Rejected Cover Letter - Deputy Director, Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival, March 2022

I was delighted to learn of the Deputy Director post as this is exactly the opportunity I am seeking to take a more active role in the arts and culture sector. I am interested in the Berwick Film & Media Arts Festival as I am drawn to areas of convergence between cinema and the visual arts. An experienced film academic, I have extensive knowledge of contemporary film and visual art as demonstrated in my peer-reviewed publications, contributions to arts magazines,
making Audiovisual Cultures Podcast and holding degrees in the field. As a skilled administrator and networker with a passion for facilitating others’ development, I will excel in this post.

My experience in a comparable role is shown in my directorship of Cosy Pea Pod, the creative company under which I produce Audiovisual Cultures, a film, arts and media podcast featuring analysis of cultural works and interviews with a wide range of practitioners, including artists, filmmakers and organisers of film festivals and symposia. In this role I have collaborated with other Newcastle-based organisations, namely Monkfish Productions, Placeholder Arts Studio
and the NewBridge Project on in-person and online arts events. I show experience of and interest in film and arts festival management in the mentoring and
management roles I held in arts festivals in Belfast concurrent with my postgraduate studies before pursuing a career in film academia. I mentored the Queen’s Film Theatre’s youth panel and guided them in programming their annual Takeover Film Festival from 2010 to 2012, for which I was awarded accreditations towards Pearson EDI qualifications as listed in my CV. In 2010 to 2011, I chaired a student-led committee that managed a £20,000 budget to facilitate student and cross-community events throughout the academic year under the banner of
Queen’s Quarter Weekends. Events involving plays, film screenings, poetry slams, exhibitions, panel discussions and fast-and-loose events were often grouped thematically as ‘A Weekend of Words’ or ‘A Weekend of Queer’, for example. This generated cultural activity at times when students tended to travel home, and encouraged resident students to stay and participate together with local communities in south Belfast. 

My fundraising experience has mainly been for academic research, most notably my PhD scholarship covering fees, a monthly stipend and expenses, and success with securing small grants to speak at international conferences and to organise symposia. In addition to the select examples in my CV, in 2015 I was granted £400 by Newcastle University to organise a book launch and symposium featuring talks and Q&As with artists and filmmakers on whose work I have published, and a further £250 to facilitate a visiting speaker seminar and reception. In 2020 I collaborated with Monkfish Productions in Newcastle on a special podcast and video interview for their ‘A Little Bit of Good in the World’ project funded by Arts Council England. From such collaborations I have gained experience in agreeing, undertaking and measuringtime-bound and realistic objectives and delivering high-quality outputs to deadline. Additionally, I have some experience with crowdfunding via Patreon for Audiovisual Cultures Podcast. 

As well as the budget management I performed as chair of Queen’s Quarter Weekends (including overseeing event budgets and the overall project budget), I regularly reported to the Pro-Vice Chancellor's office which funded the initiative. Working with the committee of mostly postgraduate students from across Queen’s University, and the students whose events we facilitated, we devised audience feedback forms to learn where we could improve and what was going well, which gave us data beyond audience numbers to report. I developed a good rapport
with the other committee members and fostered a culture of listening and taking on board everyone’s ideas and opinions before making final decisions. We all had a great time attending the events, which was appreciated by the event organisers and helped us gel as a team. 

My understanding of and commitment to equal opportunities has been demonstrated frequently during my time as an educator where I was responsible for the learning outcomes, recruitment and pastoral care of students. Being from an underprivileged background myself, I want to ensure the inclusion of others. As I show consistently in Audiovisual Cultures, I seek out and give space to cultural and creative practitioners with an emphasis on stories that are typically
marginalised. If appointed, I will be a champion of diversity and inclusion at the festival.  

My motivation, creative thinking, organisation and attention to detail are consistent in my self-managed work for the podcast and writing for publication, the most recent of which are listed in my CV. My academic work is thoroughly researched and peer-reviewed and is therefore recognised to be of a high standard. I show that I can successfully communicate complex ideas to more general readerships in arts magazine articles. My hosting and interview work for the podcast has developed my verbal communication skills, which were already excellent from years of lecturing, presenting academic papers and conducting research interviews. I work best when I have multiple tasks and deadlines to meet. I enjoy my work and am eager to be part of a team again after the isolation of the past couple of years. 

Finally, to reiterate my skills and knowledge pertaining to your desirable criteria, as mentioned I hold an MA and a PhD in film informed by contemporary art and visual culture. I direct a small creative business and have collaborated with other arts charities and organisations. I am committed to the professional development of filmmakers and artists, and have experience of this in teaching students on film production programmes. I actively seek and frequently accept invitations to collaborate on others’ projects. I possess knowledge of workflow and project
management tools such as Slack and Trello. If appointed, I will be present at the
Berwick-upon-Tweed office and will build mutually beneficial networks throughout the immediate area, regions and further afield. I will be happy to consider relocating for this post, and I am already at a reasonable commuting distance in Newcastle. I look forward to demonstrating my skills, knowledge and enthusiasm for the Berwick Film and Media Arts Festival at the interview.

 

Takeover Film Festival banners, QFT, November 2012

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