FESTIVAL PROGRAM AND HIGHLIGHTS

Transcription

1 EVENT REPORT 2017

2 INTRODUCTION The 10th Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival was held at the Gympie Civic Centre from Thursday 5 to Sunday 8 October The 4-day event and the program launch in Gympie and Brisbane attracted an audience of more than 7000 from all over Australia. This year s program was of an even higher standard than in The program included 136 films of which 10 films were world premieres, 55 films were Australian premieres and over 90 films screened in Queensland for the first time. The film selection included winners of the Palme d Ór, Academy Award and Crystal Bear. The festival also offered an extensive Extras program with masterclasses, workshops and filmmaker Q&As and a 10 th birthday party celebration. The success of the 2017 festival, which coincided with Gympie s 150 anniversary of the discovery of gold, ensured this event will continue to grow in the future. The following pages provide a post event overview and report on key aspects of the 10 th Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

3 FESTIVAL PROGRAM AND HIGHLIGHTS The 2017 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival provided many incredible highlights and included new initiatives as part of the 10 th celebration of Heart of Gold and 150 years of Gympie. Some of these highlights and initiatives included: An Opening Night Welcome and Fire Ceremony with the team from Unqualified Design Studio An Opening Night After Party complete with live music from local duo Hat Fitz & Cara 9 scheduled Q&As over 4 days with 47 attending filmmakers, which created an atmosphere of excitement around the film screenings Three Summers special feature film and Michael Caton presenting the Queensland premiere of Three Summers followed by a special Q&A with Michael Caton A glorious golden confection birthday cake celebration where Liz Lewis spoke about the Festival s 10 year history and Michael Caton led the crowd singing Happy Birthday Filmmaker BBQ lunch with beer garden atmosphere Daryl & Malcolm s Nostalgic Nuggets presenting wonderful icons and places in the Gympie region Folktale Handheld Devices Workshop Kids drama drop-in with Shake & Stir Theatre Co Late night live music of Persian love songs and Last Drinks outdoor music venue to end the evening Music video masterclass with renowned Australian music video director Nick Waterman and local musicians 35 short film sessions which included winners of the Palme d Or, Academy Award and Crystal Bear Award Ceremony announcing 2017 winners including $5000 for Best Short Film (sponsored by Schuh Group and presented by Cos Schuh) Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

4 FESTIVAL SUPPORTERS CHARITY PARTNERS The 10th Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival partnered with 3 official charities. The Festival, together with one of the major sponsors Shahid Khan, helped shine a light on other organisations and helped create awareness and raise significant funds for the following official charities: Little Haven Palliative Care operated the Festival Cafe serving coffee, cakes, lunch snacks from 9am to 5pm each day as well as Irish stew on Friday Irish night Hope Reins received 1/2 page advertisement in the festival program and social media posts Wishlist received 1/2 page advertisement in the festival program and social media posts Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

5 SPONSORS AND PARTNERSHIPS In 2017, the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival has attracted over 60 local sponsors, most of which have been long term supporters of the festival. The festival team would like to express their sincere gratitude to all sponsors and partners, without whom this festival would not exist. A special thank you goes to: Gympie Regional Council(Major Sponsor) Private Selection(Presenting Sponsor) Bendigo Bank, Gympie RSL, Gympie Funerals, Schuh Group, Polley s, Private Forestry Service Queensland, Channon Lawrence Dental (Gold Heart Sponsors) JAM Outdoor, Pacific Hyundai, Great Eastern Motor Inn, Shine Lawyers(Silver Heart Sponsors) Robertson Brothers Sawmill(Bronze Heart Sponsor) Session and Prize sponsors and the many Helping Heart and Friends of the Festival Sponsors. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

6 MEDIA PARTNERS In 2017 theheart of Gold International Short Film Festival partnered with 9 media sponsors with the aim to establish presence on all media platforms using paid advertising (print, TV, cinema, Facebook, postcard distribution, online advertisements) Avant Card printing and distribution of 15,000 post cards in Brisbane and Sunshine Coast Channel 7 networks 78 daytime and prime time spots of 15 sec advertisements over ten days Profile Magazine What s on in October, ½ page advertisment Artshub/Screenhub 3 scheduled EDMs*, 3 Facebook shout outs and homepage listing Inside Film (IF) a leading platform in the film industry press releases Film Ink EDM banner for 4 weeks APN and The Gympie Times advertising and editorial, including front pages Noosa Today Front cover life story leading up to the festival, ¼ page advertisement New Farm Cinema using the trailer in a 60 second advertisement at New Farm Six Cinema for 4 weeks *EDM = Electronic direct mail Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

