1st Festival...

stairwaystudios

stairwaystudios

Active member
Hello Filmmakers,

My Short Film "Gisela's Closet" was officially selected by the Gasparilla Film Festival. I'm not sure what I need to do from here on since I've never attended a film festival nor have I ever screened a film.

Can you give me some tips on how to prep myself? market the film? what to expect in these festivals? I to meet potential investors etc, etc, etc, etc


thanks guys!!!!
 
Congratulations on getting into a festival! Just getting accepted can be a trial these days.

What to expect? Well, I guess it depends on the fest. I don't know anything about the Gasparilla, but I'm not sure you're going to meet any investors unless you're THE film at a big festival.

Some festivals are all at one theater and people come to see movies and then leave. Other festivals are larger 'events' with films screening at 5 or more locations. Sometimes you'll be ushered out as soon as the screening is over, other times you'll get a chance to hang out in the lobby and mingle and other times you might be headed to an after-party. It really all depends on how the festival happens to be organized.

Depending on how they program the shorts, you might screen as part of a package of 5 or 6 or 10 other films or possibly by yourelf before a feature. You should find out from the folks who run the festival if they have scheduled events or badge-only things for you to attend. Then again, it might not be a badge-and-lanyard kind of festival. It might just be a deal where you get some free movie tickets and that's all.

I don't know anything about your film, but I really wouldn't go in expecting to meet a bunch of investors. More often than not, your best bet is to network in general. Meet other filmmakers, see other films and enjoy yourself.

Congrats again. I hope the screening goes well.
 
Yeah, in general, your best networking opportunities are with other filmmakers, people who might have connections that you could use down the road, or maybe you own equipment they could rent down the road, things like that. It's all about networking, but at the smaller fests nobody is a particularly good networking opportunity. I mean, yes, everyone is important, everyone knows a few actors or crew who could help you in the future, but what I mean is you're not likely to meet someone who is going to take you up to the top, a real powerbroker. At best you meet someone like me who has a small production company and hires a number of people, or may have work for you in some capacity if you're a DP also, or maybe I can offer you better deals on equipment than you get now, etc. That's not much of a connection, it's something, it's potentially useful, but it's not career-altering if that makes sense ;)

I just go to festivals for fun now, sounds funny, but I don't really care that much about the industry stuff. I mean the festivals I have gone to are good, they are nice and all that, but they're not the top tier ones, so I just enjoy myself, check out other filmmakers' work, and have no real expectations. I hand out a few business cards if I feel like it, but mostly the filmmakers there aren't the type of connections I'm looking to make (I am more looking to meet corporate people, business owners for instance, who can afford my production company's services; filmmakers are poor).
 
Plan for the best and expect the worst and you will be great. Every festival is different...some treat you like gold...others could care less about you. Some market their film festival to the local press (newspapers, radio, colleges, etc.) and bring in a crowd...and others do no marketing expecting you to do it all. Some are run professionally, are on time and things go smoothly. Others have technical problems, don't show up..are run horribly. Most people working the festivals are volunteers so they are there because they want to be there. A friend of mine just finished his documentary called "Official Rejection" which follows their travails taking their film to festivals around the country. It is hysterical...the good and bad of it all. One festival in Chicago...the projectionist didn't even show up. The films did not get shown. The public didn't know about the festival...it was the horror of a film festival.

Here is what you need to do.
1. Call the festival programmers and ask them what to expect. Do they have an opening night where all the filmmakers gather...have food, drink, a party?
2. Ask them if you get to introduce your film to the audience before it shows.
3. Ask them if they have Question and Answer (Q & A) sessions after the films.
4. Ask them what their attendance is for the festival. If it is low then you wil need to go out on your own and be the carnival barker to bring in people.
5. Do they advertise the festival in newspapers...around town...radio, flyers, etc.
6. Do you have a press kit? Poster? Flyers?
7. Contact the local newspaper to see if they will do an article on you...tell them you are coming to be in the festival and would like to help out by discusisng your film and your adventure making it.
8. Make up some flyers of your artwork for the poster if you have one and be prepared to staple and tape them around the area. It's all marketing!

Have fun, enjoy yourself, meet some new friends!

Curtis
www.filmschoolnow.com
 
Kess said:
Plan for the best and expect the worst and you will be great. Every festival is different...some treat you like gold...others could care less about you. Some market their film festival to the local press (newspapers, radio, colleges, etc.) and bring in a crowd...and others do no marketing expecting you to do it all. Some are run professionally, are on time and things go smoothly. Others have technical problems, don't show up..are run horribly. Most people working the festivals are volunteers so they are there because they want to be there. A friend of mine just finished his documentary called "Official Rejection" which follows their travails taking their film to festivals around the country. It is hysterical...the good and bad of it all. One festival in Chicago...the projectionist didn't even show up. The films did not get shown. The public didn't know about the festival...it was the horror of a film festival.

Here is what you need to do.
1. Call the festival programmers and ask them what to expect. Do they have an opening night where all the filmmakers gather...have food, drink, a party?
2. Ask them if you get to introduce your film to the audience before it shows.
3. Ask them if they have Question and Answer (Q & A) sessions after the films.
4. Ask them what their attendance is for the festival. If it is low then you wil need to go out on your own and be the carnival barker to bring in people.
5. Do they advertise the festival in newspapers...around town...radio, flyers, etc.
6. Do you have a press kit? Poster? Flyers?
7. Contact the local newspaper to see if they will do an article on you...tell them you are coming to be in the festival and would like to help out by discusisng your film and your adventure making it.
8. Make up some flyers of your artwork for the poster if you have one and be prepared to staple and tape them around the area. It's all marketing!

Have fun, enjoy yourself, meet some new friends!

Curtis
www.filmschoolnow.com
Click to expand...


OMG Kess, thanks so much!!!!!!

I got your PM also - thx!
 
I called up a filmmaker friend when I got into my first festival, and one of the best pieces of advice he gave me (which plugs into what has already been smartly pointed out by others) is to take it upon yourself to put butts in seats.

An attractive and effective postcard for handing out to people at the fest goes a long way towards accomplishing this, but the real important "trick" is to interact personally with your "intended audience" in the process.

It's always a numbers game (handful of attendees per one hundred postcards, if that) but if you're personable/passionate/friendly, they will come.

Had to force myself (and my friends) to do it, but I took his advice and walked around the small town that was home to my first fest, handed out some cards only after talking with people for as long as they'd listen, and by the end I had brought about ten, maybe more people to the shorts program that my film was a placed into.

Note much - but it was a start!

You might also search the web for groups/organizations in the area that support the arts/filmmaking, or that might be interested in the subject matter of your film, and make initial contact way ahead of time to try to smoke out some more help.

Leverage any potential sources of common interest that you can.
 
Haha...annndd I just noticed that your fest has come and gone. So my reflections are more for posterity than anything else...

Hope it went well!
 
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