“The Main Goal Is To Have It Be A Celebration Of Love.” Interview With Miraya Berke, Founder Of The Rom Com Fest

I was able to speak with the founder, Miraya Berke, of the inaugural Rom Com Fest which premieres in LA this weekend. She takes us through the process of getting this up and running, her love for the genre and what to expect at this very unique screening experience!

Kristy Strouse for Film Inquiry: Thanks for taking the time to speak with me today. Congratulations on the festival!

Miraya Berke: Thank you so much!

Can you just tell us a little bit about yourself, like your background?

Miraya Berke: So, my background is in event planning. That’s been my passion my whole life. I’ve had my own event planning company for the past five years, working with a range of startups, communities, events and different experiences. About three years ago I launched a dessert festival, as a sort of side project and that has kind of boomed into what I spend a lot of my time doing. With Dessert Goals I have just found so much joy, and experiences that bring people together, to have a good time and connect with communities. This sort of feel-good old-fashioned fun.

From Dessert Goals it really inspired me to think more about what brings joy and happiness, and for me it is very much rom coms. I’ve always loved films and attended films festivals and worked on the production of other film festivals. And I realized that there wasn’t really an experience yet, celebrating that genre. So, it kind of just turned this idea into a reality, and this is the first year. And it’s going to be a celebration of rom coms, showcasing a mix of classic films, new films, and live events.

Then bringing in my experience and background… because each film, in addition to a screening, there’s different activities, crafts, dessert pairings, Rose and costume themes. And other fun opportunities for people to connect with the film!

I love that idea of mixing all of those things, to make it more of an experience than just a screening.  

Miraya Berke: I go to a lot of movies myself. Even at festivals when you leave the theater, there’s that sort of like… your heart is full and you’re feeling all of these things, and then you walk out into the street and get on with your day. So, this will kind of create those moments and experiences for people to connect with each other and kind of celebrate around it as opposed to just rushing off.

How has the process been?  How long have you’ve been putting it together?

Miraya Berke: Honestly, like, October of last year was sort of the aha moment. And then I came up with the name and the idea. So, about nine months from idea to happening. In the beginning it was about getting the right people involved, spreading the word and trying to program the films, which was kind of the first learning curve and something I’ve never done before and it was really exciting. Finding out how many other people love romantic comedies and those who are so pumped to be a part of it.

So, you obviously have a lot of experience in event planning. How has this varied from what you’ve done before?

Miraya Berke: Yeah, I think in some ways it is very similar. The biggest difference is the film aspect of it. Even when I’ve worked on film festivals before I’ve only worked on the production side. So, the actual programming, and coordinating with filmmakers and watching films… we had a whole competition, so all of the new films that are playing as well as our shorts program, we had people submit through film freeway. So, learning how to promote out to film schools and other groups, and connect to other film festivals, to try to find good films to show in it, that was just a whole other community and world that I didn’t know existed. I joined this Facebook group called film festival organizers. It’s like 2000 other people who organize Film Festivals, and it’s this amazing world of people, who I learned a lot from. I think the programming was the biggest learning curve.

Would you say that was the biggest challenge or was there something else that was more difficult?

Miraya Berke: I think that and the awareness level. In Los Angeles there’s just so much going on on any given weekend, so how to create a splash with press, social media with different community partners, is tough. Getting the word out was a challenge, for this festival and really any event that I do. Like, how to get it in front of the right people.

Of course, how would you describe the festival – what you’re hoping participants will experience when they attend?

Miraya Berke: The main goal is to have it be a celebration of love. I’m thinking about what sparks joy, and I’m thinking of the festival as sparking joy for people. I want to have it be something that they’re looking forward to, to have these wonderful memories, maybe come with friends or have this opportunity to connect with people. Day to day life can be such a struggle and be exhausting, and having some old-fashioned fun and feel good experiences to kind of put on smiles and lighten the load a little, and make us feel loved and connected with others is important.

