Explorez tous les épisodes du podcast The Film Festival Doctor Podcast

In this episode, Rebekah speaks with Amber Ekleberry, the recently Oscar Qualifying Dallas International Film Festival’s Senior Director of Programming. 

During their discussion, they discuss curating the shorts programme for DIFF, her plans for the festival and what makes a award winning short film

In this episode, Rebekah speaks with the Emmy award winning Ashton Campbell. During their discussion, they discuss his career journey so far including co-directing the Oak Cliff Film Festival, the secret to being a great interviewer & the iconic Texas Theatre.

Clementine Ledger, USC School of Cinematic Arts Festival Coordinator, talks to Rebekah about helping their students create successful festival strategies.

Director Ian David Diaz talks to Rebekah about his multi-award-winning web series Rebecca Gold and how it came together.

The man behind one of LA's top reviewed Film Festivals - The North Hollywood Cinefest - Gustavo Sampaio talks to Rebekah about the festival's origins.

Rebekah talks to established L.A. based actor and director Johnny Rey Diaz about juggling acting and directing and how film festivals helped him on his journey.

In this special episode, Rebekah talks you through how to adjust your film festival strategy around the impact of the Coronavirus.

Filmmaker Eric Blakeney chats to Rebekah about his recently launched collaborative film finance business, PROM - The People's Republic of Movies

Director and Composer Tom Lawes discusses his extraordinary filmmaking journey and the making of his silent award winning feature film, Amaryllis.

Rebekah chats to legal consultants, Leighton Lloyd and Simon Long about why a legal team are an essential component of a film production

Tracey Adlai - the woman behind one of the biggest L.A. Film Festivals - The Valley Film Festival - talks to Rebekah about what makes the event so successful.

Anna Levine, Development Manager for Gunpowder & Sky - one of the world's biggest up and coming genre production and distribution companies - talks to Rebekah about how to do great horror and sci-fi on a budget.

In this episode, Rebekah speaks with Claire Richardson & Natalie Daniels the founders of Silver Screen. During their discussion, they discuss their festival which creates a celluloid community through screenings, Q&As and networking, their analog short film fund and their innovative jewelry business which makes jewelry from celluloid.

Holly Castro is the Managing Director of HollyShorts, one of the biggest short film festivals in the world. She chats to Rebekah about how this LA based event has grown and become an Academy Award qualifying festival - and how incredibly proud she feels of the festival's alumni.

Director Meghan Sunder talks to Rebekah about the making of her short film Olympians and its successful film festival journey.

Clients of the Film Festival Doctor, creatives Mark Sayler and Conner Wharton, discuss the making of their short film 'Ladies Most Deject'.

Famous for being prop master on 'Stranger Things' and 'True Detective', director Lynda Reiss talks to Rebekah about the making of her short film 'Ready To Go' and its successful film festival journey.

Established US-based director Stephen David Brooks gives Rebekah an honest and insightful interview about his journey from making films to making powerful connections at film festivals. www.stephendavidbrooks.com

Rebekah to talks to Festival Director Sean Marlon Newcombe who introduces us to his groundbreaking VR Film Festival - the first of its kind which will be an immersive experience for all of those who attend.

In this episode, Rebekah talks to L.A. based actress Lillianna, who gives a raw and honest interview about the importance of believing in yourself. Instagram - lilliannalove

In this episode, Rebekah talks to influencer Holly Charlotte Campbell aka The HCC, who helps people find their inner voice and build their confidence using creative spiritual techniques

In this episode, Rebekah talks to the Festival Director of one of the world's best LGBTQI Film Festivals - Jason Fiddler of the Durban Gay & Lesbian Film Festival.
https://www.dglff.org.za/ Instagram - dbngayfilmfest

In this episode, Rebekah talks to American psychic to the stars and international public figure Laura Powers about the spiritual tools which should be integrated into your festival strategy.

In this episode, Rebekah speaks with Claire Luci DiGiorgio Vasquez the co-founder of The Billy The Kid Film Festival. During their discussion, they take a deep dive into this unique Texas based Film Festival exploring how they look for films that challenge filmmakers to explore the lives of the disenfranchised, the broken, and the outcast.

Rebekah talks to Exec Producer Phil McCauley about the dos and don'ts of film financing and the importance of film festivals.
Phil is happy for you to connect with him on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/philip-mccauley-b340b31/

Film Festival Doctor Rebekah talks to established South African film Director Mark Engles about his upcoming feature MASINGA.
You can contact Mark through: mark@blastfilms.co.za, or from from website: blastfilms.co.za

Hi! I'm Rebekah Louisa Smith, The Film Festival Doctor and my podcast is designed to help you achieve film festival success and beyond.

Not only to do we cover with our guests the key things to include in your festival strategy including creating your goals, planning your budgets and which festivals to target, we also go beyond this and talk about the importance of attaching a sales agent to your film, theatrical distribution planning and the all-important personal and self-development skills to name just a few of the topics we cover with our fascinating and celebrated guests.

