Short Films - Film Festivals or The Internet

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devilry

Member
Hey guys, I have a quick question I'm hoping some of the experienced pro's in here can shed some light on.

I'm working on a 5 minute short film and I'm trying to decide if it's worth it to put it into a number of different film festivals worldwide or to simply put it onto the internet on my personal website where anyone can freely watch it or can download a high-res version of the film.

The main goal of the short film for all the people involved is to simply get our names out there and to pick the route (festival vs. internet) that will help us get the best opportunities to work on bigger projects.

From my point of view with my limited experience and knowledge, I see the internet as a much larger audience than film festivals and that can possibly help us get more attention and opportunities. However, with film festivals even though the audience won't be as large as the viewers online, you are dealing with real professionals within the industry. Another benefit of submitting to film festivals is that you can 'possibly' get awards or money and for a no-low-budget short film any kind of award or cash prize is always welcome.

So, I thought I would ask you guys who may have some experience or knowledge about this sort thing and don't mind sharing their input on what route we should take for a 5-minute short film? I should mention that this is also a 3-D stereoscopic short film, it's a fairly ambitious project but we got a number of talented people involved.

Thank you and I really appreciate the help.

-Varinder
 
If you feel your film is good enough, definitely go the film festival route. It's about the only way to have any chance of getting a return on a short.

And eventually you're going to want to entice people to work on your films or give you money. Which sounds better? "My last short was selected to screen at X festivals and won Y awards" or "Yeah, my last film went straight to YouTube" :)
 
The internet is a larger audience, but it's not an easily targeted audience. Getting the correct target market for your purposes is a pretty big part of the marketing section of any business plan, one of the most important.
 
Thanks for your input guys, really appreciate it.

It would sound awesome to be able to say that your film has been selected at all these different film festivals. What a wicked thing to brag about, haha. But our primary goal is to get our name out there and to generate as many opportunities as we can to work on bigger projects. Secondary goal is the money we can make back for our hard work.

But, I'm trying to look at it realistically how much a 5-minute short film can possibly make back? At the moment, I'm not thinking it probably won't make a lot. Which is why I'm focusing more on which direction leads to more opportunities and recognition. But then again, I don't know a lot about how film festivals work and I'm trying to learn as much as I can right now.

If a 5-minute short film can make enough money back to pay the team through film festivals. That would be incredible, but I don't know how much say a successful short film is capable of making. Still learning and researching. :)

-Varinder
 
Well you can always put the short on the Internet after its festival run, that's what I plan to do, but first I want to get it a lot of accolades that will help my career. Festivals are the only way to do that. Just putting it online is meaningless, even if a lot of people see it, it doesn't really show anything. If you get into one or two major festivals it's a pretty big deal, even if you win nothing!
 
Varinder,

Another thing to consider is that it's not neccesarily an "either/or" situation. Most short filmmakers I know, including myself, usually plan on giving a short a run at festivals for six months to a year, and then placing it for general screening on the internet.

One thing I'm not sure about with your internet strategy is how you plan to get an audience for the film? I'm assuming you have plans beyond just posting it and hoping it'll be discovered ;-)

Regarding return on shorts through festivals, depending on the budget it's unlikely to see a profit unless it racks up a number of wins. But it's still some kind of return, as opposd to an internet release which will see zilch.

I'm in the fortunate position where my last three shorts have actually turned a slight profit ( a few hundred $ each) through festivals, but that's because I was working with extremely low budgets to start with.

The more I think about it, the more I can't understand why you wouldn't go the festival route. With festivals you can get exposure, professional assessment, the chance of financial return and kudos. With an internet only release you get.... okay, maybe a few more people watching your film (and even that isn't guaranteed), but it's doubtful that any of those people would be ones who could advance your careers.

My.02c worth :)

Edit: And obviously Jonathan and I have synced brains today :-)
 
Ozhair is right. But I don't see how you'd get fewer viewers overall, because I think most people are fine with putting their shorts on the Internet after no more than two years, when the festival run has ended. Unless you secure some sort of DVD release as part of a multi-short collection, for instance, or perhaps placement on another Website where you get a few bucks. But for me I just assume that none of that happens, and I assume when I'm done with the festival run I'll put it online. I will probably not be done for two years because there are a number of deadlines I just barely missed this year that I want to submit to next year, so some of those festivals don't occur until summer 2010.

I don't see how online viewers really help you with anything, though, unless you're talking like maybe 5 to 10 million viewers, which is quite hard to pull off. Film festivals offer an opportunity, at least, for widespread exposure and accolades that can further your career. It's no guarantee, and I wouldn't bank on someone seeing your short and offering you a feature film directing gig, hehe, but I think it's a great way to build your resume and get your work out there. It also depends a lot on the festivals, too.
 
Hey guys,

Thanks for the awesome feedback, really appreciate it.

The situation was a bit more complicated to simply do both, it was rather one or the other. But I figured out a way to make all my plans work.

While you guys are putting your films into these festivals for a couple years, are you guys still filming more movies? Or are you guys waiting to go through the festival circuit to score a bigger better deal/funding to make another film?

Cheers,
Varinder
 
I wouldn't wait for anything, no. Ideally I'd always have projects in the pipeline at different phases. My music video Winded is just winding down its festival run, my music video Ignis Fatuus is a little bit through its run, it has just started to hear from festivals basically, and then my short film is just starting its journey and has been sent to its first wave, without hearing from anyone yet. So hopefully I film something else as that short film is starting to do well.
 
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