete against. It's just a numbers game a lot of the time but you need to be very focused on what you want to achieve with your goals with it too.

Shay (03:46.062)
Mm.

Shay (03:50.432)
Good, yeah, I think that's great. And there's a lot of, obviously you talk about the mental health surrounding entering the festivals and being a part of that. What made you kind of passionate about that aspect as well?

rebekah (04:06.429)
Well, one thing I noticed what I was seeing through working with more filmmakers, because the business began as very small in 2010 and it kind of became a proper company in 2011. It's like, you know, starting out and seeing what had to be fixed and what needed to be done because I hadn't run a business before, but I was like, I need to just test this out and see what the patterns are. And what the one thing I noticed was as festivals were becoming more and more competitive and there were more shipbuilding submissions made, you know, lots of stuff going on, a lot of filmmakers found it hard to cope with rejection because they thought they'd failed.

So obviously when you receive a like, you don't get a callback or you don't get the part, maybe that can affect the actors. But it was a similar thing I was finding with filmmakers, because they put so much money and time in it. And sometimes, like, when I get into this vessel, there'll be a no -braining. My film was shot in the same cinema that the vessel runs in, in the same place with some of the cast from there. But you never can tell. It's a very comfortable world. So you have to be prepared mentally. And I could see there were a lot of people that weren't able to stay grounded.

Shay (04:35.438)
yes.

Shay (04:51.726)
Mm.

rebekah (05:03.709)
coat rejection and see the positives to it. And it was becoming very much like I failed my careers over or something like, you know, they just couldn't cope with, they didn't know what it meant and all these kinds of things. So I saw that pattern. I was like, well, I can tell you how to coat rejection and how to think of it in the context of film vessels is very different to what you might expect it to be.

Shay (05:22.19)
Mm -hmm. Yes. What do you do for those people? I think I saw on your website you have like a Toolbox or toolkit. What what's that entail?

rebekah (05:28.701)
Yeah, you know, the toolbox, the mental health toolbox. This actually, this stuff that I kind of wrote at film festivals and for filmmakers actually can be applied to any industry, to be honest. So you're right, it's not just limited to film festivals. But what it contains, like a little goody bag. So it has in there a recommendation of a book called The Four Agreements by Don McGraw -Ruiz. And this book tells you how never...

Shay (05:34.19)
Yeah, well everyone can use that, you know.

rebekah (05:58.333)
to assume anything when it comes to what's in actual people and organisations, but how it's important to never make your own stories and your own narratives of destructive anxiety and how to always remember to see the point of view of the other person. That's something to do with you. Just is not the right match for the festival. It's not your fault. Nothing wrong. And how to appreciate yourself and your work. That book is a really good one. If you do any submissions, read that book and it really helps.

Shay (06:24.814)
I feel like I've heard about that book. Hold on, let me just Google it. absolutely I have. Like it's in my, I need to read this book section, you know?

rebekah (06:28.605)
So good.

Yeah.

rebekah (06:34.853)
my God, like just read it tonight because it's not like a massive long book which takes forever. It's a really succinct book and it's done like a lot of people read it around the world. It's a little bestseller, but it's really, really good. And the other thing I recommend as well in the toolbox is there's a technique called emotional freedom technique, which taps into like trapped emotions because sometimes filmmakers don't know they've got, you know, a few things that were like unhealed in the body and festivals just bring them up.

Shay (06:36.526)
Okay. No, it seems short.

Shay (06:44.942)
Mm -hmm.

Shay (07:01.326)
Mmm.

rebekah (07:01.469)
So you don't get rejections like it suddenly goes downhill and you start to wonder why you're so insecure. And there's something just some past trauma comes up or some kind of past issue that might need to be addressed. It can help in a way. I also have a list of how to look at rejection differently. It's a really key thing to change that mindset and to see it as feedback and that nothing might not be wrong. It just might need to tweak your strategy and to maybe think, well, if there's a common problem with the sound, maybe the sound's breaking the reason why I'm not getting into festivals.

and to look back, maybe just improve parts of the film and parts of the story maybe, that kind of thing. But it gives you ways to look at rejection differently and to see how it can help you and that it's not against you.