Great! And I know you said you’re obviously a fan of rom coms. What are some of your favorites?

Miraya Berke: Yeah, one of my all time favorites is 10 things I hate about you. Which is so exciting because we’re screening the twentieth anniversary of it and we’re having the writers Kirsten “Kiwi” Smith and Karen McCullah. They’re like a dream come true, and that one took like a month to get the rights to and to get everyone on board. That has been an all-time favorite film of mine. That is definitely at the top, and it’s so hard to pick. When Harry Met Sally is definitely one, and I know a lot of people I talk to say that’s their favorite. But we tried to do a mix, with maybe some rom-com’s that other people haven’t seen. I’ve watched a lot of them over the past year and found some classic gems that I hadn’t seen in many years like How Stella Got Her Groove Back. I think there’s a lot of unsung heroes of rom-coms that I really like.

Those are all great choices! How many of the older ones are you playing?

Miraya Berke: It’s five classic films, 5 new films and then our shorts program. Then we have three events also. We are partnering with Mortified, it’s a group where people read their childhood diaries, which is amazing and hysterical. We’re having a whole love themed show where people read their childhood diaries related to love. We also have a live podcast we’re doing with Dirty Girls, where people are going to tell raunchy sex stories and stories around love. Then we are also working with this group called Scriptd and we had a rom-com screenplay competition. We had a panel of industry judges pick a winning script and we’re doing a live table read.

That’s very exciting! And then of course plenty of desserts too.

Miraya Berke: Yes! There are going to be dessert pop-ups which is the first time we’ve ever done that. There’s going to be a rotation of vendors throughout the weekend that will come in two at a time, at different hours. Then we are also shipping out some of our favorite vendors from NY and wholesaling some goodies from LA, so there will be a collection of things that will be available throughout the weekend. Then we are also partnering with different brands who have giveaways at different times. Like My/Mo Mochi ice cream, there are lots of the screenings where everyone gets a free mochi right when they walk in. Lots of yummy sweets and treats to satiate you throughout the rom com watching! We are also partnering with a Rose brand and a cold brew coffee for the morning screenings. I personally just love having snacks when I watch movies.

I think we are all with you on that! I really do think this is an amazing idea. If I wasn’t on the East Coast I’d attend.

Miraya Berke: I’m hoping we can do it in other cities. The more I talk to people they are like “Bring it here, bring it to NY.” So, hopefully when we’re on the east coast you can come to that one.

I would love to! Is that kind of your goal for the future? As far as what you see this progressing to?

Miraya Berke: Yeah, that’s definitely the goal. And I think more immediate, instead of full festivals in other cities, would be to do one-off screenings in different cities. I’m involved in an all-women co-working space, and I love going to different events in different communities. So, opportunities of bringing screenings and filmmakers to different cities around the theme of rom coms and bringing people together would be a little less work than putting on multiple festivals. [Laughs]

Of course! What is one of your favorites that you’ve seen recently for the first time? It doesn’t necessarily have to be new.

Miraya Berke: It’s hard. I feel I mean, I’m a sucker for all of them, whenever Netflix keeps turning out new ones, I watch them as soon as they come out. I love all of them. One that’s not at the festival, that isn’t a traditional rom com but more of a friendship one is Booksmart, that just came out. I still feel it kind of falls in the category. I just loved that. I felt heard, and I felt like… “this is me” and I thought it was such a sweet story. And the writer, Katie Silberman is on our jury. Which I’m really excited about because I think she’s an awesome writer. That was one I saw recently. We had about 70 submissions for the festival, a mix of shorts and full length, and what I think was really exciting and what I tried really hard to do with programming was show different types of stories and different people. Not all of our stories end in happily ever after [laughs], and the range of storytelling was really exciting.

Absolutely. Thank you so much again for taking the time to talk with me and I wish you the best!

Film Inquiry would like to thank Miraya Berke for taking the time to speak with us today.

For more information visit their website here.