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Jul 16, 2019 · 414. 14K views 4 years ago. Today we have some tips for submitting to film festivals. It's every filmmaker's dream to have their film accepted by a major film festival, but festival...
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- Research film festivals. As you can see in the print screen above of my profile and project on the FilmFreeway platform, I submitted five projects to 77 film festivals.
- Budget Film Festival Submission Fees. Although there are a lot of free film festivals, the best ones that will help you gain some of the right eyeballs on your project and gain proper award status will cost you serious money.
- Get your film in the best possible shape. Although some film festivals claim that they also accept works in progress, I believe you must ensure your film is in the best possible shape before submitting it.
- Don’t put all your eggs in one basket. You can do as much film festival research as you want, but if the film festival committee doesn’t think your film will fit in their program or match their current choices, it won’t be selected.
- Why Should You Submit Your Film to A Film Festival?
- First Step: Is Your Film A Good Fit For A Festival?
- Next Up: Set Your Schedule with A Calendar of Deadlines
- Premiere Status
- How to Plan Aroundpremiere Status
- Putting The (Submission) Plan Into Action
- What Else (Besides Your Film) Do You Need to submit?
- What to Do If You Don’T Get in
- What to Do If You Do Get in
- The Online Film Festival Database
Firstask yourself this: Whyare you interested in submitting to afilm festival in the first place? Afew good reasons could be: 1. Maybe you’re a longtime videographer looking to branch off and try your hand at directing and want to get your work out there for others to see. 1. Maybe you’re a filmmaker looking to network and meet other filmmakers wit...
Thefirst important thing is to decide if the film you are making (orhave already made) is a good fit for the festival circuit in general. Filmfestivals, as you will soon find out, can be very particular. Whileeach festival is unique, they all share similar sensibilities in thatthey look for similar types of films they like to program. Let’s take th...
Thenext thing to keep in mind when submitting to festivals is that theyhave submission deadlines. In 2020, film festivals are happening almost year-round, and with the help of programs like FilmFreewaymaking submissions to festivals easier than ever before, there have never been more festivals to submit to than right now. Inorder to maximize your e...
Thepremiere status of your film refers to who has seen your film before.For example, if your film gets accepted into Sundance and they arethe first festival to pick it up, it would be the world premiere. Butif Tribeca picked it up a week later, it would no longer be as aworld premiere. However, it technically could be a regionalpremiere. Regionalpr...
Because premiere status is important to get selected, it’s important to consider when you first plan your submission schedule. Forexample, if a small festival is the first one to select your film andpremieres your short, other, larger festivals won’t be as excitedto pick it up. Thatsaid, if a larger festival like SXSW picks up your short, it addscr...
Sohere’s what we recommend: Makea list of your top festivals to submit to (based on your film’sspecific niche categories). Haveyour film finished at the end of summer to hit as many early birddeadlines as you can. Sundance is usually July through September (asof the 2020run). Ifyou have self-evaluated your film to be high quality and competitiveeno...
Here’severything that goes with the submission: First of all, your film. Hopefully,you have that! Secondly,you will also need a press kit, which is a deck of materialabout your film that would be distributed to the press covering thefestival. According to this piece on the subject from LightsFilm School, this would include: 1. A synopsis of the fil...
Quit,leave LA, and get out of the way. …Just kidding! Ifyou don’t get in, remember: it’s not you or your film. Pickyourself up, because there is a festival that wants your film, youjust haven’t found it. It just wasn’t right for THAT festival sodon’t have an ego about it. Just because you don’t get in doesn’t mean your film is bad. It all depends o...
Itmeans the festival wants your film! But here’s where it’s importantto be just as critical of the festival accepting you as they were ofyour film. Behonest. Is screening at the festival you just got into going to keepyou from getting into another festival? If so, hold out before sayingyes right away. Remember,it’s an invitation – not an obligation...
Ifyou are looking for a resource to help you track all of the currentfilm festivals across the country based on location, try using thisonline FilmFestival Database. Belowyou will see a screen capture of their interactive film festival map,which you can access directly HERE. You can narrow your festival selections based on a niche topic, like women...
This can do two things — first, it creates a personal connection to your film and, second, it creates a potential built-in audience for the festival, which programmers are always looking for. 2. Give your film a hook. In many ways, festival programmers are curating the film industry.
First up is a succinct and ‘to the point’ synopsis. Keep your synopsis short. Ensure that it is a clear and easy to understand summary of your film and emphasize its uniqueness and originality. Writing a very long repetitive & drawn-out synopsis will not grab the festival programmer’s attention and remember – they are very pressed for ...
