Hey festival people, question for you.

[sean90291]

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?

The festivals don't like to admit it, but apparently they cannot run without our festival submission fees. So, in fact, their livelihood depends on getting as many submissions as possible, which is part of the whole problem. Because there is a huge incentive for festivals to give a very unrealistic picture of the filmmakers' chances of getting a screening. They want that $50 from every teen-aged filmmaker, every student, every starving artist, every hack and wannabe, just as much as they want submissions from the true talents. That's why they take out full page ads in Filmmaker magazine. They want our money!

I would like to see festivals cut their submission fees in half. Better yet, make it FREE. If they can't survive on ticket sales, sponsors and donations from wealthy patrons, maybe they should fold up shop. I just don't find it ethical that a festival relies so heavily on submission fees from filmmakers that the festival never has any intention of screening. But hey, it's a free country. Glory be capitalism and buyer beware and all that.

 

[sean90291]

And adding to my previous post (because this is something I feel quite passionately about), there are festivals that do care about the filmmaker and which have resolved to NOT charge filmmakers anything for submitting their films for consideration. If this festival can do it, why can't the rest! Greedy bastids. Just read about this fest:

Ladies and gentlemen, The Kensington Real Independent Film Festival - a celebration of ultra-low budget/"no" budget, outside of Hollywood/Indiewood filmmaking excellence - will be happening this fall!

A festival that will give a % of ticket sales from each screening to the filmmaker responsible for the screened film (try saying that 13 times fast . Plus other goodies to filmmakers. See below for the details.

KRIFF - A Celebration of the Real Indie Film & the Real Indie Filmmaker.

Dates: September 6 Thu - 9 Sun, 2007

Place: Kensington, MD (a town + area/zip code of about 22,000 people who live a short distance away from the screening venue), 15 minutes outside of Washington, DC.

Films will be screened at the Armory Building, a venue that can seat over 250 people.

Line up: still working on it. At this point I am sure that a Jon Moritsugu film will be in the fest (most likely his recent Hi-8 feature, the "experimental" & sweet Scum Rock). I will also be inviting many of the other real indie/DIY filmmmakers that I've been blogging about for the last year or so to participate in the fest. Especially the self-distributing ones.

Submitting films:
Real indie* filmmakers can submit their feature length (around 80 minutes or longer) fiction films. Films made in any year are eligible. I expect to have a final line up by May 1. I plan on screening 10-12 movies at this festival. No submission fee.

(*ultra-low/"no" budget films without Hollywood or indiewood stars, made outside of Hollywood or Indiewood money & control. Fest will focus on comedies & dramas generally - other genres feel free to take a chance, extra points for self-distributed movies.)


Mail a DVD with contact info. & any press material to:

Sujewa Ekanayake
Wild Diner Films
10408 Montgomery Ave
Kensington, MD 20895