Harnessing the power of mobile at Film Festivals

As our festival season comes to a close and we hold onto the last bit of summer let’s look at the many ways mobile apps added organization, creativity and convenience to film festivals.

One of the many exciting projects Kona Company has the pleasure working on is the creation and development of mobile apps.  We spent our summer designing and developing the technology to continue to empower film festivals.  We continue to see the impact our apps had on the festivals as well as filmmakers and festival-goers.

While visiting our West Coast friends at the Los Angeles Film Festival this summer one thing I noticed was that EVERYONE had their phones out before and after films, and even during panels. It has become a necessity to stay connected – whether that means using mobile for note-taking, updating social statuses, or scheduling and locating events.  While the festival had pamphlets with a full film and event schedule, they also had the mobile app.  Within the app users could quickly search for specific films, create a personalized schedule, tag their favorites, buy tickets, locate venues, and even watch film trailers.  Making things even more simple, there was no need to leave the app to check for updates on Twitter and Facebook.

Staying Up-To-Date

While pamphlets can be a very useful tangible tool, our mobile app made staying connected to the festival a breeze.  Our “Social” and “Latest News” tabs provide live feeds from the festivals Twitter and Facebook accounts.  The “Latest News” tab within the app made for an easier way to promptly check for event updates, upcoming events/films scheduled for that day and view the featured films and events for the week.

Easy as 1-2-3

One of my favorite features of the app, as well as many app users, is the film schedule.  Within the “Films” tab the user is able to view the full film schedule for the week, select films to add to their own schedule, purchase tickets, and tag their favorites.  Users can also select each film to view details, venue location, and watch a preview.  If there is a specific film a user is searching for simply look it up using the “search” bar.

As the digital world is ever-changing we are so excited to continue evolving and creating solutions like these to provide the ultimate user-experience.  Next up: The Oaxaca Film Festival – can’t wait!