Objective
Couch Fest Films, now billed as the largest single-day shorts film festival in the world, is a unique festival hosted in people’s houses and alternative locations around the world. VPR Media & Marketing was contracted to (a) promote and obtain sponsorship for both its Iceland debut in association with the Reykjavik International Film Festival, and its following year participation there as a stand alone event on Reykjavik’s cultural calendar; and (b) increase awareness of the Fest to ensure active participation by shorts film producers and directors, and increase the number of screening locations and participants around the world.
Strategy
VPR negotiated with potential sponsors within Reykjavik who would not only support the festival financially, but would also provide unusual screening locations which would attract international media and public interest. VPR also worked closely with Reykjavik International Film Festival staff so that Couch Fest Films could officially be regarded as a bonafide partner of a major international film festival.
Result
The City of Reykjavik became the festival’s major sponsor and many local businesses came on board as sponsors and provided screening locations which attracted international media coverage. These included a whale watching boat, youth hostels, restaurants, historic houses, a bike shop, and the homes of notable Icelandic film producers. The City of Reykjavik, as well as becoming the major financial supporter of the Fest, offered its new and renowned Harpa Concert Hall as a venue. Couch Fest Films was so well received in Reykjavik that it is now a Fest screening mainstay, along with venues from Poland to Portland, Seattle to Slovakia, and Port-au-Print to Peru. It attracts shorts films that have debuted at the Fest and then gone on to win acclaim at some of the most respected film festivals in the industry, including Seattle International Film Fest, Sundance, SXS and the Melbourne International Film Fest.