7 GOVERNMENT GRANTS In 2017 theheart of Gold International Short Film Festival successfully applied for 6 community and industry grants. These were used to help fund the festival and in particular the masterclasses, special events and Extras program: Regional Arts Fund Queensland Music Video masterclass and Filmmaker Q&As and Jury-in-discussion Screen Queensland Screen Culture Funding Regional Arts Development Fund Folktale handheld devices workshop Community Assistant Grant - G150 Gympie sesquicentenary celebrations Volunteer Grant Hub training, equipment Gambling Fund ticket printer and document scanning equipment Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

8 VOLUNTEERS Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival s volunteers play a major role in the success of the festival. Apart from performing major functions during the festival, such as front of house, bar, ushering, ticket sales, selling popcorn, merchandise and raffle tickets, the volunteers ensure that visiting filmmakers and guests were being looked after extremely well during their stay in Gympie. The festival offers free pick up from airports, free transport during the festival and free homestay accommodation and a free gift bag containing local products and tourist information. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival s staff member, Michael Rank, a volunteer himself, has been the Festival s Volunteer Co-ordinator for many years now, and was again in charge of guiding the army of volunteers that are necessary to run this festival. Michael was responsible for signing up 199 individuals to fill 108 roles covering 1245 hours over the four days of the Festival plus bump in and bump out. At the Government estimate of volunteer hour value of $30 per hour this work alone was worth $37,364 to the Festival. In addition, the Gympie Cooloola Rotary Club volunteers ran the festival bar, Little Haven Palliative Care volunteers ran the festival cafe and several film students from Brisbane offered their help. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

9 KEY EVENTS AND ACTIVITIES OPENING NIGHT The Opening Night Welcome of the 2017 Heart of Gold International Short Film was held on Thursday, 5 October in Prospector s Hall of the Gympie Civic Centre. To celebrate 150 years since gold was first discovered in Gympie, the Prospector s Hall was turned into a goldmine installation using projectors, soundscapes and props sourced from gold mining museum and generous volunteers. 350 guests enjoyed a glass of sparkling wine containing gold flakes and canapés whilst listening to the tunes of local musician Emma Beau. The event was hosted by board member Luke Harriman, key speakers were Artistic Director Emily Avila and Chair Claudia Granshaw, before the festival was officially opened by Aunt Lillian Bourke with a special fire ceremony involving VIP guests and the UDS team. This celebration was followed by a 90-minute selection of the best short films of the festival and an after party with live music by local duo Hat Fitz & Cara. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

10 FILMMAKER Q&A and JURY IN DISCUSSION 47 filmmakers, 4 jury members, 30 guests and arts workers, some with their family members, attended the 2017 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival. This allowed the festival to schedule 9 filmmaker Q&A sessions as well as several discussion groups where the audience was able to hear directly from the filmmakers. These discussions created an atmosphere of excitement around the screenings. Filmmakers arrived from Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Gold and Sunshine Coasts as well as local filmmaker Peter Herrington. The highlight was the feature film Three Summers followed by the Q&A with Michael Caton which was attended by almost 400 patrons, a near sell out. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

11 SCHOOL STUDENT DAY The 2017 Heart of Gold International Short Film festival attracted over 250 school students. Friday was the main day for visiting high schools with the following schools in attendance: Adult learning group (20 students) James Nash State High School Day 1 (50 students) St Patrick's College (26 students) James Nash State High School Day 2 (20 students) Noosa District High School (100 students) Cooloola Christian College (20 students) Various year 6 and year 7 students from local and Sunshine Coast schools The students were able attend Q&A screenings and watch 2 sessions specifically aimed at high school students. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

