If you've checked out the long and detailed posts on our home page,crafted by our guest blogger,Chris Muir,then you'll know a lot about the Bristol short film festival. Chris and I went down this year and he's done an excellent job of highlighting the cream of the crop. I thought I'd instead use this an an opportunity to say why I love the Brief encounters festival. It's been running now for 14 years and I've been going for the last 10. Why? Well aside from the fact that Bristol is a beautiful city full of interesting creative people, the festival itself is something very special. It is on for one week and in that time it packs in an awful lot of films. Films that are often enjoying their premiere showing. And over the years the number of "oh my god I can't believe how bad this film is" moments have shrunk to practically nil. So instead you see hundreds of clever,sad,thought provoking funny,scary,brilliant films from every corner of the world.(Iran was very well represented this year,no idea why).

But without exception you cannot attend the festival without leaving motivated to do great inspiring work that touches people. And of course since Bristol is first on the merry- go-round of festivals then you will very probably be first to spot great talent. I've been fortunate enough to see,then track down and work with some really great film makers before they were snapped up by the big boys in the film industry. So I get fresh work at a price non-London budgets can afford. I've even worked with Oscar winners, pre Oscar naturally.

I think the festival is simply the best creative source of inspiration I've ever been to. That's why over the years I've taken every creative who has ever worked in my department. Which is most of the country's finest.

Now look what's happened, I'm already looking forward to Encounters 2009.