Having grown up as an avid telly watcher, I am a big fan of comedy. And I find myself bingeing on more and more comedy to keep the gloominess of this whole lockdown at bay. From Stand-Up sets and Lonely Island’s musical parodies, to talk shows and horror comedy movies, from SNL’s satirical sketches and Bill Burr’s rants to good old-fashioned improv—everything about this genre just fascinates me. So it was great when I came across the Women’s Comedy Film Festival, which is currently bringing, you guessed it, women being funny to everyone’s doorstep.
I had a chat with founder Caroline King about her festival, which plays host to a plethora of female comedic talent and is providing the much needed laughs during a lockdown.
What is the purpose behind this festival and who/what inspired you to start it?
CK: I have a background in comedy, getting my start at Second City and iO in Chicago, IL, and continued my journey as a filmmaker, moving to Atlanta, GA in 2015 after creating my film “Church Wives” that toured the festival circuit in 2016 and 2017.
I had an amazing experience at film festivals across the country and wanted to bring that experience back to Atlanta with me, where true independent films and filmmakers are highlighted and featured. I now run a company called ‘Cinema Life’ where we have a total of seven film festivals in Atlanta and Chicago. After seeing how many hilariously amazing films [were]done by female filmmakers, I knew I had to create a festival to highlight these incredible women.
I started the Women’s Comedy Film festival in 2018 in Atlanta with huge success and support from the community. We are going on our 3rd year in Atlanta, and we are expanding to our sister festival in Chicago this year! The purpose of this festival is to highlight women in comedy in a supportive environment and create a community for networking.
Who does this festival offer a platform to and who all can participate in it?
CK: This festival is a welcome environment for women, people who identify as women, the LGBTQIA+ community, and male allies that create female centered storylines.
Has it been a smooth run when you initially began this festival or did you encounter any hurdles?
CK: HA! I’ll start by saying that we have been welcomed with open arms by the film community since we began and we are very grateful for the support we have received. 2020 was a hot, flaming, dumpster fire for everyone, but running a live event in the middle of a pandemic was challenging to say the least.
We overcame as a team and our filmmakers and writers have kept us going with their resilience and dedication to their craft. They inspire us everyday to keep going so we can provide a platform to highlight them.
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Could you elaborate on the content that this festival offers?
CK: The Women’s Comedy Film Festival screens a variety of comedy short films from all over the world. From mockumentaries to dark comedies to wacky music videos, we have it all!
Every year I am more and more impressed with our submissions and the creativity of our filmmakers, so it is impossible to predict what will come next… but I promise anyone in attendance in person or virtually will have a great time!
Despite a diverse range of female comedians/comediennes like Kristen Wiig, Kerry Godliman, Amber Ruffin, Katherine Ryan, Sindhu Vee, Amy Poehler, Taylor Tomlinson, Meera Syal, Maria Bamford, and even Molly Clark recently (through whose movie ‘Martin The Sea Turtle’ I was introduced to your festival), who have left their mark in the field of comedy and now in film. There’s still a handful naysayers out there—both online and off—who think that ‘women are unfunny’ or that ‘comedy is not a woman’s game.’ What are your thoughts on the same and do you think that this clichéd, persisting mindset can be changed or even done away with fully any time soon?
CK: It’s hard to believe people like this exist but they do! I ignore them and keep going, because if someone is not going to support women in the community, they have no place here. The best way we can fight this is to embrace our fellow female comedians and build them up.
We have to create opportunities for ourselves and involve our circle. Surround yourself with other women who have a similar path to you and want success for you. If the people in your circle do not celebrate your success, it’s time for a new circle!
A lot of the other film festival organisers whom I’ve spoken to have addressed the setbacks and opportunities the pandemic has presented to them and their festivals. What are some setbacks and opportunities you’ve experienced during the pandemic?
CK: 2020 hit us like a giant truck, as it did for everyone. We had two options: quit, or find a way to adapt to the new normal. I have an amazing team and my business partner and best friend, Stephen Beehler, that truly help lead the way to our new way of having these festivals.
We postponed all of our events until later in the year and we added a virtual simulcast to all of our events. This allowed us to limit audience sizes in-person, so everyone in attendance could be part of the festival in a safe, socially distanced and highly sanitized environment. With the addition of our virtual simulcast, it allowed filmmakers and viewers from home to participate in the festival as if they were there!
All future festivals will include the virtual simulcast that we adapted this year. This is very exciting because one of the biggest financial burdens for independent filmmakers is the ability to travel to film festivals…”caroline king
They could follow along with the films online, and then filmmakers were able to Zoom in for their Q&As for the audience in person and online! Our filmmakers had an amazing time and our viewers enjoyed the experience of getting to interact with the filmmakers. We also added ‘Filmmaker Spotlights’ to our social media and website, where we feature filmmakers from current or past festivals and do personalized interviews with them. It is a great opportunity to get to know our filmmakers on a deeper level and feature them on our platform.
With reference to my earlier question, how have you adapted to the setbacks and opportunities of the pandemic? What are some lessons that you’ll be taking from it?
CK: All future festivals will include the virtual simulcast that we adapted this year. This is very exciting because one of the biggest financial burdens for independent filmmakers is the ability to travel to film festivals…and with this new addition our filmmakers can participate from anywhere in the world. As much as we love seeing our filmmakers in person, we are ecstatic to be able to include and interact with them from anywhere!
Going forward, what are your goals and future plans for the festival?
CK: We are very grateful to have been able to hold our festival this year at all, so we are looking forward to continuing safe, socially distant, in-person screening with networking opportunities, growing our community of filmmakers and creating opportunities for them along the way.
And that concludes our interview with Caroline King about the Women’s Comedy Film Festival. Booking your seat at the festival and joining in on the laughter is easy. Head on over to their website at cinemalife.org/womenscomedyfilmfestivalatl.