12 AWARD PRESENTATION AND BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION The Awards Presentation for the 2017 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival was held in the Heritage Theatre of the Gympie Civic Centre on Saturday, 7 October. With a total prize pool of $10,000 available, including $5,000 for the 2017 Heart of Gold Best Short Film, the four judges were busy selecting the winning films for the 10 categories. The award presentation was hosted by Program Manager and Graphic Designer Jackson Scott. Sponsors and industry experts, including Michael Caton, presented 3 beautiful stainless steel Heart of Gold trophies and 7 wooden craft award trophies to the deserving filmmakers. All trophies were made by local craftspeople. Some of the overseas-based filmmakers from Netherlands, Ireland, UK and Hungary, who couldn t make it to the festival, recorded a special acceptance speech which was played to the audience.. Leading into the Award Presentation was the special birthday drinks reception with Michael Caton in attendance. The cake was a glorious confection that spoke to the theme and provided a beautiful centrepiece for a nice interlude where Liz Lewis spoke about the festival s 10-year history and Michael Caton led the crowd singing happy birthday. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

13 MASTERCLASSES AND WORKSHOPS The 2017 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival was able to run 2 workshops. The first workshop was a handheld devices workshop by Canadian-born Sarah Mak of Brisbanebased storytelling studio. The 20 participants and another 20 audience members learned about the latest techniques of video editing and visual story telling and were able to shoot their own small video featuring the Heart of Gold Film Festival. This workshop was funded by Regional Development Arts Fund. The second workshop was a music video masterclass held in the adjacent Senior Citizens Centre by renowned Australian music video director, Nick Waterman. The 20 participants and further 20 audience members were able to draw on examples from artists such as Delta Goodrem and Jessica Mauboy with hands-on live performance shoots. The musical component was delivered by Hervey Bay musician Leonie Kingdom. This masterclass was funded by Australian Regional Arts Fund and Queensland Government. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

14 SUNDAY FAMILY DAY Sunday was the family day at the 2017 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival. With Animation Shorts and Family Shorts running in the Heritage Theatre and in the niche little cinema in Fossickers Room, the younger audience was also able to join the fun-loving team of Shake & Stir for a free drop-in drama workshop. The family day attracted over 200 kids and their families. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

15 3% 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% 15% 5% 1% 18% 14% 5% 58% 78% Brisbane Suburbs Rest of QLD Gympie Region Melbourne Victoria WA 1 hr away Sydney, Northern NSW International (USA, Ireland, Croatia) 4% Male Female not answered AUDIENCE DEMOGRAPHICS Surveys conducted during and post 2017 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival showed the following audience demographics: ECONOMIC IMPACT The post-festival survey revealed that the visitors stayed an average of 2.4 nights in Gympie and spent an average of $368 each during their stay. REGIONAL BREAKDOWN With a total of 7,284 festival audience and participants, locals dominated with 58% from within the Gympie region. This percentage shows the level of support the local community has for this festival. Out of town visitors were 42%, with the majority coming from Brisbane 14%, Sunshine and Fraser Coast (= 1 hour away) 15% and Sydney 5%. GENDER BREAKDOWN (using post festival survey data only) 78% of the audience who participated in the post festival survey were female AGE BREAKDOWN (using post festival survey data only) The age of the audience who participated in the post festival survey varied from 24 to 79, with the average age being 53.9 years old. It is felt that children were not represented by the survey. 0 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

16 ADVERTISING AND PROMOTION TELEVISION Channel 7 network was the Official Television Partner of the 2017 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival. Channel 7 and Channel 72 Sunshine Coast and Wide Bay delivered advertisements scheduled for the Sunshine Coast market. The 78 advertisements ran for the period 29 September to 4 October 2017, and included: Channel 7 Sunshine Coast 18 x 15 second advertisement Channel 7 Wide Bay 18 x 15 second advertisement Channel 72 Sunshine Coast 21 x 15 second advertisement Channel 72 Wide Bay 21 x 15 second advertisement Channel 7 also reported live with Michael Caton from the Festival on Saturday 7 October. CINEMA In 2017, the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival invested for the first time in Cinema advertising. New Farm Six Cinema in Brisbane offered a competitive price, could cater for a 60 second advertisement and its location fell into the target market of Brisbane cinephiles. The advertisement was scheduled for 1 month prior to the festival. It was a great way for the festival promo trailer to be shown elsewhere not only during the Festival. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

