Geek Syndicate Issue 4 | Page 108

Doug Bradley, etc) that have made their way to Aber as a result is quite amazing. I’m still a fan boy, and I think that what most people experience from the festival is a welcoming, friendly event put on, not for commercial gain, but just for the sense of having a great time. Geek Syndicate NEB: My Abertoir journey started purely as an attendee! The first couple of years I came as a punter and absolutely loved it. The fact that I got to know Gaz just by attending the festival (okay, and frequenting the cinema the rest of the year too), emphasises Abertoir’s greatest strength, which is that sense of Welcome. I’m really proud to have been able to come on board and help organise the festival as it’s gone from strength to strength, but likewise I have very little ‘events’ experience. I guess with some things, pure fan enthusiasm lets you hit the ground running! GS: This is your seventh year running the Abertoir Horror Festival, so I suppose you’re both old hands at it now. When does the planning begin? Take us through the basic steps of pulling something like this together. How do you get the right mixture of movies and events? GB / NEB: The planning begins as soon as possible, usually we start thinking about things in March/April (although I’ve already planned a few events for next year!) The basic steps are to get the dates sorted first of all, then start scouting for films. Once submissions open we have films coming in from all over the world (we’ve had 108 films sent from as far away as Bahrain, Australia, the Philippines etc.) and of course we keep an eye on the festival circuit to see which films are the hot titles, currently being talked about. We’re determined to bring the best of the current crop to Wales, and we usually succeed quite well in getting some high-profile films! We love the classics, and they’re usually the ones we get sorted first. As a r