Hey festival people, question for you.

Jay Rodriguez

Jay Rodriguez

Coffee Member
I submitted one of my films to a festival and it got accepted. I got an invite today (snail mail) for the "5th annual awards Gala" but I read at the bottom that the ticket costs $110. wtf! Is this normal? I paid to have the film entered and I'd love to be there to see who wins what but why should I have to pay $110?
 
when i took Blue in Green to the Beverly Hills (biggest scam on the planet) Int'l Film Festival, they wanted $250/head for the awards ceremony and dinner.

I call it a scam because we're talking about a festival where the projectionist (whom I got into a loud argument with) did not understand the difference between 4x3 and 16x9 anamorphic. the geometry was all off and my beautiful opening was 'squished'. he said, "what are you talking about, it looks great". i believe it took something like "STOP the f**king film and FIX IT!" to get him to listen to reason. then, a week later at the ceremony, the guy who runs the show comes out to present the audience award. he says all the votes from people who attended the screening are, get this, "taken into consideration" and that the festival (him) chooses the winner. strange that the audience award went to his buddies, who he was seated at the same dinner table with that night. scam.
 
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dictionary.com said:
scam –noun 1.a confidence game or other fraudulent scheme, esp. for making a quick profit; swindle. –verb (used with object)
Click to expand...
By that definition, yes - that is a scam
 
scam.jpg
 
Yeah, you shouldn't have to pay for an awards ceremony. The film makers pass should get you in everywhere. There are tons of scam fests out there. Did you apply through withoutabox.com? I'm pretty sure they weed out all the scammers. Independant magazine did a big article on scam fests last year, you should see if you can get a back copy.
 
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It's really sad how people prey on the innocent and naive. Not saying naive in a negative way and not using your experience as an example, but just in general. Especially the acting / modeling thing. I saw something on Dateline, I think it was, about a girl who was killed because she met some guy at some mall who told her he was a producer and could get her a role as a Bond girl. It's a ****ed up world... Ok, rant over...
 
Like that famous John Casablanca modelling agency, they rip you off for thousands or dollars and all you wind up with is headshots.
 
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Too many festivals aren't about the fillmmaker at all--they're about giving a handful of organizers jobs for the year, with salaries paid for by filmmakers' submission fees. I think indie filmmakers need to start spreading the word that we're not impressed. People like www.angryfilmmaker.com has more than a few criticisms of the festival circuit. For example, many festivals only have room for 15 shorts or fewer in their entire schedule, and may have already hand-selected half of them by the time we send our application fee. But they don't make that fact well known to the people submitting. Frankly, smaller festivals (i.e., non-Cannes, non-Sundance, non-SXSW etc.) should never charge a submission fee if the chances for the filmmaker getting accepted are like 1 in 500. It's deceitful. Then you get into a festival and they start trying to sell you tickets to their events? Any filmmaker who has a film in the festival should get a pass to the entire fest including all galas and awards, without question. The festival is about OUR films. There wouldn't even be a fest without all our hard work. Festivals still have a (shrinking) place in the world of indie filmmaking, but we have to call these guys on such shenanigans.
 
sean90291, I totally agree with you. It pisses me off that I have to pay to get into this gala awards ceremony. I mean, $20 or so, no biggie but DAMN $110!!!! That's out of control!

msmanhattan, the film is "Torn" and it'l ge in the Garden State Film Festival (http://gsff.org/).... anyone know anything about this festival?
 
Having to pay to get into the awards ceremony is incredibly lame...My film played recently at the Science Fiction Short Film Festival in Seattle and the people there couldn't have been more accommodating. I had to pay my own way to get there, but other than that I got as many free tickets as I needed for the screening and ceremony and some nice swag. The venue was awesome too, the giant Cinerama Theater. Seeing my film up on that massive screen in front of a sold out theater was a great thrill. I'd check out who the festival is affiliated with before submitting anything to anyone.
 
They are on withoutabox.com and they seem to have sponsers. I wonder why they are making you pay. They are listed as a non profit org so maybe its considered a fund raising gala?
 
yeah, I found them by browsing withoutabox. they hold the event in my home town which is the main reason why I wanted in on the fest plus I heard good things about the fest.... It just sucks that it costs 110 bucks for the gala. I hate that sh!t.
 
Jay,

If it were me, i would just tell them I was not paying it. If they want me anyway, I would be happy to participate, but I simply would not pay it. Then let the chips fall where they may.
 
this thread has made me realize that i need to start my own scam film festival

100 entries x $50 = $5,000
100 peopele eating x $100 a plate = $10,000

can someone make me a flashy website and provide a projector? i'll split the stolen money with you.
 
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