Phil Maker
Well-known member
Anyone know where to find a comprehensive list of the top ten film festivals and their submission deadlines?
Top Ten Festival Deadlines
- Thread starter Phil Maker
- Start date
Phil Maker
Well-known member
Does anybody know the answer to my question? I would think someone would know. Can we compile one? Moderator?
Luis Caffesse
Admin
Withoutabox.com probably has all the information you're looking for -
though what the "top ten" film festivals are are going to depend on the specifics of your film and what you're looking for out of a festival.
though what the "top ten" film festivals are are going to depend on the specifics of your film and what you're looking for out of a festival.
JonathanLB
Carbonite Member
I've seen tons of top festivals list, it really depends. I've been submitting music videos, so guaranteed any of those "top ten" fests are useless to me. Almost none of the best festivals take music videos, and to my knowledge there are no real A-list music video festivals. There are just various festivals that accept music videos, some better than others, but nobody appears to have written a comprehensive article on the subject that I've found.
I think the most important thing with any festival is to make sure you're getting out of it what you want. I mean, I saw a few festivals that were proud of saying, "We play EVERYTHING that is submitted! No elitism here, you send it, we play it!" I was like, "Umm... great, so that would help me how exactly?" That's got to be one lousy film festival. I want the more selective ones. I'd rather get rejections if I know that at least my acceptances mean something. Other times, they are selective with what they choose, but there's no competition. In other words, they choose 5 music videos out of however many were sent, great, but then there's no Best Music Video award, so there's no competition in the category and no cash prizes or any other prizes. That's ok for me if it's a low entry fee, like $20, because then at least I can write "Official Selection Communist Film Festival" or whatever, but that's not a festival I probably want to apply to as much as others.
I know there are also some great festivals that only take one type of film, like a documentary film festival, there are a few of those and I think one is very acclaimed. There's also others that take only comedies, and perhaps if you have a comedy short those are some of the best festivals. They may be amongst the most competitive if they're well known and receive lots of entries, versus a festival that takes a ton of genres and has competition categories for each, you may be up against fewer films in your category.
I think the most important thing with any festival is to make sure you're getting out of it what you want. I mean, I saw a few festivals that were proud of saying, "We play EVERYTHING that is submitted! No elitism here, you send it, we play it!" I was like, "Umm... great, so that would help me how exactly?" That's got to be one lousy film festival. I want the more selective ones. I'd rather get rejections if I know that at least my acceptances mean something. Other times, they are selective with what they choose, but there's no competition. In other words, they choose 5 music videos out of however many were sent, great, but then there's no Best Music Video award, so there's no competition in the category and no cash prizes or any other prizes. That's ok for me if it's a low entry fee, like $20, because then at least I can write "Official Selection Communist Film Festival" or whatever, but that's not a festival I probably want to apply to as much as others.
I know there are also some great festivals that only take one type of film, like a documentary film festival, there are a few of those and I think one is very acclaimed. There's also others that take only comedies, and perhaps if you have a comedy short those are some of the best festivals. They may be amongst the most competitive if they're well known and receive lots of entries, versus a festival that takes a ton of genres and has competition categories for each, you may be up against fewer films in your category.
Phil Maker
Well-known member
Thank you Craig!