Last month I attended the Filmmaker’s Social during SQIFF’s festival period. Held at the Art School in Glasgow, the festival hosted this queer networking space for professionals and amateurs in the film and TV industry.
Having been to my fare share of networking events I feel I am in a good position to discern what makes one successful and different. For example, on this occasion I felt immediately welcomed and comfortable…unfortunately something many networking opportunities are lacking.
I am very lucky to have been able to attend networking events across the UK and have made some great contacts and friends through it however, a feeling always crops up: anxiety.
The clear separation between professional and student is akin to the American “shirts and skins” method of splitting teams, only one team is dressed in their best suit and the other is left feeling like their rocking taps aff at the harshly lit hotel room function.
The SQIFF Social offered a safe space for creatives to connect and share ideas. Even for those feeling nervous, its timing towards the end of the festival meant there was plenty to reflect on from the week, providing an easy starting point for conversation.
I spoke with Makayla Angshed, a film student at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, on what was her first ever networking event: “I'm just scared to network, I’m an upcoming filmmaker [and was] told by some people to come out here tonight, and being part of the queer community I thought it was a lot more of a safer space to say ‘I'm gonna push myself’.
“I moved when I was 19 so I've been here for like a year in a bit, I feel like I haven't been to other networking events because I just haven't really known about them. It's also hard to push yourself to go and to find the right people to go with because it's scary to go alone, but I feel like I've been I've spent my time doing a lot of other things and now I'm fully trying to focus more on my film career.”
On the atmosphere at the Filmmaker’s Social Makayla added: “This is a pub vibe. It feels a lot more comfortable to approach people if you need to but also to just kind of [have the option] to sit there and be in the room with other creatives.”
Makayla was drawn to this event primarily because is was advertised as a queer space: “I don't know if I'm just biased because I'm in the community but I just feel like I get more out of talking with fellow queer artists rather than our straight counterparts. I like to support the queer community.
“It's the same thing as, I'd rather go to like a gay club or queer club rather than a straight club. I just feel more welcome and more like this is my space, I feel very much more at home here.”
Watch the video below to see what the event looked like:
By Bethany Watt