Shay (07:41.55)
I love that because this industry seems, you take it personally, you don't even mean to, but you realize you start to take it on personally. It's like, well, what's the common denominator here? It's me. But it's not.

rebekah (07:46.941)
Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah, exactly. And that's the golden rule is like, and also festivals don't know you. So it really is this a little just looking at the film. They don't care if it took 20 years to make 20 years to write or you run out of money halfway through it. They don't care about that. They look purely at the film. So it's kind of like one of those things where you can do a lovely poster and trailer and that's good to like for your branding and to present to people. It doesn't guarantee festivals. It's all down to the film.

Shay (08:02.958)
Mm -hmm.

rebekah (08:20.093)
They can do anything with it. And all the time festivals reject film that they love. I get a lot of responses about that. And I know that's a common thing because they've not got room or it doesn't fit the theme or there's a film that's similar and that one just, you know, between tossing the coin, it got lucky heads, all this kind of thing. And it's stuff that people don't think about when they have a rejection. They're like, God, another one, so I failed again. It's just really about programming purposes, not anything about the filmmaker against them.

Shay (08:43.918)
Yeah.

Shay (08:49.39)
Yeah, I worked at a talent agency and it really helped me learn about rejection because it's like we had so many clients going for something or whatever and it's like sometimes it comes down to scheduling to this person had a little bit of redder hair than the other person. It can be just such minuscule things that a lot of people don't really even think about.

rebekah (09:06.109)
Yeah.

rebekah (09:12.477)
Exactly. Exactly. Things you wouldn't think about. There was one film we had and it was a really strong piece of work, but the festival did say like, there was just a little bit where in the car, it didn't really feel like they were actually driving. It was just the background scene. It's like, that broke it and stuff. The festivals don't see it. So it's about perception. It's all down to perception about the red hair thing you say, you know, people don't always take into account. Every festival looks at every film differently with a different eye.

Shay (09:32.142)
Right.

Shay (09:36.43)
huh.

rebekah (09:41.533)
They have to think about not just the basics of the production, execution and the quality, but also they have to think about, you know, will this fit the theme? Will it help our investors who want to see films like this? Will the audience really click with it? Do I click with it? Will it actually work well with this film? Can we do anything with them or just like ditch them? It's quite ruthless. I think is the word. Just describing this now, like because I've been in the programming department myself and like, you know, we've had films like, my God, that is one of my favorites. I was like, I want that in. And then like, well.

Shay (10:01.87)
Yeah.

rebekah (10:11.229)
you know, two against one doesn't work. So, so that happens all the time too. The key thing, the bottom line, the backbone to it all is to remember to believe in yourself and the product. It will find a home somewhere. Sometimes it's not what you expect or want, but when it's not what you want, you get something better. When it's another festival where you get, you know, different, you get awards or you get a good massive connection, you get a new work, whatever.

Shay (10:12.846)
huh. Yeah.

rebekah (10:39.261)
there's going to be something there just to go a different route. And it is coming very hard sometimes to really switch that mindset when you're very focused on what you want and not be able to be flexible. So festivals kind of force you to be adaptable and flexible to the situation and to not kind of like lose sight of what's in front of you and what's out there.

Shay (10:57.518)
I love that. There was a quote on your website that I read that really stuck out to me. It said, in 2021, 87 % of people working in the film and TV industry had experienced mental health problems, but with only 10 % of respondents agreeing that the industry was a mentally healthy place to work. Do you find that accurate or true? I mean, I didn't even think about that.

rebekah (11:22.397)
Yeah, definitely. I think actually it's increased now since the strikes. Yeah, I think it's increased a lot because people are having to pivot and adapt in a different way they did not expect. And they had time to try and figure out how, but obviously there was no deadline when that strikes, well, the two strikes would end. And I think actually then also with people thought there would be no festival submissions, everything was kind of on pause, but not so much with independent film world. So there's always going to be a short film, there's always a feature, nothing is easy.

Shay (11:26.574)
Really? I bet. Yeah. Yeah, that makes sense.

Shay (11:39.95)
Mm -hmm.

rebekah (11:51.837)
So I think now it gets more stressful because people assume so much without having to do the research first. So I'd say to really reduce that number would be to take care of yourself first so you know how to look after yourself and ground yourself when you're going into this world. It's very unpredictable and that you cannot assume anything or plan anything around it. You have to be kind of stable around it because otherwise it can break you.

