Hollywood North International Film Festival

Volunteer

Join a community of film lovers who help this festival happen — during festival season and all year round. Whether you are an aspiring filmmaker, a content creator, a marketer, or someone who simply loves storytelling, there is a place for you here.

Where you can help

Social media and content, email and communications, filmmaker and guest liaison, marketing and outreach, administrative support, photography and video, and the festival nights themselves — screenings and the gala. Pick the area that fits in the form below; if what you want to do is not listed, choose Other and tell us.

What happens after you apply

We read every application and reply by email. If it looks like a fit, we set up a quick call to get to know you, then a short orientation for your role. Most roles ask for one to five hours a week, scheduled flexibly.

Volunteer perks

Free access to festival screenings and online events. Hands-on experience in film, digital media and event production for your resume — with references gladly given for dedicated volunteers. Invitations to previews, filmmaker Q&As and volunteer gatherings. And a creative community that shares your passion.

Apply to volunteer

What each one involves
Social media (Instagram, Facebook, TikTok)
Posting and replying across the festival's accounts. Drafts are prepared for you; the work is scheduling them, answering comments and messages, and telling us what is landing. A few hours a week, heavier in festival month.
Content creation (graphics, video, writing)
Making the things that get posted — poster cards, short vertical videos, captions. Templates and brand colours are provided. Suits someone who already edits or designs and wants festival credits for it.
Email & communications
Writing and sending festival email: filmmaker notifications, audience announcements, sponsor updates. Accuracy matters more than speed here — these are the messages people quote back at us.
Filmmaker & guest liaison
Being the person a filmmaker hears from. Answering questions before and during the festival, sorting out travel and tickets for visiting guests, and making sure nobody arrives without knowing where to go.
Marketing & outreach
Getting the festival in front of people who have not heard of it — film schools, local press, other festivals, community groups. Largely email and conversation.
Administrative support
The unglamorous half that makes the rest possible: spreadsheets, scheduling, chasing missing files, keeping records straight. If you like a tidy system, this is the job nobody else wants and everybody depends on.
Photography & videography
Shooting the festival itself — the screenings, the gala, the filmmakers. You keep your credit on everything used, and the images become the archive we promote the next season with.
Festival nights (screenings, gala)
On-site during the events: doors, tickets, seating, helping guests find their way. Evenings and the closing weekend only — the best role if you want to be in the room rather than at a desk.
Screener — watching and rating submissions
Watching submitted films and rating them, at home, on your own time. Expect several dozen shorts across a season. Requires an account on the platform, and everything you see is confidential.
Judge — scoring the finalists
Scoring the finalists against the festival's criteria and helping decide the awards. A smaller number of films, watched closely, to a deadline. Requires an account, and scores stay confidential — including from the filmmakers.
Other — I'll say in the note
Something you can do that is not on this list. Tell us in the note what you have in mind and how much time you have.
Volunteer Agreement and Releaseversion 1 · read it here

1 — The role

1.1 You are volunteering with the Hollywood North International Film Festival. Volunteering is not employment: there are no wages and no employment relationship, and expenses are reimbursed only if approved in writing beforehand. You will follow the reasonable directions of festival staff and the policies the Board adopts, and you may stop volunteering at any time, as may the Festival.

1.2 Confidentiality. Anything non-public you learn through your role — film submissions, jury matters, personal information, finances, negotiations — you will use only for the Festival's purposes and disclose to no one, during and after your service.

1.3 The Festival requires volunteers signing this agreement to be 19 years of age or older — a festival policy, chosen for simplicity. By applying you confirm you are. (If the Festival ever chooses to accept younger volunteers, it will do so under a separate youth-participation process — not this document.)

2 — Risk, release and waiver

2.1 You know the risks. Festival work involves venues, crowds, equipment, travel between locations, and event conditions that carry a risk of personal injury and property loss or damage. You accept those risks voluntarily.

2.2 RELEASE OF LIABILITY AND WAIVER OF CLAIMS — INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE. In consideration of being accepted as a volunteer, you release and forever discharge the Festival Parties (as defined in the Terms of Use) from all claims, demands, actions and liability of every kind — including claims alleging negligence, breach of duty, or breach of statutory duty — arising out of or connected with your volunteering, including personal injury, death, and loss of or damage to property, and you agree not to sue any of the Festival Parties for any of it. This release binds your heirs and representatives and survives the end of your service. It does not extend to liability that the law does not allow to be released.

2.3 Photo release. The Festival may photograph and film its events; you consent to appearing in that material and to its use in the Festival's archives and promotion, uncompensated. Tell the Festival in writing if you withdraw this consent for future use.

3 — Everything else

3.1 This agreement is governed by the laws of British Columbia. If any part is unenforceable, the rest stands. Your acceptance inside the volunteer application is recorded with its version, date, time and text.

RELEASE OF LIABILITY AND WAIVER OF CLAIMS — INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE

In consideration of being accepted as a volunteer, you release and forever discharge the Festival Parties (as defined in the Terms of Use) from all claims, demands, actions and liability of every kind — including claims alleging negligence, breach of duty, or breach of statutory duty — arising out of or connected with your volunteering, including personal injury, death, and loss of or damage to property, and you agree not to sue any of the Festival Parties for any of it. This release binds your heirs and representatives and survives the end of your service. It does not extend to liability that the law does not allow to be released.