The 19th Annual Hamilton Film Festival is set to launch a distribution arm, HFFd, specifically targeting theatrical in Canada.
Hamilton - The 19th Annual Hamilton Film Festival will launch HFFd later this year with a goal of getting feature length movies into theatres across Canada.
“It has been on my mind for a number of years now. Seeing great features on our screens during the festival is great, but is something that people should experience year-round at cinema’s in Canada. There are also so many great indie theatres in this country where these films could be a great fit. Also, having distribution in place is still a requirement for many Canadian funds, so in the future, this could really be important for indie film in this country.” - Says Nathan Fleet, Executive Director of the Hamilton Film Festival.
During the film festival, the event has the challenging task of promoting 150 films, with HFFd, the focus would be on just a few films at a time to market correctly, and build a relationship with theatres. The theatrical experience is one that HFFd will exclusively focus on. “We’ve run 18 years with well over 1000 films in theatres, this is the experience we know, and love.” - Says Fleet.
The Hamilton Film Festival is no stranger to starting small. Having operated out of the 67-seat Staircase Theatre for all of it’s first 10 years, it has now grown into a multi-venue festival with it’s main home in the 450-seat Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre (AMAC), where it has a year-round film education program, the Hamilton School of Media Arts, with about 200 students. The Hamilton Film Festival has also been running a film market component for about 8 years. While very small, and primarily online, several films have been acquired through this opportunity. Films opting into this, will also have the eyes of HFFd on them.
The first feature film to be launched through HFFd will be the drama, East End. A personal film written and directed by Fleet, tells the story of a recovering alcoholic with a gambling debt, attempting to make amends with his teenage daughter. “I was going to do this festival / theatrical run anyway, and if it worked, HFFd would re-create the model with other films, so why not just start with this one.” East End will have its world premiere at the Hamilton Film Festival this year, out of competition, on Saturday October 26th at the 400-seat AMAC. It will also screen as a special presentation the following day at the Playhouse Cinema, and The Westdale Theatre. A short festival run will follow, with the goal of getting it into theatres across Canada in 2025.
With few options for short film distribution in Canada, HFFd could also be an opportunity to pair a short with a feature, and send it across Canada. This soft rollout will determine what the venture will do going forward.
Hamilton - The 19th Annual Hamilton Film Festival will launch HFFd later this year with a goal of getting feature length movies into theatres across Canada.
“It has been on my mind for a number of years now. Seeing great features on our screens during the festival is great, but is something that people should experience year-round at cinema’s in Canada. There are also so many great indie theatres in this country where these films could be a great fit. Also, having distribution in place is still a requirement for many Canadian funds, so in the future, this could really be important for indie film in this country.” - Says Nathan Fleet, Executive Director of the Hamilton Film Festival.
During the film festival, the event has the challenging task of promoting 150 films, with HFFd, the focus would be on just a few films at a time to market correctly, and build a relationship with theatres. The theatrical experience is one that HFFd will exclusively focus on. “We’ve run 18 years with well over 1000 films in theatres, this is the experience we know, and love.” - Says Fleet.
The Hamilton Film Festival is no stranger to starting small. Having operated out of the 67-seat Staircase Theatre for all of it’s first 10 years, it has now grown into a multi-venue festival with it’s main home in the 450-seat Ancaster Memorial Arts Centre (AMAC), where it has a year-round film education program, the Hamilton School of Media Arts, with about 200 students. The Hamilton Film Festival has also been running a film market component for about 8 years. While very small, and primarily online, several films have been acquired through this opportunity. Films opting into this, will also have the eyes of HFFd on them.
The first feature film to be launched through HFFd will be the drama, East End. A personal film written and directed by Fleet, tells the story of a recovering alcoholic with a gambling debt, attempting to make amends with his teenage daughter. “I was going to do this festival / theatrical run anyway, and if it worked, HFFd would re-create the model with other films, so why not just start with this one.” East End will have its world premiere at the Hamilton Film Festival this year, out of competition, on Saturday October 26th at the 400-seat AMAC. It will also screen as a special presentation the following day at the Playhouse Cinema, and The Westdale Theatre. A short festival run will follow, with the goal of getting it into theatres across Canada in 2025.
With few options for short film distribution in Canada, HFFd could also be an opportunity to pair a short with a feature, and send it across Canada. This soft rollout will determine what the venture will do going forward.