17 PRINT THE GYMPIE TIMES was the Official Print Newspaper Partner of the 2017 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival. As part of this partnership The Gympie Times offered strong editorial coverage of the event. This included pre- and post-event feature stories and photos and several 120 x 120mm advertisements. Tuesday, 25 July (page 18) Final call for short films - Heart of Gold submissions closing soon Saturday, 9 September (page 4) Rich pickings in film fest Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival program announced Saturday, 23 September (page 3) Big-hearted Caton in festival coup Thursday, 5 October (Front page coverage) That s gold! Thursday, 5 October (Page 7) Living in the gold rush Thursday, 5 October (page 23) Entertainment Guide Saturday, 7 October (Front page coverage) Film Fest heats up the Civic Centre Saturday, 7 October (page 4) Things to do - Editors Pick Saturday, 7 October (page 7) Heart of Gold juror praises film quality Saturday, 7 October (page 12) Our view: Fantasy must stay in films Saturday, 7 October (page 16/17) Heart of Gold marks decade of top flicks Tuesday, 10 October (page 6) Golden decade of film excellence Tuesday, 10 October (page 6) Michael Caton Gympie s where it all started for me Tuesday, 10 October (page 6) Golden decade of film excellence COURIER MAIL Q WEEKEND ran a feature story BACK TO THE GOLD RUSH by Susan Johnson Saturday/Sunday 7-8 October (page 16-18) - The story featured Michael Caton and the film Three Summers, Heart of Gold s Artistic Director Emily Avila as well as the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

18 MAGAZINE Movie magazines were the chosen medium for international promotional efforts to attract visitors and also to increase the awareness of the festival. A partnership continued with Australia s online movie magazine Filmink and with Australia s print and online publication for screen-content Inside Film (IF) which included editorial and advertising support in the lead up to the festival. In addition the Profile Magazine, Sunshine Coast s lifestyle and events magazine, featured ½ page ad in the September edition. RADIO The Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival was able to obtain several aired spots with Zinc 96, ZZZ Brisbane, ABC Wide Bay, ABC Sunshine Coast. The aired spots included: - Zinc 96 Interview with Artistic Director Emily Avila - Zinc 96 Interview with Audience Engagement Manager Maddi Roemcke - ZZZ Brisbane Interview with Artistic Director Emily Avila - ABC Wide Bay Interview with Artistic Director Emily Avila - ABC Sunshine Coast Interview with Michael Caton ONLINE NEWS HUBS Continued memberships with leading Australian online news hubs continued in ArtsHub with its broad reach within the Australian arts scene and ScreenHub with the daily news service for film, television and multimedia professionals scheduled several marketing campaigns and Facebook shout outs were scheduled in the lead-up and during the festival. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

19 Australia USA UK Ireland Netherland Switzerland Canada New Zealand Germany Brazil Syria India Scottland France Spain Hungary Norway Finland Sweden Belgium Czechoslovakia Italy Turkey Columbia Argentina Iran Lebanon Tunesia Congo South Africa Japan China South Korea Cambodia FILM SUBMISSION PORTALS Online film submission portals were used to promote brand awareness as well as source films For the first time in 2017 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival signed up with US based FilmFreeway as its major film submission platform. Film submissions increased by an amazing 200%. 183 films were submitted via FilmFreeway which contributed significantly to the festival income. The second submission platform used was German-based reelport. FILM STATISTICS The films accepted for the festival originated from 34 countries. To the left is the film break up by country. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

20 OFFICIAL FESTIVAL PROGRAM The 2017 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival program was designed by Jackson Scott and Emily Avila with input from a large group of volunteers. The 64-page program contains details of the 35 film sessions, special events, Extras program, ticket information, sponsor logos and sponsor advertising and credits to everyone who contributed to the success of the Festival. Gympie Graphics printed 3500 copies which were handed out during the program launch in Gympie and Brisbane and were distributed by volunteers throughout the communities from Hervey Bay to Kingaroy, Sunshine Coast, Brisbane and Gympie. Further copies were available during the festival. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

