Cinecircle Reviews 51

Not worth the entry fee. I travelled all the way from Huddersfield to London to attend what I thought was a job fair… It is NOT a job fair. It is a fair for companies and schools to advertise their courses and services.

Most stalls are courses that provide information on what they are SELLING. One art department stall in particular was pushing for an upfront deposit on their course, which amounted to a little more than 6 PDF’s with no onsite training and an expectation for you to provide your own materials, yet it was marketed as an apprenticeship.

The talks in the conference rooms required a higher ticket price and one on one talks required an even higher ticket price. I attended one on acting and it was very informative, but nothing you couldn’t get for free by speaking to someone who works in the field.

The highest point was actually meeting other creatives who were looking to network and this is the events greatest strength. So I got as many attendee contacts as possible. However, any one of those who attended could simply run a free networking event at a local bar or even a park. In a nutshell, it is a networking event that presents itself as a job fair and charges an arm and a limb for something that can be done for free. Just think about this for a second, 30 quid and 1000+ attendees. The event organizers must be raking in serious money at the expense of hopeful entrants who will get very little from the event. I didn’t give it one star, because of the networking with people like me, and there were some genuinely helpful people.

Notably Spotlight and Bristol Old Vic gave excellent, clear and professional advice and expressed genuine and eager desire to help would be professionals. I can’t praise these stands in particular enough.

Disappointing overall, but a couple of standouts presented a silver lining.

I went to the film and tv jobs fair as it was promoted as an event for opportunities. Suggesting that production companies, kit hires and more were hiring. I also paid extra to be able to attend talk sessions by professionals.

In short, this was a rip off and felt like a scam(as someone looking to become crew)

Barely any stalls at the event were specifically hiring. One of the big selling points was Warner bros being there. But they were only there to promote their trainee scheme opening next year. This was the same for London lighting whose internship had just closed. The majority of the production companies there were rather beginner level/not exactly established, I spoke to one stall who said they weren’t a production company but cine circle told them to. This area was also full of queues which by the end of the day made things feel even more pointless.

Now the talks I paid extra for, felt more like obvious employment advice. Both talks I went to but focused on different topics yet all they really said was “be proactive, don’s sit on your phone” “always listen carefully” “work hard” Which just left me questioning is it seriously that simple to get into the industry. No, obviously it’s not, because events like this wouldn’t exist.

If I wanted a little more time with the speakers or just some cv advice, I would have needed to pay a whopping 80£

For me this was not worth it what so ever, due to me not being from London (which was a topic I was also interested in) and due to the tube strikes I spent a lot of money to just come to the event but before I thought it would be worth it. I spoke to a few other people at the fair who also shared this feeling of disappointment. I can’t talk for the acting talks or stalls, it did seem like there was an even split of stalls in but if it was any more worth it for them i don’t know.

I had the chance to work with CineCircle as a content creator for five weeks, and honestly, it was a really great experience from start to finish!

The founder of CineCircle is incredibly kind, open-minded, and truly attentive. He’s super easy to work with and genuinely values creative input, which made the whole process enjoyable and motivating.

There’s a real sense of trust and creative freedom, which opens the door to building amazing things together. I definitely recommend working with them whether it’s for an internship, a short-term project, or something bigger.

Thank you again for the great experience!

Film Makers had answers to my questions before I asked the question…. Loved it !!

An incredibly well-curated conference. Diverse speakers who present the reality of the film business in tems anyone can understand. Came in with no expectations and left with a plethora of knowledge. Thank you, ZB!

Great course, packed full of useful information and contacts for emerging film makers.

Thanks so much Cine Circle for the very helpful Funding and Distribution conference; this was very inspiring and informative. There were some really interesting talks that gave lots of different perspectives and ideas.

Every speaker/guest gave great insight into the industry and how to mavigate the film industry. Very insightful and straight to the point. I left feeling inspired to continue pursuing my passions.

Extremely well organized event with relevant speakers and guests. It was great that the focus remained on independent film distribution without any fluff or hard sells. The information was in-depth and practical.

Excellent event, great guest speakers and great host. I learned a lot during those 2 days. I will definitely recommend this to a lot of my friends filmmakers.

personalized attention, helpfulness, and a genuine desire to assist made my experience great! Sharing these strategies to help be successful in this industry is a plus for this company.

Great insights into the film distribution and marketing side of feature film production.

I thought the first speaker for the conference was weak. However, the other speakers for the first two days were excellent and brought up some new and well thought through ideas. I have generally been disappointed by online 'free' seminars but this one was well worth attending. Kudos.

My son and myself attended the event on the 27th of March. I was really disappointed at the lack of opportunities available for those seeking internships, apprenticeships or information about furthering their careers in the film industry. The publicity showed a large venue seemingly full of relevant companies wishing to recruit or offer training. We queued for about 1 hour 30 minutes to talk to someone, no obvious information or representative available to explain about four intern possibilities, organised by Cine Circle. No idea if this is a confirmed internship, how long does it run for, is there more than one place per discipline. So frustrating, no other companies highlighting work or training schemes, they just seemed to be there for promoting their own company, not offering anything else and also with long off-putting queues. Many seem to be packing up at 4.30 and leaving anyway. It took us ages to get to the venue, miles away in Harrow, then spent our time queueing, for nothing and paying £31 EACH for the pleasure. I felt furious for my son, as I had suggested this could be a great opportunity to network and find further training. It wasn't. Disappointed in myself for not having read the reviews beforehand or questioned the exhausted representatives of Cine Circle who we were queueing to see, as to what they were actually offering all these people, it seems nothing. I wrote to Cine Circle and they did answer. They mentioned taking into account previous feedback and improving the event, but it seems we have the same complaints as those from last year and the year before. And no chance of a refund.
A very disheartening experience.

Excellent! The masterclass was very informative, in depth and answered all the questions I needed to know. I definitely recommend.

Very thorough and detailed event. I feel more confident in my self distribution journey.

Independent Film Distribution is the Wild, Wild West Currently. Traditional Distribution does not bring success to most filmmakers. Cine Circle's 3 day Self-Distribution Class was a detailed look at techniques that can lead to Success for Indie filmmakers. The information was organized, thought provoking and coming from a place of experience. I would highly recommend this program to aspiring and experienced filmmakers who have not self-distributed before. There were many pearls of wisdom that you can implement immediately. It is never too early to start building your audience. Even before pre-production. Highly Recommend!👊

The "Mastering Self-Distribution" course was an incredibly enriching and insightful experience. It provided a wealth of practical knowledge and actionable strategies tailored to the unique challenges faced by independent filmmakers. The content was thoughtfully structured, combining theoretical insights with real-world examples, making complex topics approachable and applicable. I walked away with a deeper understanding of the distribution landscape and valuable tools to effectively navigate it. This course is not just informative but also empowering, equipping you with the confidence and resources to take control of your film's distribution journey. I highly recommend it to anyone looking to amplify their work in the world of independent filmmaking.

Pushed Filmhub the entire time, but denied being affiliated at all with Filmhub. Didn't offer other options to filmmakers like aggregators and physical DVD sales avenues and selling to foreign territories directly, because really, the best option was, of course, filmhub. This was obviously a slanted "class" to get people to give their film to Filmhub, even offering free one-on-one classes to filmmakers at the end but ONLY if they wanted to give their film to Filmhub. But, still, the host denied being associated with Filmhub. Ask other filmmakers, at least 10, on their experience with a company before you give your film to them. This should be done for every company you look at giving your film to.