It’s a bit early in the summer to do a post reflecting on my experience, but I learned a lot about film/TV production and maybe even more about leadership through staffing the Banff World Media Festival this past weekend. There are some learnings I’d like to share with my fellow Laidlaw Scholars–and document for myself–through this post. 

There are so many different moving pieces at a festival of this size, and many different leaders at all levels. The festival brings together major leaders from the Canadian film and TV industry, from the heads of Netflix CA to the government ministers of media. There are so many people to learn from, but one I’d like to highlight is Playback’s executive director Jenn Kuzmyk, who oversees the entire festival. Alongside keeping track of all the overlapping events and speaking at many of them, she made time to check on her employees and volunteers and offer individualized words of encouragement and gratitude. This kind of intentional and gracious leadership is really inspiring and exemplary to me and is certainly the type of leader and person I’d like to work on becoming. 

There is also the events and operations team, who manage the logistics of the festival. Even though their job is objectively very stressful, they remained calm and communicated effectively in order to resolve the many issues that inevitably arose at an event of this size. One woman who I worked with was moved from this team to another due to company restructuring. She said something about leadership that really stuck with me: being chosen for a leadership position isn’t always about your knowledge or technical skillset, but oftentimes is more about your ability to connect with and manage others. Because of her leadership style, she was chosen to head up a different department, but giving it a try for a few months, she ultimately decided to leave the company, and this festival was her last event with them. Even though being open, adaptable, and flexible are important leadership qualities, you also have to know when to prioritize yourself and your values and needs. 

Because my role in this festival was mostly doing tasks like registration, setting up and taking down rooms, and greeting people, I didn’t really consider what I was doing a form of leadership at first. Even though this should have been “easy” work, I found that following directions was more difficult than I had imagined it would be. I had to consistently ask for guidance because I wasn’t knowledgeable about what should happen. I also realized that I am fairly used to being in charge of an event, such as the things I put on for my clubs or work on campus. Even if I’m not the sole person running the event, I’m at least in a space where I’m knowledgeable and comfortable. People usually come to me to ask what to do, so having to constantly check for approval from someone else, especially people I met only a few days before, was definitely an adjustment and made me feel like I couldn’t lead in the way I normally do. 

This relates to another thing one of the supervisors said that really resonated with me: if there’s a problem, just solve it. Even if it’s “not your issue” or you’re not the one in charge, just doing your best to help others is a way to exhibit strong leadership qualities and provide meaningful assistance to others. I became more comfortable as the festival went on and tried to speak up more about what I think would be best, whether it was giving the simplest navigation instructions to attendees or changing the stage setting for a session. I had to make changes to how I operate in order to be able to lead from within/behind more effectively as we discussed in Laidlaw sessions. Even if you’re not the head of something, you can be exemplary by having a positive attitude, working hard, and taking initiative.  

Even though I didn’t see myself as a “leader” at first, over time I noticed that people would recognize me from registration and manning the doors and ask me for help or pointers. Even the little bit that I did, just showing up, could help people have a more comfortable and enjoyable festival experience, and I think this implementation of leadership has as much value as giving an opening address or moderating a panel. 

As a bonus for reading this lengthy post, here are some photos from Banff, AB, Canada where the festival is held!