Shay (12:15.438)
Yeah, yeah, absolutely. I mean, I definitely have struggled with the strikes myself and I've just recently moved from England back to America and I'm seeing how slow and the work is like non -existent. So it's like, I've, that's why I created this podcast. It was like, I needed to be creative doing something else, but a lot of people are just leaving because it's such a mentally heavy thing to go through every day.

rebekah (12:22.013)
Thank you.

rebekah (12:43.229)
Yeah. Yes. Yeah.

Shay (12:44.91)
and the rejection. So I'm going to have to use that toolbox from now on because it helps to have a mental toolbox to be like, I can put that there, take that if I need it. It's just, I love that idea.

rebekah (12:51.389)
It's that for you.

rebekah (12:59.517)
Yeah, it does. It'll help a lot. So maybe move back to.

Shay (13:03.31)
I'm in Chicago, but I'm thinking about going, I lived in LA for a while, for like five or six years, and I think I'm gonna go back over there. But I don't know, because I just went to New York and LA, and I was like, okay, what's the vibe? And everyone's just like, it's bad. And they're like, it's just, we're scrounging and clawing for jobs, and it's just like, we're all qualified and have worked for so many years. And...

and we're all just clawing still for jobs. It's heartbreaking.

rebekah (13:36.573)
Yeah, no, that is tough. I can imagine that because it's obviously very, they're very oversaturated in New York and LA, as you're aware. I mean, Chicago doesn't have actually as much opportunity. So somewhere that is more up and coming like Atlanta, Georgia, it's got a lot going for it. Actually, so was I'm based in Dallas, Texas. So that too, yeah, obviously, obviously I'm British, but I live here and I'm based in Dallas, Texas. And that's just become an also qualifying city and it's replaced Miami.

Shay (13:42.638)
Yes, that too, yeah.

Shay (13:47.502)
Mm -mm.

Shay (13:53.134)
That is true.

Are you? hi!

Shay (14:06.51)
Yes.

rebekah (14:06.653)
because Malmö was a qualifying city, but Dallas replaced it because it does have a bigger kind of like, what's the word, a big environment for more theaters because it has a big cinema going community that could increase numbers for when they do go to Oscar runs. And there is opportunity. You just have to go with the right groups. But sometimes it's in these places that aren't over saturated where you get a lot more. Like here, there's a great community in Dallas. And obviously you've got Austin close by. You've got San Antonio, you've got Houston. There's stuff in there. You just have to kind of...

Shay (14:17.774)
Mm -hmm.

Shay (14:26.99)
Mm -hmm.

Shay (14:33.486)
Mm -hmm.

rebekah (14:36.669)
ground yourself in there and find your tribes and your communities and then more stuff does come in and a good agent that can help locally and get you anywhere.

Shay (14:39.438)
Yeah.

Shay (14:44.878)
Yeah, I literally just thought I just signed with a new agent in their Atlanta base. So I considered I was like, but it's so hot. It's so hot down there.

rebekah (14:50.301)
Right. Ooh, there's a sign.

rebekah (14:57.085)
It's hot, it's hot here as well. I tell you right now it's like 95 degrees, but yeah, it's hot. It's like you have to go out in the night because there's this you can't do in the day, but yeah, it's hot. But it is actually, as you say, Atlanta is really up and coming. So I definitely would maybe that would be better than Chicago if you can hope.

Shay (14:58.958)
Yeah.

I can't do it. I can't do it.

Shay (15:06.51)
Mm -hmm.

Shay (15:13.646)
Well, it definitely would be. I know. And so many things do film over there. It's so tempting, but dang, it's hot and humid. And I'm just like, I don't know if I'm ready for that. I didn't know you were Dallas -based. That's so interesting. What brought you over here then?

rebekah (15:20.061)
Yeah. Yeah.

rebekah (15:26.589)
Yes.

rebekah (15:30.461)
so I kind of like, I was in the UK all my life was born and raised there, obviously. And, in a place called Worcestershire, so near Birmingham, and then I moved to London, then I moved to Essex. And I wanted to like move from the UK because I've been there so long. I was ready to like move to the U S and bring my business here and expand it more, but also just change my location because I've been there for so long. I've been to like, I wasn't really connected to the UK anymore, but I would say I love it. And it's a great country, but just wasn't able to really connect in the same way I'm here.

