Film & Festivals Magazine began in the summer of 2006 as the brainchild of London-based Brazilian filmmaker Rose Chamberlain, who saw a gap in the market for a magazine dedicated to film festivals around the world. With over 4000 festivals held annually, attracting millions of filmmakers and cinema lovers, it made perfect business sense. The magazine started out as print edition, with the first editions distributed free at festivals and independent cinemas throughout the UK and Europe. It was met with great enthusiasm for the quality of its design and content. However, by the time we had a proper distribution channel in in place the first wave of the economic downturn hit, but we were temporarily rescued by another publisher, who funded us until the next (bigger) wave of the economic crisis hit and we were left on our own, with no publishing or distribution support, and our main outlet in the UK bankrupt. Despite these adversities we knew we had a great product and we regrouped to look for the best way forward, in both editorial and production terms .

Just as "desktop publishing" in the 80s changed the way newspapers and magazines were produced, when we reached this crossroads there was already a movement away from print that was bridging the gap between traditional magazine formats and websites; and this was before iPads were nothing more than a lightbulb over Steve Jobs' head. Digital magazines were able to give the same visual experience of a traditional mag, but without the high cost of printing and distribution, and with the added benefit of rich content such as video. Print on Demand, which had already been around for some time, was finally at a level that could match offset printing for the quality demanded by magazines. So we now had two ways of distributing the magazine to an international audience without any production overheads. 

In these days of reduced advertising spend and the expectations and demands for free content, it is not easy for a magazine to survive. After giving the magazine away for so many years, we are now charging for the digital version. At just $1.50 for the digital (PDF) version, it's not a lot to ask, so please support us so we can continue the magazine and finally pay the writers.

If you want to have a look at the magazine and get an idea of the content of each themed issue then visit www.magcloud.com/user/FilmandFestivals