Artistic Director
/Organization:
The Vancouver Out On Screen Film & Video Society
Deadline:
Jan. 1, 2025
Organization Description:
Out On Screen is a registered charity and queer arts organization, operating on the unceded territories of the xwməθkwəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) Nations colonially known as Vancouver, BC. Our mission is to illuminate, celebrate, and transform 2SLGBTQIA+ lives through film, education, and dialogue. Our vision is an equitable society where 2SLGBTQIA+ people are respected, valued, and protected across all our intersections of identity. Our team is passionate about making a difference in the communities we serve.
Currently we pursue our mission with two core programs:
- The Vancouver Queer Festival is a vibrant space for queer arts, culture, and community. The Festival celebrates and promotes authentic authorship and representation that uplifts, empowers, and furthers the liberty, culture, and justice of 2SLGBTQIA+ people.
- Out In Schools is an award winning education program that brings age-appropriate 2SLGBTQIA+ cinema into school classrooms and communities across BC to combat anti-2SLGBTQIA+ hate and bullying, and to provide the language and tools for inclusion. Since its inception in 2004, we have reached more than 195,000 youth and adults across BC.
One of Out On Screen’s three goals, as identified in our 2023-2026 Strategic Plan, is to cultivate anti-oppressive practices. This includes strengthening our framework around decolonization, disability justice, and anti-racism. We completed an external decolonization audit of our organizational policies and governance documents and have begun revising them to better align with this goal. We have additional work to do in this area, including building and restoring relationships with Indigenous peoples. This is dependent on if and when Out On Screen is able to create sufficient trust and safety.
We welcome questions and further conversation about our work in this area from candidates who are interested in applying, and within our interview process.
Website:
Job Description:
- Job Summary -
The Artistic Director provides values-driven curatorial and executive leadership to Out On Screen’s annual Vancouver Queer Film Festival and year round artistic programming.
- Compensation -
This position will start at a salary of $75,000. This compensation is not negotiable as it reflects the current budget.
- Reporting-
Reports to Eli Morris (they/them), Executive Director
Supervises Tech and Programs Manager and Film Programmers
- Working Conditions -
Schedule
- Out On Screen has implemented a 4-day work week for the 6 months after the festival
- Standard hours are based on a 8 hour work day:
- For full time hours (April-September), this equates to 40 hours per week.
- For reduced hours (October-March), this equates to 32 hours per week.
- The same salary is offered during periods of reduced hours.
- Expected evening/weekend commitments as follows:
- 1-2 donor events quarterly
- 1 off season programming event quarterly
- During the Festival, all staff are required to be available for 10 of the 11 days
- Evening and weekend work is reflected in Out On Screen’s banked hour system; staff can take time in lieu to ensure a balanced work week with supervisor approval
Physical Workspace
- Out On Screen is currently working in a hybrid format with selective work-from-home supports in place
- Our office is located in Chinatown:
- Hot-desking via booking app
- Elevators up to unit
- 2 single-stall enclosed un-gendered washrooms on the same floor as our office
- All doors are unpowered and a minimum of 30” wide
- Our office is scent reduced but communal spaces are not
- A communicable disease plan in place and is available upon request
- Secure bike parking is available on site
Vacation/Time Off
- Three weeks paid vacation, with some limitations on vacation surrounding the festival
- Paid office closure at the end of the year (e.g. December 23, 2024 - January 6, 2025)
- Sixteen (16) paid health and wellness days each year
- Additional paid holidays for Indigenous Peoples Day, Boxing Day and Easter Monday each year.
- Option to swap statutory holidays in order to observe different religious holidays or cultural events, including Indigenous ceremonies.
Additional Benefits
Staff are eligible for enrollment in our extended health, drug, and dental benefits plan.