Shay (15:35.246)
What part?

yeah, yeah. Mm -hmm.

Shay (15:52.654)
Mm -hmm.

rebekah (15:59.901)
basically. So that's what brought me here. And I was going to move to LA, but it didn't work out because of immigration issues, but also it was changing a lot during the pandemic LA. And there was people moving to Florida, to Dallas, to Austin, and not so much New York, but it was quite a change in terms of like communities and cities. But I knew Dallas really well. And I thought I preferred to be here than I would in LA right now after what happened. So it's much better to be able to just be based here. And I knew, as I said, as I knew it,

Shay (16:06.07)
Yes.

rebekah (16:28.765)
It was easier to settle back in than not knowing where I was going. So yeah, and also I knew the festival was here too. So I had a lot of experience. It wasn't like it was brand new. But when I moved here, I realized how big it was because this is like a huge city. This is massive. So I was like, and all these other different cities attached to the Metroplex and all that. my God, it's huge. But there's also a lot going for it too. It's very good.

Shay (16:32.11)
Yeah.

Shay (16:35.758)
Mm.

Shay (16:42.894)
It's massive.

Shay (16:48.654)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah, I actually read something about Dallas yesterday where it said like, here are all the states that could fit into the town of Dallas. And like, my mom's state of Iowa could fit into the town of Dallas. I couldn't believe it. It's huge. And I didn't even know that the industry was kind of up and coming over there, but that makes so much more sense. It's like, why haven't we done that earlier? Why, why?

rebekah (16:58.973)
Yeah.

rebekah (17:03.229)
Yeah, I know it's huge. Yeah, it's massive. It's huge.

rebekah (17:14.205)
Yeah, a lot of great creatives here. Yeah, yeah, a lot of great creatives here. There's a lot of people that do work in television, but they also travel around the US a lot and based here and they do local work like a lot of commercials, a lot of music videos, narrative shorts and features tend to be maybe more Austin, but there is stuff here too. It's a little bit everywhere, but it's just a little bit more of one thing in certain cities in Texas that has a lot of like industry and commercials. There's a lot of corporate stuff, a lot of buildings, just to say it's so big.

Obviously you've got outside of the cities as well, lots of places too. So yeah, so it's never ending. Yeah. Yeah.

Shay (17:48.494)
Yeah. It's a good spot. It's a good spot to be. So what are the best strategies, if someone, a client were to come to you right now in Dallas and say, I want to do this film festival, what are some of the best strategies you've got to get them going or to kind of, yeah, just get them going? Yeah.

rebekah (18:10.173)
them going. The first thing you have to do before you do any submissions is look at the film and assess the film and then think of just when seeing it where best to place it, what kind of level and tier festival can it do and can it help the client achieve their goals. So that's also really fun to put together the strategy for them and piece it all together. So that's the first step and then when we've seen it we give the feedback and if that's in alignment with what they want to achieve and they're happy with the route to go down and which festivals to send it to.

we then create a strategy that contains the right kinds of festivals for the film. So it's films, sorry, it's festivals that we know, screen films like the clients and have an audience for their film, which is obviously the key thing and can help them achieve what they want to achieve on the circuit. So it's very precise, very focused, but it's all down to the film. I mean, who you know can help, having a strategy is essential, but it's all down to the film. It's the key thing.

Shay (19:05.39)
I also saw that you do or like vision boards. Go into that, go into that. Because I used to do vision boards maybe like 10 years ago. I loved them. Like I thought they were super helpful and I just kind of fell off with doing it and I hadn't even thought about them in so long. So explain why you like them or what you do. What's the process of a vision board?

rebekah (19:08.797)
Yes, we do like to do it.

rebekah (19:29.117)
Well, now it's time to get back to a vision board. Now you can just move to when you moved somewhere else, you can then like really focus on what you want to achieve. So vision board are great because they are pretty much like daily visual reminders of your goals and your desires and your dreams. So to make a vision board, you have to ensure, and I like to make them like old school, like actually cutting out pictures from magazines or like printing out photos and putting them into a vision board. You can do it electronically. There's an app called Vision Board app. You could do it on there.

