So I haven’t mentioned it before, but last year some friends and I started Slated, a company in the tech and film area.  Then, earlier this year, we bought B-Side, an Austin, Texas company.  Their product, Festival Genius, runs the online film guides for film festivals (200+ last year).

Most festivals’ sites are a bit of a mess, frankly.  The organizers rightly put their time and energy into finding the films and running the festival.  (And as a festival co-founder, I know just how demanding that can be.)  But it’s another huge task to tell attendees about the films, when/where they’re playing, how to buy tickets, etc.

So Festival Genius handles all that and more.  Among many other things, FG makes a festival’s films easy to find, read about and rate, and it even creates a conflict-free viewing schedule for you (just what every festival attendee has been hoping for).

Tomorrow until Sept 30, the Fantastic Fest is running in Austin, TX, and their site is using Festival Genius. The festival home page is here, and the Festival Genius part of their site is here.

Even better, Fantastic Fest hired us to create a free iPhone app for them.  No need to carry about the paper schedule–it can all be on your phone.  To the right is the app’s splash page, and below that is a sample screen, showing part of the festival’s schedule.  An intro to the app is here, and the iTunes link to download it is here.

It’s a terrific boon for festival goers, so if you know anyone near Austin, give them a shout about it.  They’ll thank you.  Maybe not with an expensive car, but they’ll thank you nonetheless.