A Study of Edmonton Short Film Festival: Engaging Youth in Short Film Festival Participation

Abstract

The Edmonton Short Film Festival (ESFF) aims to address the lack of youth engagement in its events by determining methods to increase short film submissions and audience attendance among the Generation Z demographic. By understanding the target’s preferences and barriers to participation, the research objective is to identify strategies to increase visibility, reduce submission intimidation, and address financial and preference concerns for ESFF’s prospective youth filmmakers and audience members. The study employed a mixed-method design, where we first interviewed 4 participants. In the second research stage, we used a stratified sampling technique with electronic surveys distributed to students, filmmakers, and arts community members in Edmonton via email and social media. The final sample comprised 55 valid responses, categorized into filmmakers (12) and audience members (43). Our major findings include the following. Low marketing visibility and limited outreach efforts have significantly contributed to low ESFF awareness and participation (viewership/festival attendance) among audience members. Nevertheless, such visibility challenges have less impact on filmmakers. Instead, within the filmmaker community, internal word-of-mouth is a stronger indicator of awareness and participation (short film submission). For filmmakers, intimidation and fear of rejection are significant barriers to filmmaker participation, decreasing the likelihood of submission to ESFF. However, a sense of competition among peers increases submission rates. While flexible submission criteria encourage participation, offering genre variety or the promise of streaming/hybrid event screenings does not significantly impact submission likelihood. Financial considerations, such as providing cash incentives for submission, have also proven to be a strong motivator, increasing submission likelihood. Even so, free submission forums do not increase the likelihood of submitting. For audience members, virtual and hybrid film screening preferences, popularized in the post-pandemic era, have reduced in-person attendance, decreasing audience engagement with ESFF. Similar to filmmakers, financial considerations impact audience member engagement, too. Some audience members prioritize affordability, while others view the experience as a worthwhile investment, creating two distinct subgroups with unique viewership participation: cost-conscious viewers and value-driven spenders. For audience members, virtual and hybrid film screening preferences, popularized in the post-pandemic era, have reduced in-person attendance, decreasing audience engagement with ESFF. Similar to filmmakers, financial considerations impact audience member engagement, too. Some audience members prioritize affordability, while others view the experience as a worthwhile investment, creating two distinct subgroups with unique viewership participation: cost-conscious viewers and value-driven spenders.