I’m Chris Holland and I’ve been writing about movies, film festivals, and indie film since 1991. I’ve
been in love with the movies for even longer.
In 1996 I co-founded
Stomp Tokyo, a film review web site described by the
New York Times as "a place to indulge one's questionable cinematic taste."
In 2003 Stomp Tokyo published a compendium of reviews in a book called
Reel Shame: Bad Movies and the Hollywood Stars
Who Made Them.
That book is still in print, and is highly recommended if you need a good laugh at someone else’s expense.
In 2005 I started life “on
the inside” at film festivals by volunteering with the Austin Film Festival, and before I knew it I was their director
of marketing. I still screen films on the “front lines” at Austin FF and I’ve served on panels and juries
at a number of festivals.
These days I put my expertise in movies and film festivals to use at
B-Side as the Director of Festival Operations. If you’ve attended or played in a film festival lately, you may have seen our
film festival community software in action. B-Side is also at the forefront of progressive distribution, helping filmmakers
reach their audiences in defiance of the old ways of thinking.
I talk to film festival directors day in and day out. I meet dozens of filmmakers at festivals around
the country. The obvious and omnipresent need for practical advice about the workings of the festival circuit led me to start
the blog Film Festival Secrets, where I publish informative articles about festival strategy and the indie film scene in general.
The positive
response to the blog led me to the more concentrated task of writing a book about festival strategy.
Film Festival Secrets: A Handbook for Independent Filmmakers .
