Kerrie Long Moving On After 17 Years as EIFF Producer
The 2021 edition of the Edmonton International Film Festival is a wrap – after showcasing dozens of films from around the world, some of them Oscar contenders – and now producer Kerrie Long has decided to give up the job.
She’ll be stepping back to focus on working with the business community of Edmonton, while hoping to return to her previous work producing movies and TV shows.
“I’ve been trying to build the festival to a place where, and train people that, I’m comfortable with letting it go, and my idea is to potentially go back into production,” she says. Her previous accolades include producer-director with Access Television and Edmonton’s own Frame 30 Productions.
Since 2004, Long and her team have transformed EIFF from a small city festival to one with international appeal. One of the biggest challenges was bringing the festival out of the red. “The biggest struggles, in the beginning, would have been learning that the festival actually was in deficit when they hired me on contract,” Long says. “Then we were actually homeless for the first three or four years. People would donate their office space to us so we could work out of somewhere.”
Over the years, EIFF has been housed at local independent theatres such as the Garneau Theatre and the Princess Theatre. One of the best moves was moving to their current location at Landmark Cinemas 9 in City Centre Mall downtown.
“I always felt like we should be a downtown festival because you’ve got MacEwan there, and the U of A has a campus there, and we need to be closer to the audience that we’re trying to attract,” Long says.
Now, EIFF is one of the biggest film festivals in the country, housing a diverse set of local and international filmmakers. The festival has housed films like Ditched (2021) from Lethbridge’s own Christopher Donaldson as well as Bong Joon Ho’s 2020 Best Picture masterpiece, Parasite.
“My biggest accomplishment has been convincing the Academy that the Edmonton International Film Festival is worthy of being Oscar-qualifying,” Long says.
One of her favourite memories is partying with Academy award-winning actor Brenda Fricker. In 2011, the My Left Foot-A Time To Kill actor showed up to the EIFF screening for Cloudburst – a movie about two lesbian lovers who escape from their nursing home to get married in Canada – to watch the film for the first time. Kerrie and Brenda later closed down the after party.
Taking Long’s place will be Sydney Moule, a MacEwan graduate who’s been with the festival for 10 years. She started volunteering for the festival while she was in high school.
“I just kind of pestered Kerrie until she hired me summers in university, and then she found the perfect role for me once I finished my degree. I’ve just stayed on ever since and worked my way up – and here we are.”
Moule says she hopes to continue the success of EIFF by bringing in larger audiences and adapting to the changing landscape of festival-going, cinema, and filmmaking. From virtual reality films to dedicating more time to filmmaker panel talks, Moule believes EIFF’s efforts can extend with the right time, teamwork, and dedication.
“Hosting panels on how to make your first short film, how to go from a short film to a feature film … bringing those accomplished directors to come speak to people who are really genuinely curious and can get a lot of knowledge from those filmmakers is something that would be super cool,” says Moule.
Both Long and Moule agree that strong relationships with filmmakers and fans are the main reason the festival is so successful.
“Treat everyone the same, whether it’s a filmmaker, audience,” Long says. “One thing that I’m really proud of with our team is that we’ve always handled ourselves and led with dignity and respect. Every artist is an artist, every festival-goer, even if they come to complain to you, it means that they cared enough to say something about it.”
As for the future, “I know that I’ve laid the foundation – and it’s going to be fun!”