21 PROMOTIONAL MATERIAL FLYER In addition to the program, 3000 flyers were printed 3 months prior to the festival as a date claimer. The flyers were distributed to cafes, clubs and handed out at major events, such as Gympie s Winter on Mary Street Party. POSTCARD postcards were printed by media sponsor Avant Card which included printing and distribution to cafes throughout Brisbane and Sunshine Coast. POSTER Posters included a sponsor band with logos of Gold Heart sponsors, Major sponsors and Presenting Sponsor. 500 A4 posters were printed locally. PROMO TRAILER A promotional trailer was produced by Whistling Wolf, featuring some iconic Gympie spots as well as snippets of films screening at the festival. The trailer played at the program launch in Gympie and Brisbane, received 22,000 hits on Facebook and played prior to every one of the 35 sessions during the festival. It is also available to view on the Heart of Gold website. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

22 SOCIAL MEDIA During 2017, the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival was regularly promoted via the Heart of Gold Facebook page and via Instagram. Facebook advertising was to drive traffic to the Heart of Gold website and convert engaged audiences into ticket purchasers. This was very successful. The Heart of Gold trailer campaign generated an audience of over 22,000 views. These viewers were then segmented and retargeted to meet the festival s needs. Sponsoring businesses to a level of $1000 and above received at least one designated sponsor spotlight post on Facebook in the month leading up to the festival. Below is a list of key statistics and highlights from the social media campaign: - Heart of Gold Facebook page has now 8353 followers -The Heart of Gold promotional trailer campaign generated an audience of over 22,000 views - Heart of Gold Instagram platform is growing slowly from 484 followers last year to 585 this year (20% increase) Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

23 OUTDOOR ADVERTISING BUS BACKS As part of this year s marketing campaign, bus backs were used for the first time to promote the festival to the Sunshine Coast and Gympie region. Leading up to the Festival, local bus company, Polleys, agreed to sponsors 6 bus backs for one month. In addition Polleys also provided one of their tour buses, Black Beauty, as advertising medium. The beautiful black bus looked fabulous and was parked along the Bruce Highway when not in use and in front of the Art Gallery for the Gympie program launch on 7 September and in front of the Civic Centre during the festival. BILLBOARD The partnership between Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival and Channon & Lawrence Dental continued in 2017 with a joint bill board advertising called 2 hearts combined on the Bruce Highway heading south of Gympie. A second billboard, sponsored by JAM, a new sponsor this year, was located on the Bruce Highway heading north near Lake Alford. Both billboard promotions were for 1 month prior to and including the festival. STREET ADVERTISING The Gympie Regional Council organised a 4-sided stand-alone street directory board to be built and installed to advertise specific events during Rush. This was a 4-sided steel construction 1.2m (w) x 2.4m (h) featuring RUSH festival which includes the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival. The directory board was in Mary Street from 28 September Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

24 MERCHANDISE In addition to merchandise from 2015/16, the following new items were available for purchase over the website prior to the festival and at the festival shop during the festival. Very popular were the locally-made wooden hearts by Peter Watts. Below is a list of items for purchase: - Black T-Shirt with 2017 design - Sticker with generic Heart of Gold logo (11x8cm) - Wooden Heart necklace - Transfers with 2017 design to iron on own shirt - Tote bag from 2016 (if any left) - Tea towel from HOG mug from HOG Cooler from 2015 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

25 LOCAL COMMUNITY, SCHOOLS AND TOURISM PROMOTIONS PROGRAM LAUNCH GYMPIE On Thursday, 7 September, 260 locals from sponsoring businesses, council, government, staff, volunteers and fans were treated to a delicious cheese and wine evening at the Gympie Regional Art Gallery. The evening was hosted by Channel 7 s Katie Toney. Heart of Gold Chair, Claudia Granshaw, thanked the sponsors while Artistic Director Emily Avila announced the 2017 program and revealed the 2017 trailer. PROGRAM LAUNCH BRISBANE A few days later, in a pub in West End, the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival program was revealed to an industry audience, with members from Screen Queensland and many Queensland filmmakers in attendance. TOURISM INDUSTRY As a member of Visit Sunshine Coast, the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival was promoted on the Visit Sunshine Coast website and facebook page. Representatives from Heart of Gold Board, Luke Harriman and Claudia Granshaw, actively promoted the festival at the Visit Sunshine Coast networking event on the 19 September at Amamoor Lodge in the Mary Valley. During this event the Heart of Gold promo video was playing on a loop and participants were able to take home a copy of the 2017 Festival program. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

