Planning a festival is glamorous… said no one ever. From late-night spreadsheet marathons to last-minute schedule disasters, festival prep can be messy, stressful, and often downright hilarious in hindsight. This episode dives into ten things that went wrong while planning the festival — yes, the real behind-the-scenes chaos — and the bonus chapter: navigating burnout while still trying to make it all happen. Whether it’s mismanaged emails, volunteer hiccups, unexpected tech fails, or just the simple reality of trying to juggle dozens of moving parts, this episode is both a cautionary tale and a laugh-out-loud look at what it really takes to make a festival happen.

The festival can be overwhelming — so many films, panels, and events, and only so many hours in the day! This episode shares top tips for curating your ultimate festival experience. From choosing the screenings that truly excite you, navigating packed schedules without losing your sanity, to using a festival pass like a pro, this is a guide to enjoying every moment your way. Whether it’s a first-time visit or you’re a seasoned festival-goer, these strategies help make the most of the time, skip the FOMO, and leave with memories — not regrets.

Festival season is here, and festival director Caris is spilling all the secrets from her festival bag! From the must-have essentials to little extras that make your day easier (and way more fun), we're sharing what we pack for a full day of screenings, panels, and surprises. Whether you’re a first-timer or a seasoned festival-goer, this episode has tips, tricks, and a few unexpected items you might not have thought to bring...

Women X’s Caris Rianne dusts off the mic and dives into what makes this year's festival extra special, highlighting the experience for both returning festival go-ers and the newbies. Find us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/riannepictures/ https://www.tiktok.com/@riannepictures The Women X Film Festival Podcast is produced by Rianne Pictures: https://riannepictures.com/ Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date with more episodes. Through this podcast, we take you behind-the-scenes of an exciting, fresh short film festival. Learn about the ins and outs of running a film festival, get tips for your short film, listen to interviews with filmmakers, other festivals and more.

Women X’s Caris Rianne and Ashton Clarke reflect on the last five years of Women X Film Festival, from what started as an online venture in 2020 to hundreds attending the 3-day festival at Darlington Hippodrome. (And we’re still growing!) Find us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/riannepictures/ https://twitter.com/riannepictures https://www.tiktok.com/@riannepictures The Women X Film Festival Podcast is produced by Rianne Pictures: https://riannepictures.com/ Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date with more episodes. Through this podcast, we take you behind-the-scenes of an exciting, fresh short film festival. Learn about the ins and outs of running a film festival, get tips for your short film, listen to interviews with filmmakers, other festivals and more.

Mel and Caris return for the third episode in our popular film festival scams series. They cover a well-known, successful festival that flopped after promising 1,000 films and bogus hotel packages, and a scam script competition offering AI feedback! Find us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/riannepictures/ https://twitter.com/riannepictures https://www.tiktok.com/@riannepictures The Women X Film Festival Podcast is produced by Rianne Pictures: https://riannepictures.com/ Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date with more episodes. Through this podcast, we take you behind-the-scenes of an exciting, fresh short film festival. Learn about the ins and outs of running a film festival, get tips for your short film, listen to interviews with filmmakers, other festivals and more.

Abbie from the Women X team is joined by Jessie Craig Roche, director of the short film ‘Three Things We Don’t Talk About’. She talks about why horror is so interesting as a genre, particularly for short films. They also discuss Jessie’s filmmaking experience, making a film in between COVID lockdowns, and more. Find us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/riannepictures/ https://twitter.com/riannepictures https://www.tiktok.com/@riannepictures The Women X Film Festival Podcast is produced by Rianne Pictures: https://riannepictures.com/ Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date with more episodes. Through this podcast, we take you behind-the-scenes of an exciting, fresh short film festival. Learn about the ins and outs of running a film festival, get tips for your short film, listen to interviews with filmmakers, other festivals and more.

Emily Garbutt talks with Cat White about how healing from family loss led her to make her film ‘Fifty-Four Days’. She also shares her unique, organic funding process for the film, being a gender equality advisor the UN, and creating her own production company for Black and minority filmmakers. Find us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/riannepictures/ https://twitter.com/riannepictures https://www.tiktok.com/@riannepictures The Women X Film Festival Podcast is produced by Rianne Pictures: https://riannepictures.com/ Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date with more episodes. Through this podcast, we take you behind-the-scenes of an exciting, fresh short film festival. Learn about the ins and outs of running a film festival, get tips for your short film, listen to interviews with filmmakers, other festivals and more.

Emily Garbutt from the Rianne Pictures team chats with Athanasia Bartzoka, whose film ‘Raja’s Had Enough’ screened at last year’s festival. Athanasia talks crowdfunding £10k for the film and how much work it took to get there, getting into filmmaking after a finance undergrad, and the challenges of balancing life and freelancing work. Find us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/riannepictures/ https://twitter.com/riannepictures https://www.tiktok.com/@riannepictures The Women X Film Festival Podcast is produced by Rianne Pictures: https://riannepictures.com/ Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date with more episodes. Through this podcast, we take you behind-the-scenes of an exciting, fresh short film festival. Learn about the ins and outs of running a film festival, get tips for your short film, listen to interviews with filmmakers, other festivals and more.

