Festival Submissions

J

jhvid

Well-known member
I'm starting to submit a short film that I recently finished and I have a couple of questions:

1. How can I figure out which festivals are worth the entry fee? I have an account on withoutabox.com and there are so many festivals that I can't decide which ones to enter.

2. Should I submit on DVD or VHS (or does it matter)? As long as they take both, I feel a little safer sending a VHS tape in the mail, but if the lower quality will hurt my chances then I don't want to do that.

3. Should I only enter festivals that I can actually attend? I live in Memphis, and I can maybe afford to travel to one festival (outside of driving distance I mean).

Anybody have ideas? I'd also like to hear anybody elses experience with festivals, good and bad.
 
jhvid said:
1. How can I figure out which festivals are worth the entry fee? I have an account on withoutabox.com and there are so many festivals that I can't decide which ones to enter.
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You can burn through a lot of dough entering festivals willy nilly. Do what research you can to see what kinds of films they gravitate towards. Your film may fit a genre fest better than a mainstream one. Research aside, I think it's a crapshoot anyway.

2. Should I submit on DVD or VHS (or does it matter)? As long as they take both, I feel a little safer sending a VHS tape in the mail, but if the lower quality will hurt my chances then I don't want to do that.
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Why do you feel safer sending VHS? Compatibility? I'd go with DVD.

3. Should I only enter festivals that I can actually attend? I live in Memphis, and I can maybe afford to travel to one festival (outside of driving distance I mean).
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I'd worry about getting into a fest first :) If you do get in there's always the off-chance they'll pick up part or all of the tab to have you there (for a feature but probably not a short).
 
Figure out what your goals are in entering. Winning? For your ego or for commercial notice? So you can see your film with an audience? So you can be in stage with the filmmakers? So you can get a writeup in your local paper to enhance your other business? So you can network with the big boys? Once you refine your goal, a lot of festivals will drop off the list.
 
Yeah, go to their website and see what films they took the year prior. Look at what genres, lengths, and what medium it was shot on. For example, many festivals aren't big on DV. I've emailed some fests to ask how many DV films they took the year prior. Sending to every festival is not really going to help you. My new strategy has been to submit only to festivals that I think would play my film. Another thing is most festivals don't screen stuff that was submitted to them. So if they screen 30 shorts and already have 10 from other sources, your odd are obviously lower. Bummer, huh?
Bill
 
read another thread in this section (mine) about the Rochester International Film Festival, a GREAT fest. read other threads on this site and other forums where real people give their experiences and opinions.

The other suggestions here are good as well. What genre is your movie? If it's a horror, sci-fi, or other stong genre movie there are fests that are better at showcasing those types of films. Then search the net on that festival and see what the word of mouth is on it.

research, research, research. It takes time, but you have to. Posting on here and other forums is a good step.

I have already made a mi$take in submitting to a festival with a bad rep, but I made the most of it, worked my ass off, and we ended up packing the theater for our screening in a major city and getting good reactions afterwards.

There's definitely good and bad fests, you have to do your homework. I am by no means a festival veteran, but I quickly learned that by researching you can put your hard-earned money into more worthwhile fests.
 
Thanks guys. My movie is kind of in the horror genre, but its not like a slasher flick and I think it would play well in the mainstream festivals. I'm not opposed to doing the Horror fests but I wonder if they get as much respect as the more mainstream ones. I guess any positive exposure is good, but I only have a limited amount of money for entry fees so I want to make sure that I'm applying to decent festivals. I've been researching on the internet and I have quite a few that look good, but it's always hard to tell for sure without talking to people who've been there. I also want to make sure that I apply to festivals that I have a chance of getting into, even though I will apply to a couple of the bigger ones (Austin, Hollywood Film Fest., maybe Telluride).

Another question is about the student film categories. My short is a student film so should I stick to the student categories where available or should I try for the main short categories?


Thanks again for the help.
 
Gary_McClurg said:
Check out the festival we're having here in Springfield, MO.

I also started a thread on it.

www.cinemerge.com
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when is the submission deadline for that one (I couldn't find it on the website, even though it's probably plain as day)?
 
Every festival will happily accept your entry fee. Enter the ones you think you'll get the most exposure at and only the ones you can attend.
I usually only enter a couple a year. I don't enter the small ones to get an award.
 
grinner said:
Every festival will happily accept your entry fee. Enter the ones you think you'll get the most exposure at and only the ones you can attend.
I usually only enter a couple a year. I don't enter the small ones to get an award.
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How do you find out which ones will offer the most exposure? I mean I've just been searching the internet, looking for ones that seem to have a good rep, but how do you go about it?
 
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