Freelance Film Competitions and Screenings Manager

Wildscreen Film Festival

Bristol (Hybrid)

Salary: £11,875 fixed fee (£125 per day), requiring 95 days’ work.

Wildscreen is looking for a Film Competitions and Screenings Manager

Wildscreen is looking for a Film Competitions and Screenings Manager

The ideal candidate is a dynamic, fearsomely organised individual with a love of documentaries and film festivals, ideally wildlife and environmental ones.

The Film Competition and Screenings Manager is the engine behind two internationally renowned film competitions – the Wildscreen Panda Awards and the Wildscreen Official Selection Programme.

The success of the film competitions depends on processes being managed efficiently and accurately, so Wildscreen is seeking someone who loves being organised, is methodical by nature, and can communicate effectively with a wide range of stakeholders. The awards timeline is tight, especially in late spring and summer, with many things happening at once, so the successful candidate must remain calm under pressure. This role is suited to someone who is passionate about documentary film and TV, highly organised, motivated, confident, diplomatic, and unflappable when communicating with hundreds of award entrants, programmers, judges, sponsors, and stakeholders located all over the world.

The role offers the opportunity to make a genuinely meaningful contribution to the charity’s mission to promote, democratise and diversify the global natural world storytelling industry.

Role:

• Wildscreen Panda Award and Official Selection Competition Coordination
• Being the first and regular point of contact for all film competition enquiries, entrants and nominees via the awards entry platform (FilmFreeway) and competition inbox
• Processing and checking entries, ensuring all entry/eligibility requirements, deliverables and supporting materials are received and to specification ready for judging
• Management of all entrant communications and notifications throughout the competition cycle
• Collating, recording and reporting on a wide variety of data, including entry data, programme, production, contacts and scheduling
• Monitoring and reporting on elements of the Film Competition budget and competition KPIs to the CEO and Finance Manager
• Working with the CEO and Marketing and Communications Manager to prepare for public nominee, winners and screening programme announcements
• Coordinating filmmaker invitations, RSVPs and guest list for awards ceremonies, Festival attendance and screenings
• Uploading and curation of nominated and selected films to the Festival’s online film library for launch mid-September
• Coordination and fulfilment of competition certificates and trophies Panda Awards
• Overseeing the running of the film competitions nomination and final juries of the Panda Awards, including coordinating category juries, preparation of judging collateral, jury briefings, facilitating remote jury meetings, record keeping of meetings and decisions
• Provide the Panda Awards Producer and Event Production Company with content and deliverables required for the Panda Awards Ceremony, being the main point of contact between the entrants and the wider team Official Selection Programme
• Champion inclusion and diversity, and audience development and engagement in relation to the Official Selection Programme
• Manage the pre-selection process, including the onboarding, briefing and coordination of a global team of preselectors
• Facilitate a team of international film programmers, preparing all programming materials, briefings of chair and programmers, facilitating remote programmer meetings, record keeping of meetings and decisions;
• Official Selection Public Screening Programme at the Wildscreen Festival

Manage the Wildscreen Official Selection Screening Programme for 2026 around the Wildscreen Festival, taking place in venues across Bristol and Bath, including:

• Responsibility for scheduling and management of the screening programme, working with the Programmers around curated themes
• Being the main point of contact with our venues and their technical teams to ensure content and deliverables are provided and execution of the screenings programme is seamless
• Coordinate Director Q&As at screenings, including confirmation of attendance, scheduling and briefing Q&A hosts
• Responsibility for delivery and at-event management of in-person and online film screenings ▪ Management of Festival volunteers allocated to film screening event delivery
• Work with the Outreach Manager and wider team to coordinate and support Official Selection filmmakers’ festival experience
• Providing ad-hoc assistance for Wildscreen’s other events and activities as and when required.

Skill must-haves:

• At least two years of experience working in film awards/competitions
• Previous experience in coordination or participation in film festival programming
• Experience and knowledge of the factual documentary industry
• Confident hosting online and in-person meetings and events
• Strong knowledge of Microsoft Office programmes, particularly Excel, Google Docs, Dropbox, Zoom
• Strong numeracy skills and experience of handling large amounts of information and using databases and/or Excel to record and report information and statistics
• An enthusiastic and flexible approach to managing a busy workload, tight deadlines and problem-solving
• Excellent and accurate writing and proofreading skills
• Excellent personal, written and verbal communication skills, including the ability to communicate and build relationships with a wide range of internal and external contacts at all levels Nice to have:
• Previous experience of using FilmFreeway for film competition management
• Previous experience of using Eventive
• Awareness of industry issues, including diversity and inclusion, accessibility and sustainability
• Screening/film festival event management experience

To apply:

Please complete the online application form. This includes a couple of questions outlining your suitability for the role and your reasons for applying to Wildscreen. You will also be required to upload a CV. Please do not include identifiable details such as your name, email or home address on your CV, as applications will be reviewed anonymously.

This position can be conducted remotely but requires the ability to work within UK working hours and attend the Wildscreen Festival in person. Candidates must already have the right to work in the UK, as Wildscreen cannot sponsor visas or fund international travel for this role.

If you have any questions, please contact jobs@wildscreen.org

Interviews will be held in the week commencing 20 April 2026. The role is expected to start in early May 2026 and run until the end of October 2026.

#LI-DNI

The closing date for this position is 08/04/2026 at 12:00