Continuing the topic of Theatrical/Live Events, this week's readings and assignment address film festivals. Although not everyone will be utilizing live events or competitive festivals to gain exposure or sell their work, it's important to consider the strengths and weaknesses of this old model of exhibition.
As a primer or refresher on the types of festivals out there and their benefits, read Elliot Groves' article, "Film Festival Secrets: 5 Types of Film Festivals"
Groves' piece is brief and has some useful links, including one to a list of no-entry fee festivals. Read the article to begin thinking about your film festival strategy. A good strategy starts with knowing what you want to do with your film and then targeting a small group of good-fit festivals, rather than wasting money on submitting everywhere.
Knowing wether or not a festival is a good fit often takes a some research. It entails not just reading each festival's individual guidelines (for ex. many festivals define feature length differently) and submission requirements, but also looking through past winners and news stories about the festival.
Research is also crucial to prevent yourself from falling victim to festival scams, which are fairly common these days.
Echoing some of the sentiments about film festivals in our conversation last week, here is our old pal Jon Reiss, discussing his thoughts on the use of festivals for contemporary Indie filmmakers.
Some numbers I think bear repeating from this video:
35K to 45K features are made each year
600 or so make it into the festival circuit
40-60 films per market (Sundance, Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Rotterdam and Venice) get deals (in a good year!)
FILM FESTIVAL STRATEGY ASSIGNMENT:
For next week - with a later deadline of Tuesday, Oct. 8th by 6pm - I'd like everyone to share their festival strategies as a blog entry. I will address alternative assignments later in this post...
Festival Strategies must include:
1. A brief statement about your goals for your film at festivals. What do you hope to get out of these festivals for your film and your career in general? Also briefly explain your personal priorities when devising a strategy.
2. A list of festivals you plan to enter, organized into categories of your own priority - due dates, exposure, budget for fees, etc. This organization should match the explanation of your priorities given in #1.
3. Under EACH festival listed, include as much of the following information as you can find:
-Festival website
-Festival director, programmer, or head curator
-How many years has the fest been running?
-Entry deadlines, entry fees
-Submission requirements pertinent to your project - project length, premiere status, production dates, budget, theme, etc.
-Submission materials needed
-A sentence or two about how this festival fits into your overall strategy
If your strategy does not include at least 5 film festivals, please add a few alternatives for good measure. I expect most lists to be more than 5, but 5 is the minimum.
ALTERNATIVE ASSIGNMENTS -
For those of you not planning to submit to film festivals, I'd like to work with you further to create an assignment that addresses your research needs and ties into the materials of the past two weeks.
-Is there an alternative live event or theatrical screening strategy you could be exploring? - such as online live events, convention tours, DIY screenings, etc
-Could you be researching alternative competition platforms for your work?
-Is there potential for a live component that perhaps you haven't considered yet?
For those of you who wish to focus your research energy elsewhere this week, please email me in the next few days and let's discuss what you'll be doing. The prompts listed above are just ideas and jumping off points, let's go from there to determine the best assignment to serve your thesis.
Email me and we'll work it out!
Thanks for your patience with this late blog post! I look forward to reading your festival strategies! There are always new festivals we can help each other discover! :)
Have a great week!
As a primer or refresher on the types of festivals out there and their benefits, read Elliot Groves' article, "Film Festival Secrets: 5 Types of Film Festivals"
Groves' piece is brief and has some useful links, including one to a list of no-entry fee festivals. Read the article to begin thinking about your film festival strategy. A good strategy starts with knowing what you want to do with your film and then targeting a small group of good-fit festivals, rather than wasting money on submitting everywhere.
Knowing wether or not a festival is a good fit often takes a some research. It entails not just reading each festival's individual guidelines (for ex. many festivals define feature length differently) and submission requirements, but also looking through past winners and news stories about the festival.
Echoing some of the sentiments about film festivals in our conversation last week, here is our old pal Jon Reiss, discussing his thoughts on the use of festivals for contemporary Indie filmmakers.
Some numbers I think bear repeating from this video:
35K to 45K features are made each year
600 or so make it into the festival circuit
40-60 films per market (Sundance, Cannes, Berlin, Toronto, Rotterdam and Venice) get deals (in a good year!)
FILM FESTIVAL STRATEGY ASSIGNMENT:
For next week - with a later deadline of Tuesday, Oct. 8th by 6pm - I'd like everyone to share their festival strategies as a blog entry. I will address alternative assignments later in this post...
Festival Strategies must include:
1. A brief statement about your goals for your film at festivals. What do you hope to get out of these festivals for your film and your career in general? Also briefly explain your personal priorities when devising a strategy.
2. A list of festivals you plan to enter, organized into categories of your own priority - due dates, exposure, budget for fees, etc. This organization should match the explanation of your priorities given in #1.
3. Under EACH festival listed, include as much of the following information as you can find:
-Festival website
-Festival director, programmer, or head curator
-How many years has the fest been running?
-Entry deadlines, entry fees
-Submission requirements pertinent to your project - project length, premiere status, production dates, budget, theme, etc.
-Submission materials needed
-A sentence or two about how this festival fits into your overall strategy
If your strategy does not include at least 5 film festivals, please add a few alternatives for good measure. I expect most lists to be more than 5, but 5 is the minimum.
ALTERNATIVE ASSIGNMENTS -
For those of you not planning to submit to film festivals, I'd like to work with you further to create an assignment that addresses your research needs and ties into the materials of the past two weeks.
-Is there an alternative live event or theatrical screening strategy you could be exploring? - such as online live events, convention tours, DIY screenings, etc
-Could you be researching alternative competition platforms for your work?
-Is there potential for a live component that perhaps you haven't considered yet?
For those of you who wish to focus your research energy elsewhere this week, please email me in the next few days and let's discuss what you'll be doing. The prompts listed above are just ideas and jumping off points, let's go from there to determine the best assignment to serve your thesis.
Email me and we'll work it out!
Thanks for your patience with this late blog post! I look forward to reading your festival strategies! There are always new festivals we can help each other discover! :)
Have a great week!
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