I was the short film programmer for Leeds International Film Festival.

I watched thousands of short film submissions over the three years I was involved.

I learned a few really valuable things from being a short film programmer for the film festival and Short Circuits.

One was that good work is really energising.

You can slog your way through a pile of fifty short films in a row that you don't like, feel knackered and square-eyed, but when a good one kicks in then bang, you are wide awake and hooked, and full of energy afterwards.

"I'll know it when I see it." does work, you just have to keep your nerve and wait.

And that quantity is an education. Just working your way through a lot of one kind of thing means you recognise patterns, ways of doing things, trends and you can spot things that twist them in interesting ways.