Vancouver Queer Film Festival

A Spotlight Strategy for Queer Film, Art, and Community

From research to rollout: a cinematic journey in elevating queer voices and redefining festival presence.

ID: Full shot of a promotional image for the Vancouver Queer Film Festival. The background is a vibrant, deep magenta and fuchsia. The image seems to be layered with a blurred, slightly desaturated background behind two people in the foreground. This creates a sense of depth and visual interest. The superimposed elements include a stylized image suggestive of a film projector or camera lens, with light rays radiating outward, creating a dynamic effect. White text clearly displays “VANCOUVER” above “QUEER FILM FESTIVAL”, with the word “QUEER” presented in a larger size and prominent font. Two people, appearing to be in a casual setting, are subtly visible within the background. One person is a young man with slightly darker hair, and another person is a woman, light-skinned, with a warm expression. Their clothing is somewhat obscured by the overlapping background layers. The whole image has a sense of motion and a warm colour palette.

The Project

AndHumanity was tasked to promote Out On Screen’s annual flagship film festival, “Vancouver Queer Film Festival”. It was a fully integrated project in the nonprofit and film sector with a core focus on the 2SLGBTQIA+ community and donor audiences.

Our unique approach

Vancouver Queer Film Festival came to us with the primary objective of: “Establishing their presence and influencing reputation and community connections as a platform for enthusiastic supporters of transformational and cutting-edge intersectional queer, trans and two-spirit film and art. We were enlisted to achieve this primary objective by developing “a differentiated brand presence, cohesive voice and compelling marketing and communications strategy and plan.” There were so many elements to the project that included – but was not limited to – research involving the 2SLGBTQIA+ community, social media content creation, ad creation, digital media planning and buying etc.. We celebrated authentic depictions of diversity & intersectionality in programming and film on social media which garnered a 2.2% average engagement rate relative to followers. We also developed a new cohesive and distinct brand presence for the festival that year and garnered fantastic media coverage, impactful interviews, and impromptu brand partnerships. Our advertising campaign generated a 350% growth in active website users as well as 10x more visits to the Membership Passes page. Lastly, we demonstrated that the organization authentically supports queer, trans and two-spirit film, art and artists throughout every step of the process both internally and externally, which resulted in strong attendance and fundraising results.

Deliverables

Community Engagement Research
Employee Engagement Research
Analysis and Insights Reporting
Integrated Marketing and Communications Strategy
Campaign Ideation
Campaign Co-Implementation

ID: A grid of nine square social media images promoting the Vancouver Queer Film Festival. Each square features a slightly different design, but all have a similar color palette of deep purples, lavenders, and a pinkish-magenta. The images use a combination of text quotes, stylized graphics (purple text, stylized X’s and film frames), and artistic images (people, film scenes, abstract backgrounds). The quotes within the squares highlight community themes, volunteerism, and the importance of representation or celebrating the experiences of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. Some quotes reference specific aspects of the film festival, like particular films or past experiences. Several squares feature artistic representations of people from films.

“Add a quote here from the client if one exists. If there isn’t, we can maybe try getting one from the internal team who was involved in the project who wants to celebrate a success, avoiding only celebrating the client.”

Person's Name
Position, Organization

“[We] had an opportunity to work with AndHumanity to assess our brand and its relationship to our audience. The team did a fantastic job at identifying where there were and weren't alignments between where we felt the organization was, how it was perceived in our communities, and where we wanted it to be. Together, we developed strategies to address the gaps while reinforcing the similarities, leading to a stronger brand presence within our target groups.”

— Samuel Bourne, Development Director