FrightFest Film Festival - The Alan Jones Blog - 5th September 06 - The UK'S premiere fantasy and horror film festival

5th September 2006

So how was it for you? Judging by the comments on the FrightFest forum it seems we got most things right. Adam Green was well pleased by the way Hatchet went down. Billy O’Brien couldn’t have asked for a better Isolation reception. The Puritan brigade were happy with their comments too – even that negative one in the Q&A. And Simon Rumley was delighted by the way The Living and the Dead was received. It played better at FrightFest than at any other festival. Hooray! Even Ian had to concede he was pleased by what he always considered a dodgy prospect!

Then there was Pan’s Labyrinth, a dream for me to present in all honesty, and with the so-fantastic Guillermo del Toro in top form. I do think that could be a real Oscar contender for him. In many ways I think our opening night was better than the whole George Romero road show last year. But that’s up to you to tell us.

A couple of your comments need addressing. It was solely my decision to programme Earthlings because I felt we needed a title to broaden out our hardcore audience. Whether you noticed or not but the documentary did get a lot of press coverage – important for our sponsorship demands – but in truth that didn’t translate to extra ticket sales. The same was true of our collective decision to show Snoop Dogg’s Hood of Horror. We really thought we could attract another demographic above our critical mass with that hip-hop anthology. Perhaps they were too engrossed in the Notting Hill Gate carnival. All this will be taken on board when we start organising next year’s event.

The lower Odeon West End seats 799 and that was another factor in why we needed to experiment with other marginal titles that could have filled up the auditorium. We were surprised to learn from Adam Green that when Hatchet played at the Tribeca Film Festival, the cinema only seated 150. So he had the biggest audience he’s ever had for that. We are still learning as we grow but I think the main lesson learned this year was many titles were so new they were unknown quantities to the less-than-savvy walk-ups to the box-office. Each year is different though so perhaps the amazing high profile publicity we received thanks to Greg Day’s super-human efforts will impact on our more experimental titles next year.

One thing is for sure. We will be staying in the lower auditorium. On the sound and visual presentation fronts, everything was perfect. Every director commented on how great their films looked on that big screen and we owe a huge debt to projectionists Steve and Mark who really went the extra mile for us without any complaint. Plus the stage is far better lit, and less sloping than upstairs, meaning more guest comfort.

How were the seats after four days? I know some of the front-row mob ended up sitting on the floor because they could. But what about the rest of you, and did you feel the need for cushions? Was there enough break time to eat. Or is the whole packed agenda what you want?

Even though we had our six helpers – Amanda Rose, Giovanni, Jen, Susie, Sian and Sarah – the three of us still found ourselves running around like crazy. Every film seemed to have its complications. It got to the point where I was prepared to use the wheelchair lift so I didn’t have to climb all those stairs to the bar area again!

A year in the planning, the four days – five if you count the whole Severance preview – went in a flash yet again. But I for one did feel we had enough time to cruise around the audience and make sure everyone was happy and content. That has become quite the best part of FrightFest now, the community spirit that has built up over the years we can all share and enjoy together. The final get-together in the Phoenix Bar is something worth encouraging too. Though I have never touched alcohol (something many of you may be surprised to learn considering Ian and Paul’s reputations), even I enjoyed myself in my tiredness.

I still never found out who broke another toilet seat in the Gents though. I shouldn’t have mentioned that in my ‘Do’s and Don’ts’ as I think it’s become something of a challenge now! Keep your feedback coming as we really do take on board everything you say.

Until the next time.