Shay (19:31.726)
Yes, yes.

Shay (19:48.238)
Mm -hmm.

Shay (19:56.27)
I have it. But it's not as helpful. It's not as helpful because I'm not, I used to do the cutting out and like putting it on my wall, but the app I always forget to open. So.

rebekah (19:57.341)
you do? Because that is good.

Yeah. Yeah.

rebekah (20:08.541)
Exactly. So it can be difficult, but I, and that's why I think old school is the best by doing obviously one that's like, you know, you, you cut it out and put it on. So I like to collate for like quite a couple of weeks or even a month or so of the right images that will be in alignment with my goal. So you have to resonate with the image. It can't just be a random image like, that's on this magazine or do, has to be like an image that really connects with you and really is in alignment with your goals that you want to achieve. So make sure you put on your vision board.

images that you can look at each day and you can feel the emotion you experience like you know winning an award or going on the red carpet somewhere like really feel the emotion that you feel when seeing that picture because it resonates with you because you feel like you'd already be there yourself. Pretend it's already happened in your head and experience being there. It's a really cool image and then when you've got the right images look at this you look at the vision board like once or twice a day once in the morning once at night you then become very in alignment what you want to achieve.

And you also become very focused and you stay focused. So when a rejection comes in or some bad news, you look at it and think, I'm on the path still the right path. I will keep going is a really important thing. So that's why they're better as we just described being, you know, old school cutout pictures than an app that you would never look at. And when it reminds you, you don't look at it because you've got too many apps on the phone.

Shay (21:26.382)
Yeah.

rebekah (21:30.781)
Whereas a vision board like in your office, like, you know, right ahead of you in your eye line on each side, you can think you will just, even if you walk past it, you have to stop and look at it. It can help you out. Mine's right in my eye line to the right so I can look at it. And sometimes an image that just pings out like right now it's an image of a dog. I guess I really want a dog. So a dog is like, I've always loved a dog. I had a dog around here yesterday. It's like, yeah, this dog feels like it's his home. And this dog image is just stunning. So when you look at that, you're like, right, yeah, now I'm grounded now.

Shay (21:44.654)
Yeah.

rebekah (21:59.837)
So it's important, again, as I say, to stress that, that you do take time to make your vision board and make sure every image counts to help you achieve your goals and stay on track.

Shay (22:10.19)
Do you recommend like journaling or about it? I used to do a lot of like, yeah, the vision boards, journaling. It's kind of manifesting in a way. I suppose it could be classified, which I learned a lot in therapies and things like that. It's all a part of the toolbox.

rebekah (22:27.037)
Absolutely. Yeah.

my God, yes, they are super part of the toolbox. So I recommend journaling can really help. But sometimes as well when you write and just don't think about any of it as you write, it actually is a kind of a healing therapy and can actually process grief. So yes, journaling about good things, bad things, whatever occurred, how can I learn from this, helps us get process the emotions and that can make you stronger for what is ahead and how not to live in fear or crippling anxiety.

Shay (22:46.062)
Mm -hmm.

Shay (22:58.926)
Mm -hmm.

rebekah (23:00.221)
So I recommend doing that too. Journaling at night is enough, maybe not like every hour of the day, but just journeying where you can just like process and grieve and also enjoy the moment of writing and how it can inspire you. It's like a dual kind of double edged kind of sword, so to speak, how it can be beneficial. Okay, a vision board each day is enough for me to like stay on track. And I mean, I had one vision board image that almost came together, but a film pulled out, so it didn't happen. But.

Shay (23:15.95)
Yes.

Shay (23:20.718)
Mm -hmm.

rebekah (23:28.221)
I'm like, right, I'm going to replace that festival with something else and just be really grounded about it.

Shay (23:33.166)
Yes, yes. Groundedness, I find, is one of the most important things you can be. Level -headed and grounded. What do you do between your lulls between festivals or jobs? Is there another hobby that you have? Do you like to crochet? I'm a crocheter, so... I see a little blanket over there that you may have made. Did you make that?

rebekah (23:34.493)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

rebekah (23:53.861)
Well.

rebekah (23:59.197)
No, that was actually an Amazon Prime gem, but close. Well, one of the things that, yeah, I mean, in terms of a little, a festival is this craze, there's always a film festival. There's always something. There's always a film festival. And not just locally, but like all over the US and the world, there's always something going on. Every week there's always something. You never really have like a week off. Well, the only time there's no festivals is Christmas. Even though there might be one in India, publics don't really celebrate Christmas, but Germany, it's like there's nothing there.

