Ep. 26 Balance Curiosity & Art in Documentaries with Rachel Gregg
In this episode, Big Sky Executive Director Rachel Gregg discusses her previous work at the Montana Film Office and providing many spaces in exhibiting many types of documentaries at the Big Sky Film Festival. Finally, in today’s concluding thought, Edward discusses the power of language.
Guest Bio:
Rachel Gregg (she/her) is the Executive Director of the Big Sky Film Institute, home of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival. Rachel joined the Big Sky Film Institute in 2016 and oversees creative direction and production of Institute programs including the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, the Big Sky Film Series, the DocShop industry conference and the Native Filmmaker Initiative. Prior to her to roles at Big Sky, Rachel was a PR specialist for the Montana Film Office where she coordinated public relations, marketing, communications, project development, and web & social media promotions, as well as event-based marketing and brand activation at film festivals including Sundance, SXSW and LA Film Festival.
Time Codes:
1:25 - Rachel's film upbringings
8:25 - Rachel's experience in working at Montana Film Office
14:00 - Rachel's administrative and public relations work at Montana Film Office
18:33 - Rachel's Brand Activation and Talent Relations responsibilities at film festivals
25:50 - Having an Open Submissions Call at Big Sky Film Festival
30:50 - Dissecting the types of films programmed at Big Sky
34:30 - Including more short films than features
37:15 - Youth Education and Native American Initiative Programs at Big Sky
45:43 - How Legislation of Teaching Indigenous History ties into the Native American Initiative
48:37 - Being Accountable of Having an Anti-racist Environment
54:30 - Doc Shop Filmmakers Forum at Big Sky
1:00:50 - Planning to forgo the in-person portion of 2022 Big Sky Film Festival
1:03:15 - Big Sky Pitch
1:08:00 - Rachel recommendations: Stray, Feels Good Man, and shorts Balloonfest and It's Coming
1:11:41 - Concluding Thought: Power of Language
Show notes:
This episode is available on Spotify, Google Podcasts, Apple Music, RadioPublic, and Stitcher.