ii: For people who want to become a screener and preview films for their local film festival—how would one would go about that?

Rachel: Just call up the local festival, ask what kind of volunteer positions they have, and say that you’re especially interested in being a film screener. If you did that at the Los Angeles Film Festival, you would end up talking to our program coordinator and she would probably call you back and do an extended interview to determine if you are qualified to be a screener for us.

Matt: A lot of people who are not part of selection committees or who don’t watch films or go to festivals probably don’t realize that it’s a lot harder than it looks. It’s not for everybody. Some people don’t want to give negative notes on a film because they feel guilty and don’t realize it’s constructive criticism. Apart from that, to be involved with a festival and be a programmer, you have to love film. I know that sounds like a cliché answer but I mean love it like a girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife. You have to love it, warts and all. We see the really attractive stuff and really unattractive stuff, so you really have to be willing to accept it.

Brian: You have to be willing to find the needles in the haystack. Part of the pleasure for me is the hunt to find those really good films. It’s finding the gem in that box, and there may not be anything in that box you take home that day.

Matt: I can’t explain how excited you get when you do find that one diamond in the rough, after you’ve watched hundreds and hundreds of films night after night. There have been nights when I couldn’t sleep because I was so excited and couldn’t wait to call the filmmaker.

Rachel: My heart literally starts to beat faster when I watch something that I’m excited by. But people don’t realize how time-consuming it is. Often people say: "Oh, your job is to watch movies, that’s great." It is great, it’s a great job to have, but it is also a job that may start at six in the morning and finish at one the next morning and you have not left your chair.

Matt: And it can be a hard job to explain. This is not the kind of thing where you can easily relate to somebody. Are they going to feel for you when you say, "Oh, I had to watch movies all night long?" It can be very tough.

ii: It can be all-consuming, but when you love what you do, it makes all the difference.

Matt, Rachel and Brian: Exactly!