Shay (24:01.23)
Yep.

Shay (24:09.294)
is there.

Shay (24:13.678)
Mm -hmm.

rebekah (24:28.125)
So there's always something going on pretty much every day and it can get really busy in certain parts. But then when I've got an evening free and I want to just have to like unplug, I'm getting into making bracelets. It's hard for me to do because I'm not a pro at it. I want to do these little bracelets. They're bright colors, like all different types of pink with my brand on it, Film. I'm going to put Film, Festival Doctor on this one. And also do like initials of festivals to put on there too, to like help even manifest in a way, but also just...

that would be unique kind of bracelets and not bracelets saying generic things like believe and trust or the kind of thing that you already know. It's something that you look and think, yeah, this is my, I'm wearing it on my identity. And looking at doing that would be fun. So I started it now and I had tried knitting and crochet, but I just find that making the bracelets a little bit more, a bit more like, yeah, this is something here that's quite more, a bit more fun, I think is the word. That is not too much being at a film festival getting all glammed up for the red carpet.

Shay (25:19.79)
yeah. Yeah.

Shay (25:25.166)
Mm -hmm. Yeah, everyone's got to have their own downtime activities. It took me a while to kind of like, okay, I need to do something else creative so that I can kind of give my mind a break from one thing and kind of just relax. It's so important to relax when you're doing something so high -stressed and adrenaline rushing and you are so passionate about your project. It's just like sometimes so good to just...

rebekah (25:40.349)
Yeah.

Shay (25:54.798)
dial out and make some beaded charms.

rebekah (25:59.837)
Exactly. Yeah, just like the opposite to what you would normally do when going to a film festival, which obviously would be doing your thing and networking and that kind of stuff because it's work. That is that feels less like work.

Shay (26:08.27)
Exactly. Do you like networking? For me, it's a tough, it's a double -edged sword. Like, I do end up liking it, but for the most part, I'm always like, god, I'm scared, it's just too much.

rebekah (26:19.485)
Yeah, I do. I kind of do. I know actually I do because it's part of my job and I like talking to people and hanging out. But sometimes it can be hard with who you're talking to, it can not always be right. But I'm like always like, okay, now to manage each person. But I just like to be myself and just not make too much of an effort. Then it makes it actually becomes easier when you're not putting too much pressure to be a certain way. You know, got my brand represent that it's like being me until now. And I can just like, you know, because I've actually have at the minute I do have problems with my legs.

Shay (26:26.67)
Mm -hmm.

Yeah.

Shay (26:43.278)
Mm -hmm.

rebekah (26:47.997)
I have trapped valves in my veins. So it's a bit difficult at the minute to like stand up for too long. So I like to just sit down and put my legs up when I see people can join me.

Shay (26:51.118)
Shay (26:58.222)
People can come to you.

rebekah (27:01.117)
That's kind of how it works. So that's quite an advantage in networking. But yeah, it's a good advice is that, you know, it is work. It's in the title, networking. It is work. You know, you're talking about yourself, what you're doing and what you want to do to people. But then when you just like break from that and think, right, you know what, let's just chill and engage with people and spend time with them. It's a better bond. It's less like, how can you help me? And like, how can, where's my next project? That's not the right energy. Get in the, go in the flow and just being you and not looking or expecting something particular.

Shay (27:09.646)
Mm -hmm. Yeah.

Shay (27:23.118)
Yes.

rebekah (27:31.101)
is really the way to do it.

Shay (27:32.91)
I really love that. That is, that can go for actors. That can go for everybody because you feel it when the people are trying so hard and it's just like, cut that off. It's not a good vibe. The vibe is let people come to me and chill.

rebekah (27:38.173)
Yeah.

rebekah (27:41.949)
Yeah.

rebekah (27:46.781)
Yeah, exactly. And my leg is up here, so come and join me.