26 SCHOOL VISITS AND SHOUT OUTS To encourage young filmmakers wanting to start their journey into film while they are still at school, Heart of Gold includes a Young Filmmaker Competition. Co-ordinators visited primary and high schools in the Gympie and Sunshine Coast Region and several calls for entries were posted on the Heart of Gold Facebook page. 15 film entries were received, 13 from Victory and 2 from Queensland. The winner received a Go-Pro sponsored by Harvey Norman which was presented by Dominique Boden and Adelene Walker. The selected finalists were screened on Sunday 8 October in the Fossicker s room. The films were brilliant, relevant and diverse and it was great to see such well-crafted shorts from our industry s youngest budding creatives. COMMUNITY CLUBS Representatives from Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival spoke at local clubs and actively promoted the festival throughout the community. Robyn Bowman spoke to Probus Club in Kingaroy and Claudia Granshaw spoke at the joint Gympie and Cooloola Rotary Club meeting on the 3 October which also included a screening of the Queensland made film Boggabilla Bus. The film is based on a true story and was thoroughly enjoyed by all. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

27 ART WITH HEART RAFFLE In partnership with the Gympie Regional Art Gallery, this major festival fundraiser gives businesses and private collectors an exclusive opportunity to acquire unique pieces of artwork made by local artists. The 10 art pieces were exhibited in the art gallery and a local shopping centre in the month prior to the festival with raffle tickets available for purchase for $20 at these locations and on the Heart of Gold website. The raffle was drawn at the festival on Sunday afternoon. A total of 350 raffle tickets were sold. SATELLITE EVENT PROGRAM For a number of years the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival goes on tour to show a selection of the best films from the previous year at selected venues. The satellite events promote the festival beyond Gympie and assists with funding for the next year s festival. In 2017, satellite screenings were held in partnership with film enthusiasts in Maryborough, Maleny, Gympie and Noosa. NOSTALGIC NUGGETS To celebrate 150 years of Gympie, Nostalgic Nuggets were presented at the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival on Friday 6 October in the Prospectors room. The Nuggets are a collection of stories about people and places in Gympie, filmed and presented by Malcolm and Daryl Dodt. This free session was hugely popular with the audience especially the local community. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

28 HEART OF GOLD WEBSITE In 2017 a new, more user-friendly website was created by Jackson Scott, Heart of Gold Program Manager, using SquareSpace. Information on the website included the 2017 promo trailer, the film submission link, event and program information, ticket purchase link, accommodation and tourism information, media and gallery and sponsor logos. All information can be accessed at From September 27, the date of Google Analytics installation, until the end of the Festival on October 8, the website saw 5114 visits. The vast majority of these visits were sourced from organic Google search traffic, with Facebook link clicks accounting for 6.28%of site traffic. E-NEWSLETTERS From January to November 2017 a total of 30 e-newsletters were distributed using mailchimp to the Heart of Gold database of 1650 subscribers. Regular e-newsletters included vital information about the event to volunteers and audience alike as well as a Festival event calls to action. PRESS RELEASES 1 March: Hearts set on discovery for 2017 Festival 24 July: Final Call for Short Films 31 May: Short films help warm up Gympie Winter 4 Sept: Film Festival Calls for High School shorts 8 Sept: Gympie Program Launch Press Release 12 Sept: Brisbane Program Preview Press release 25 Sept: Gympie strikes gold with Michael Caton 28 Sept: Gympie sparkles in the world of short film 6 Oct: Nominations announced 9 Oct: Heart of Gold Soars to new heights Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,

29 FUTURE DIRECTION It is an exciting time for the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival. Heart of Gold s reputation has grown with more submissions and attending filmmakers, and increased media interest. The festival is broadening its scope and its audience whilst staying true to what makes Heart of Gold unique in the first place - a celebration of positivity and hope and a love of short films. The challenge for 2018 is to capitalise on this momentum. Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival needs to expand its team and secure a new presenting sponsor. With the support from the local tourism body and the local council, Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival needs to continue to embrace Gympie s regional charm whilst raising the bar for the program at an industry level. The Board of the Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival would like to thanks all sponsors, all volunteers, all previous and current Artistic Directors and all staff for their support over the past 10 years and for their help in growing this wonderful festival into the largest short film festival in Queensland. Claudia Granshaw 20 November 2017 Heart of Gold International Short Film Festival,