Role: Experience Manager at Gritnova (fully remote, August 2024 – March 2026). On this project, I was responsible for the festival’s format and delivery, working with the Founder, Admissions and Instructors.
<aside>
The challenge: turning the graduation of two cohorts into Gritnova’s first film festival, with no previous edition to learn from.
What I did: worked out how the festival would run, from a page for every film and two kinds of recognition to a single festival guide, and saw it through to the final night in LA.
What changed: 36 films reached a public audience, with 1,623 votes and 10 films screened at Warner Bros. Studios. The festival is now part of the program.
</aside>
Gritnova runs six-month international programs in film, technology and the creative industries, each ending with an in-person graduation experience. For the International Film Production program, that meant Los Angeles.
Two cohorts were graduating, with 36 final films between them, and we saw a chance to make more of it. We turned the LA graduation into Gritnova’s first film festival, starting online before anyone got on a plane. Anyone could watch the films and vote, a professional jury chose the Spotlight Films, and the winners were announced at Warner Bros. Studios. For Gritnova, it was also a chance to show what the program produces, keep alumni involved and create content for the brand.
My job was to figure out how the festival would work, and then make it happen.
There was no previous edition to look at. The two cohorts finished at different times, with different deadlines and formats, and the festival had to bring together a professional jury, a public vote and a live event in another country.
It also had to make sense for very different people. Students needed clear instructions and a real audience. The jury needed a process they could take seriously. People outside the program had no reason yet to care about student films.
Every film had its own page, not only the finalists, so all 36 students had something to share and a reason to bring people in.
Every film had its own page, not only the finalists.
Recognition came from two places. A jury of industry professionals selected five Spotlight Films per cohort, which gave the festival credibility. The public voted in five audience categories, which gave everyone else a way to take part.
Social content and direct messages introduced the films and explained how to vote. The festival received 1,623 votes.
As the festival grew, information was spread across different moments and channels. Students in each cohort needed to understand their own deadlines, technical requirements, voting, jury selection, awards and what to prepare for Los Angeles.
Instead of continuing to answer those questions one by one, I brought everything into a single Festival Guide, covering submissions, timelines, film and trailer requirements, thumbnails, technical specs, voting, awards, screenings and the LA experience.
It’s a good example of how I like to work. When something starts getting hard to navigate, I look for the system behind it and make it easier for everyone using it.