Additional benefits include:
- $500 wellness fund;
- $500 professional development fund;
- $150 networking fund;
Responsibilities:
Artistic Leadership
- Leading the curation of the annual Vancouver Queer Film Festival, which may include feature film screenings, short film programs, artist and filmmaker Q&As, industry programming, workshops, parties, and/or performances
- Leading the curation of year round programming and special event screenings
- Ensuring Out On Screen’s values are represented in all programming, including prioritizing the work of underrepresented communities and artists and ensuring that reparative and equitable programming continues to grow and deepen
- Fostering relationships with artists, distributors and other film industry professionals and treating all community members with care and respect
- Leading the development of the Festival theme and collaborating on the visual language and written copy with the Out On Screen team
Logistics, Planning, and Accessibility
- Ensuring that the Festival’s scope honours organizational capacity including staff and budget
- Scheduling all screenings and events, working collaboratively with the Operations Team
- Working closely with the Operations Team to ensure events are meeting the accessibility standards and practices set within our organization, informed by our communities
- Making sure events and screenings set up a reasonable expectation of emotional safety for our viewers (content advisories and other safety supports)
- Ensuring technical staff are supported and overseeing the collection of exhibition materials
- Working with filmmakers and distributors to ensure that exhibition copy has captioning
Communications and Media Literacy
- Collaborating with the Marketing team to create the festival guide and website, including writing and editing film and event copy
- Supporting the development of marketing materials, e.g. providing film and event copy
- Representing the festival publicly through video, radio and print interviews
- Collaborating with the Marketing team on Festival press strategy
Mentorship and Leadership
- Directly overseeing and working with programming staff and technicians, including full time, seasonal and contract staff
- Providing oversight and accountability to all direct reports, providing them with the resources, opportunities and support to advance their professional goals and help grow their skills and confidence
- Demonstrating accountability and shared responsibility for stewarding Out On Screen alongside the Executive Director and Leadership Team
- Fostering a positive and exciting outlook about the festival to model to staff and volunteers
Finance & Development
- Developing a realistic projection of programming expenses for the year and staying within the approved yearly budget
- Maintaining ethical and industry standards for rates to ensure Out On Screen continues to compensate artists fairly for their work
- Developing and maintaining relationships with civic, provincial and federal government, arts foundations, and key staff
- Developing and maintaining relationships with other funding stakeholders, including donors and sponsors, particularly around communicating the strength and importance of VQFF’s programming
- Identifying strategic opportunities for new resources for the programming department
- Supporting organizational grant writing and reporting
- Supporting special event fundraising and campaigns
Qualifications:
- Knowledge, Skills, Abilities -
- Strong English language written and verbal communication skills (additional languages considered an asset)
- Able to apply anti-racist and anti-oppressive principles and practices to film festival programming and internal operations
- Knowledge of and/or experience working in the film industry (local knowledge considered an asset)
- Ability and interest to occasionally travel nationally and internationally to film festivals in order to procure film titles and foster relationships with filmmakers, distributors and other industry professionals
- A deep and nuanced understanding of queer history, film and how 2SLGBTQIA+ people have been portrayed and represented historically by mainstream media
- Strong public speaking skills
- Strong media analysis skills
- A strong understanding of power and privilege and is committed to using their leadership position to empower others
- Training and Experience -
- At least five years experience in film curation
- At least five years of experience working within the non-profit arts sector
- A demonstrated history of working with 2SLGBTQIA+ communities
- A strong history of demonstrating leadership and/or a strong desire to grow those skills
Out On Screen recognizes the value of lived experience and transferable skills. Candidates who meet most but not all of the above criteria are encouraged to apply.
How to Apply:
Please apply with your resume and cover letter through our web portal (https://careers.risepeople.com/outonscreen/).
We expect this hiring process to follow these guidelines:
- Applications will be reviewed on an ongoing basis
- A first round of interviews will be held via Zoom
- Interviews are usually 60 minutes in length and will be held roughly between 2-12 December, 2024
- Applicant updates will be provided ~1 week after interviews
- A second round interviews will be held via Zoom if required for additional candidates or follow up interviews
- Hiring decisions are made roughly a week after all interviews are complete
- Ideal start is January 13, 2025, pending availability of the candidate
Note: Individuals who may have unsupervised access to youth will be required to have a criminal record check. Out On Screen utilizes a third party service to query these records to ensure that we can meet our legal requirements and keep candidates safer.
Out On Screen strives for equitable employment for all communities and for our team to reflect the diversity of the communities we serve. Indigenous people, Black people, people of colour, and people across the spectrums of gender, sexuality, age, and abilities are encouraged to apply.
We welcome accommodation requests in advance of interviews.
We thank all candidates for applying, however, only those selected for an interview will be contacted. Please look to our website for employment updates.
Remuneration:
$75,000 per year
Contact Name: Eli Morris
Contact Email: employment@outonscreen.com
Contact Phone: (604) 844-1615