There will also be spotlight interviews with our clients who share their festival journey with you and how important the festival circuit is for your film.

In this episode, Rebekah talks with Chad Pierce the Head Projectionist at the Texas Theatre and explores with him the role of a film projectionist also known as a theatres ‘invisible thread.’

In this episode, Rebekah talks with Tony Armer the Head of Production at Talon Entertainment & Co Founder of the Sunscreen Film Festival about the opening of the Dallas based South Side Studios & the upcoming 20th edition of the Sunscreen Film Festival which he is the co-founder of.

In this episode, Rebekah talks with filmmaker and educator Bart Weiss about his latest book ‘Smartphone Cinema Making Great Films With Your Mobile Phone’ and how to navigate the festival circuit with a film made on your smartphone

In this episode Rebekah talks in depth with the Denton Black Film Festival team Harry and Linda Eaddy exploring how it is dedicated to preserving and celebrating Black culture with film at its heart and spotlights on other forms of storytelling, including spoken word, art, music, comedy, and dance.

In this special episode, Rebekah offers further updates regarding how to adjust your film festival strategy around the impact of COVID-19.

Writer and Actress Vivien Reid discusses her extraordinary filmmaking journey and the making of her award winning short film ‘The Box’.

In this episode, Rebekah speaks with Ben Thompson, the VP of Shorts Programming at the Oscar Qualifying TriBeCa Festival. 

During their discussion, they discuss Ben’s journey towards becoming a programmer, Curating the shorts programmes, how a block of shorts programming is built and the exact groundbreaking number of short films that he’s watched

In this episode, Rebekah speaks with Daniel Sol, the Co-Director & Founder of the Oscar Qualifying HollyShorts Festival. 

During their discussion, they discuss how HollyShorts grew to become an Oscar Qualifying film festival, what types of short films they look for and what qualities an Oscar winning short film has. 

In this episode Rebekah chats with the team members of the longest running documentary film festival in Texas the Thin Line Festival about their programming techniques & secrets.

In this episode Rebekah has an in-depth chat with Rudi Womack the Exec Director of one of the Wild West’s best festivals The Wyoming International Film Festival. 

In this episode Rebekah has an in-depth chat with the multi talented festival screener & filmmaker Kyle Goldfinch 

In this episode, Rebekah speaks with Ana Souza Manager of Programming & Programmer at theSundance Film Festival. She discusses how she and the Sundance team curate their programme, why filmmakers need to pay attention to premiere policies and her infamous coat

In this episode, Rebekah speaks with the Oak Cliff Film Festival's Ashton Campbell & Lauren Alberque previewing their 2025 programme and what's in store for this year's film festival. 

In this episode, Rebekah takes a deep dive with Abby Wright the founder of Femme Filth Fest, programmer at the Woods Hole Film Festival, screener at the National Film Festival for TalentedYouth and the proof of concept film festival the Proof Film Festival.

In this episode, Rebekah speaks with established Sound Designer & Mixer TJ Callaway about why every filmmaker needs to have good sound in their film and why this is so important forfilm festival screenings.

In this episode, Rebekah speaks with Robert Misovic, the Festival Director of one of Canada's fantastic up and coming independent film festivals; the Pendance Film Festival.

In this episode, Rebekah speaks to Samuel Thomas behind one of Texas's popular film festivals and one of MovieMaker Magazine Top 50 Festivals worth their entry fee; the Waco Independent Film Festival.

In this episode, Rebekah speaks with Liz Farahardi the genius behind one of the UK's most filmmaker friendly and popular and rapidly up and coming films festivals; the Soho London Independent Film Festival.

In this episode, Rebekah speaks with Michael Rabehl, the Director of Programming & Associate Director at the Oscar Qualifying Cinequest Film Festival. He discusses how Cinequest programme their festival and their infamous Maverick Spirit Award.

In this episode, Rebekah explores short film distribution with Rob Munday the man behind Short of the Week & Directors Notes,

In this episode, Rebekah speaks with Paul Sloop, the lead short film programmer at the Oscar Qualifying Cleveland International Film Festival. He discusses what the festival look for and how he curates his short film programmes.

In this episode, created especially for the Film Festival circuit, Rebekah catches up with Ashton Campbell and discuss this year’s Oak Cliff Film Festival and Francis Ford Coppola’s recent visit to the Texas Theatre.

Filmed live at the Texas Theatre on August 27th 2025, this show features a special announcement from Dallas Film Commissioner Katie Schuck regarding Screen Dallas followed by 2 in-depth interviews with Paris Burris & Camila Chaves Rojas from the Oscar Qualifying deadCenter Film Festival & Austin King from the USA’s largest Genre Festival; Fantastic Fest.