Women X’s Abbie is joined by Ella Maree Carey, whose film ‘Prawn’ screened at WXFF 2023. Ella discusses making a film during lockdown, her bad directing experience which taught her to embrace failure and learn from her mistakes, and her top tips for making short films. Find us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/riannepictures/ https://twitter.com/riannepictures https://www.tiktok.com/@riannepictures The Women X Film Festival Podcast is produced by Rianne Pictures: https://riannepictures.com/ Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date with more episodes. Through this podcast, we take you behind-the-scenes of an exciting, fresh short film festival. Learn about the ins and outs of running a film festival, get tips for your short film, listen to interviews with filmmakers, other festivals and more.

In this episode, Caris Rianne is joined by Zoë Bullock, one of the Rianne Pictures script competition finalists! They discuss top tips for entering script competitions, how Zoë got into writing scripts, whether creative industries are becoming more accessible for women, and the differences between writing for theatre and TV. Find us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/riannepictures/ https://twitter.com/riannepictures https://www.tiktok.com/@riannepictures The Women X Film Festival Podcast is produced by Rianne Pictures: https://riannepictures.com/ Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date with more episodes. Through this podcast, we take you behind-the-scenes of an exciting, fresh short film festival. Learn about the ins and outs of running a film festival, get tips for your short film, listen to interviews with filmmakers, other festivals and more.

Women X's Emily Garbutt sits down with Women X alumni Jo Lane ("MUG") to talk about making a film with BFI funding, how her own grief inspired her film about a grieving character, and how she came to filmmaking from a background in interactive and fine arts. Find us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/riannepictures/ https://twitter.com/riannepictures https://www.tiktok.com/@riannepictures The Women X Film Festival Podcast is produced by Rianne Pictures: https://riannepictures.com/ Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date with more episodes. Through this podcast, we take you behind-the-scenes of an exciting, fresh short film festival. Learn about the ins and outs of running a film festival, get tips for your short film, listen to interviews with filmmakers, other festivals and more.

Women X's Emily Garbutt chats with Tyro Heath about her film 'BIRDS', including how it felt to shoot the film in a decommissioned women's prison. She also discusses her documentary background, and how her skills inform her fiction filmmaking. Find us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/riannepictures/ https://twitter.com/riannepictures https://www.tiktok.com/@riannepictures The Women X Film Festival Podcast is produced by Rianne Pictures: https://riannepictures.com/ Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date with more episodes. Through this podcast, we take you behind-the-scenes of an exciting, fresh short film festival. Learn about the ins and outs of running a film festival, get tips for your short film, listen to interviews with filmmakers, other festivals and more.

In this episode, we delve into Rianne Pictures' experience at the Woman with a Movie Camera Summit, where they gained valuable insights and inspiration from female filmmakers in the industry. The summit provided a platform for discussing challenges, successes, and the importance of female representation in film. Rianne Pictures shared their key takeaways from the event, including their two events! Caris, our host, offers essential advice on the five crucial steps filmmakers should take before submitting their films to festivals. By following these recommendations, filmmakers can increase their chances of success in the competitive world of film festivals and showcase their work to a broader audience. Submissions for the Women X Film Festival 2024 are open until May 1st. www.filmfreeway.com/womenx Follow us on all socials @riannepictures

Listen to a Christmas special episode of our first podcast Not Having It All, where hosts Caris, Laverne and Neha discuss where the magic of Christmas films went.

Cais reflects back on her highlights of each year of Rianne Pictues in celebration of the 10th anniversary

Learn all the behind the scenes magic of this year's film festival, Festival Director Caris Rianne and Festival Producer Ashton Clarke take us through all the moments from the start to the end.

Learn all the behind the scenes magic of this year's film festival, Festival Director Caris Rianne and Festival Producer Ashton Clarke take us through all the moments from the start to the end.

In the final interview recorded live at this year’s Women X Film Festival, Charlotte chats with the writers, directors, and producer of “A Television Broadcast from Outer Space”: Mo, Steph and Mikel. They talk about the process of getting funding for the film, how they came up with the idea of making a short film that crosses several genres, and how they each found their way into the industry. Find us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/riannepictures/ https://twitter.com/riannepictures https://www.tiktok.com/@riannepictures The Women X Film Festival Podcast is produced by Rianne Pictures: https://riannepictures.com/ Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date with more episodes. Through this podcast, we take you behind-the-scenes of an exciting, fresh short film festival. Learn about the ins and outs of running a film festival, get tips for your short film, listen to interviews with filmmakers, other festivals and more.

At Women X Film Festival, we sat down with Amber Clarke-McGrath to talk about her short 'Hairy'. Amber talks about taking on multiple roles when creating the short film, the inspiration behind it and her film festival strategy. Amber’s YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@amberclarke-mcgrath5327 Watch ‘Hairy’ here: https://www.minuteshorts.co.uk/film_player/hairy Find us on social media: https://www.instagram.com/riannepictures/ https://twitter.com/riannepictures https://www.tiktok.com/@riannepictures The Women X Film Festival Podcast is produced by Rianne Pictures: https://riannepictures.com/ Make sure to subscribe to the podcast to stay up to date with more episodes. Through this podcast, we take you behind-the-scenes of an exciting, fresh short film festival. Learn about the ins and outs of running a film festival, get tips for your short film, listen to interviews with filmmakers, other festivals and more.