Live Breathe Film

Yesterday, in accordance with their expanded mission and year round events, High Falls Film Festival launched its new brand: 360|365 Live Breathe Film. With this, the organization is broadening their mission beyond the traditional week-long film festival to include a year round Shorts Contest and New Director Series. All an effort to engage film makers and their audiences in all aspects of independent film making, 365 days a year.

[Full disclosure: My agency did the rebranding and creative work for them. But, I had no role in the project.]

It’s interesting and exciting to see how polarizing the local press and reaction to the news has been. Perfect, quite frankly, for something as provocative as the celebration of independent film-making. Read the comments on local news sites and Twitter and you’ll see things ranging from “LOVE the new name/logo” to “another sign High Falls is dying” and “what’s 360|365 supposed to mean?”

Hmm. The core audience is independent filmmakers and their audiences. It strikes me these aren’t people who like to be spoon-fed ideas. A branding and mark that takes a bit of thinking seems right up their alley (and yes, film makers provided their input and evaluation, according to people who worked on the project).

Another observation: The formula of [insert location] Film Festival definitely conjures up the idea of a week at a great location (Tribeca, Sundance, Toronto for instance) sitting in theatres watching provocative movies. It doesn’t convey the full immersive experience which 360|365 will be providing to the independent community not just in Rochester but online and around the globe, all year long.

Personally, I think it’s exciting that a Rochester-based organization is stepping up and trying to broaden engagement with the global independent film community. And that it sparks a controversial discussion appropriate to independent film.