To those with festival experience.

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I have yet to have the luxury of attending a film festival, much less exhibiting my work at one. Can some of you describe the typical production that get's screened at a festival? Or is there a "typical film"? Are there any no-or low budget films getting screened? Like under $10K? I get the feeling that if you don't have a recognizable actor onscreen, or someone industry known above the line or a six figure budget, you've pretty much got a snowballs chance of a festival screening. I just submitted my short to the DV film festival, and I'm trying to get a realistic idea of our odds.

 

[grinner]

Re: To those with festival experience.

Never enter to win. Make the best piece you can with no regard to what a judge may think.
I have found awards go to contraversy. Doesn't seem to matter that it may have been shot on vhs with no lighting or audio savy displayed anywhere.
I've had great experiences entering pieces I've spent less than a grand on. Budget is the least important thing. You'll never get asked what your budget was at a festival.
Again, don't make anything for a judge. It's quite possible in the popularity conest that these are, that your work will be talked through by the folks in the room... especially if they view it late in the day.
Not always fair but thats what makes festivals so close to the real world of video and film.

 

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Re: To those with festival experience.

Shoot, you are talking about winning something! When I wrote, shot, and edited this short I could have cared less for "winning" anything because of it. I made the film because I beileved in it, and I wanted to do it. What I want to know is do we stand a chance of getting screened? I just want them to show the thing. I lurked around on some festival boards, and on withoutabox.com and saw a lot of sad faces saying "I've submitted to X- number of festivals, I'm out $500-$700 in entrance fees, and I've only gotten screened at 2 fests! - This sux" Are all these people shooting unscripted home movies with a PV-DV53 of their friends running around in the backyard with available light and sending in a DV tape of it, and then bitching because they can't get a screening? Or are these ligitimate indie filmmakers with real (although as yet unknown) actors, using some skill and storytelling ability, but failing to even get picked up? I know I'm not in the first scenerio, I would just hate for the reality of it to be that I'm part of the second.

 

[Barry_S]

Re: To those with festival experience.

There is no such thing as a typical film and there is *also* no such thing as a typical festival. Before you enter your film in any festival, you should do your homework and know what you're getting into. First, be clear about what you expect to get out of entering a festival. Exposure? Distribution? (ha!) A line on your resume? There are a thousand different festivals out there, so the chances are almost 100% that you can get into some festival--unless your film is a complete dog. But you need to think about what you're getting out of the process. Typically, getting accepted means having your film screened for a small group of people. 75 people might see your film--maybe a few hundred if you're lucky. Most festivals have no connection or appeal to distributors, so the chances of landing a deal are less than getting hit by a meteroid while mowing the lawn. Even at a high profile festival like Sundance, the number of films that get picked up for distribution is less than 5% of what gets screened. You might pick up a festival award, although it's questionable what the Audience Choice Award from the Topeka International Film Festival is going to do for your career. ;D

To me, the best reason for entering a festival is for the networking possibilities and the validation and fun you get from being part of the festival. Enter a festival that suits your film and plan on being there if your film gets screened. Find a festival that throws great parties *and* comps filmmakers into the parties and gives you a chance to interact with the attendees and other filmmakers.

 

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Re: To those with festival experience.

Barry, thanks for your take. I guess I have a shot then. I'm not as far off base as I might think. My plan was from the get go to just get screened so I could attend the festival and meet people, see other films, and have a good time in the indie film community. Hopefully I'll get into local (Texas) festivals also, but it would be nice to have a Los Angeles premiere. And the plus would be a trip to LA in December.