Shay (27:51.79)
Yep, come join. Well, I just have a few like rapid fire questions for you. Feel free to go into as much depth as you want or ignore me. All right, first one, what is something people get wrong about you?

rebekah (27:56.957)
Yup.

rebekah (28:09.085)
That I experienced loneliness even though I'm really busy. Because even though I'm busy, it's working, it's pressure. Sometimes it can feel lonely because it's a lot of work. So people might think, look, on Instagram, I'm always busy and without. Yes. And sometimes I come and I get back and we just, because it's like, it's quite a sight sometimes. So it's up and down, but people might not think that because I don't look like I would be on Instagram. Instagram, yes.

Shay (28:34.318)
Mm -hmm. Instagram, yes. It is very, it fools us all. What is your, what is your guilty pleasure TV show? Do you watch a lot of American shows then, I would assume?

rebekah (28:39.005)
They can, yeah.

rebekah (28:46.589)
I don't watch many, but I do have a guilty pleasure, which is slightly embarrassing, is the only way is Essex. I mean, I've seen it since the beginning, I've seen it grow. So I find it interesting because I used to live in F -ing in Latin where it was filmed. So I know what people want. You lived in Latin, so I was in Latin too. So there you go, small world. But my God, like I saw, I saw it all film. I used to, I worked with some people on there when they filmed.

Shay (28:49.518)
let's hear it.

Shay (28:53.646)
That's fair. That's fair. Yeah.

That's where I lived in Loudon. Yeah.

Shay (29:11.406)
-huh.

rebekah (29:11.613)
So it kind of becomes like a bit different attachment, but it's a slightly, it's a guilty pleasure. There was one point where it was really good, then it went downhill. I'm watching, I love the season still, but then she tells me about that. I'm like, it doesn't seem that great now, but it's still like, you still want to watch it because it has that, you know.

Shay (29:23.021)
Yeah.

It makes me feel a little bit at home. You know, you're just like hearing them.

rebekah (29:29.117)
Yes, because I know everything where it's filmed, I know all the areas, I know Sheesh and all that, you know, so would you, because you know, it's down the road, they're really close by, so...

Shay (29:33.838)
Yeah. Yeah. I lived like right next to Epping Forest. I went to East 15. So it was a nice area. I loved it. It was the little taste of Essex, but not fully into Essex, you know.

rebekah (29:40.765)
yeah!

rebekah (29:46.653)
Yeah, it's not full on like, you know, like being in Chelmsford. It's kind of more. Yeah. So it was so cool. It was Laudan because I was in Laudan that day. So I think I think first I was right by the train station.

Shay (29:50.126)
Yeah. And you can, you can still scoot on over.

Shay (29:59.086)
Yes, and you can just pop on into London. So you're like, you're super far out, but you're still close enough to get in. So lovely spot and lovely TV show. I was a EastEnders, but you know, you just can't look away from that train wreck. What's your favorite thing about the acting industry? Or I guess let's change it. What's your favorite thing about the festival circuits or festival life?

rebekah (30:06.365)
Exactly. Yeah.

rebekah (30:11.645)
yeah, that's a good point. No, exactly, that's a good point.

rebekah (30:27.229)
Just seeing how much creativity there is, like how amazing some people are making films and performances and writing and like everyone's so unique. Seeing that in like a block of shorts is really incredible and like people you want to follow, shorts you remember that are really like hard hitting is really fascinating. So I just love it when it's all in one place to discover.

Shay (30:49.278)
That's very cool. I love that. I didn't even think about that. How much you're really getting to see of creativity every day. I love that. I'm kind of jealous. Now you're making me want to get into the film festival world. Do you have any regrets?

rebekah (30:59.197)
Yes, exactly.

rebekah (31:04.829)
Good.

No, because I'm always learning. So I'm always learning. So I see them as good things. Maybe I might regret sending a text. Some people would have called me definitely. But nothing kind of detrimental.

Shay (31:10.83)
Shay (31:14.478)
Yep. Lessons.

Hahaha!

Shay (31:23.51)
What is your favorite hobby?

rebekah (31:27.453)
I think it's definitely now in terms of hobby wise has been taking Polaroid pictures. I do love doing that too. I take them over to Texas Theatre, which is down the road from me and also some other theatres to see the beauty of Insta film and like old theatres that have got so much character to them. So I love doing that. I want to try and do more. I try and do experiments with it. But there's a club that does that here locally to me.

Shay (31:33.422)
Shay (31:46.67)
Mm -hmm.

rebekah (31:54.685)
which will be good to get more experience. It's quite hard to do them right. It's a lot of skill. I'm learning. So.

Shay (31:57.806)
Mm.

I love that. I love Polaroids. They've made their comeback as they should. They are the best. Do you have a favorite celebrity you've ever encountered?

rebekah (32:04.285)
They're the best and they're going to go away. Yeah.

rebekah (32:10.525)
I think that might be Roger Taylor from Queen. He and his wife, his wife was in a film and produced a feature, a micro -budget feature, and he was one of its producers and was so lovely, like so sweet. And they both are, but just they were such a nice people to deal with and so nice in the premieres and it's really lovely. Yeah.

Shay (32:14.158)
Okay?

Shay (32:24.814)
Aww.

Shay (32:30.766)
That's always good to know. Good to know. And finally, what songs do you have like on your playlist right now? What gets you going? What are some that like excite you?

rebekah (32:41.469)
that she got like an 80s mix going on. So I have Madonna, Johnny Hates Jazz, Sonia, so all these kind of like classics because I like I'm a golden oldie. Like I just love that kind of stuff that you hear back and gets you like revved up and it's great when dancing around as well at events and festivals. I also do love

Shay (32:44.142)
Yes!

Shay (32:49.806)
You

Shay (32:55.342)
Mm.

rebekah (33:05.341)
For some reason I'm back into Radiohead because they were quite a difficult band at first to get into but then someone said listen to that other album. I was like okay and I was like actually when you hear it many years later it does still stand the test of time.

Shay (33:09.294)
Mm -hmm.

Shay (33:18.19)
It does. I had a flatmate who loved Radiohead, so I'm very familiar with them. That's always a good one. I'm not a big Madonna person, sue me, but I do love the 80s vibes. I love the, it gets me up and wants to dance and it's just freeing.

rebekah (33:24.925)
Yes, very.

rebekah (33:36.797)
Yeah, yeah, no it is. That's the whole point in the 80s, it's all about being free.

Shay (33:42.254)
huh, yep. Well thank you so much for being here. Do you have any projects you'd like to share with everybody or anything you want people to check out?

rebekah (33:53.117)
Yeah, so I've actually launched another ebook, which is called The Little Book of Premier Policies. And basically just it helps you understand how to navigate film festival premieres, if some of them have them and how to work around it and what they are. So I have a little ebook which is on my website. And I've got all the films on the circuit right now, which is doing really well. We also, I'm very diverse. I don't just work on one type of film. We do pretty much everything. So I have a music video that is shot in Super 16, go on the circuit called Plithe.

I have a narrative short called Hard Times that's doing really well on the circuit. It just got shortlisted for the Sony Future Filmmaker Awards in LA recently, which is fantastic. One called Mouse that's doing really well in the UK. A VR film called The One of Gold that's doing really well. Amplitude screenplays and one episodic that's doing really well called Profit that's attached to the films this week. So that's excellent. So yeah, so all this stuff, that's just a tiny amount. They're all like all on different parts and all like loads of other films.

Shay (34:30.926)
Yeah.

Shay (34:44.142)
Wow.

Ha ha.

rebekah (34:51.101)
One called Spirit of Place is about the environment, so the ability is really good. It reduces carbon footprint by like a huge amount. So it's really strong. And that just got into the Oscar qualifier today. And yeah, so that's kind of like a bit of everything. So we'd like to keep it, mix it up, keep it diverse. We've got coming in this more, one of great stuff that's finishing post and in production. So it's all like, again, lots of moving parts.

Shay (34:56.526)
Mm.

Shay (35:16.046)
Mm -hmm. Yeah. Well, thank you so much. I will have everyone check those out and I'll link your things down below. I'll link the ebook. So I can't wait to read it myself. Of course. Yes. Let me stop recording.

rebekah (35:19.037)
Thank you.

rebekah (35:24.797)
Thank you. Thank you. It was great to connect and that you're so local to me. So, yeah.