The Best Festival EVER
No, for once, I’m not just banging about Branchage (though I’m not saying it’s not) but my last post here about the length of shorts has sparked up this question on the Shooting People Filmmaker’s Bulletin…
> Hi What are the 6 top festivels in the opinion of the SP
> readers are the ones that REALLY count and what is THE ideal
> length for a short? Coould we have some views please? Best
> Charlie Salem
And in tomorrow’s bulletin my reply will be this…
The ideal length for a short film is exactly as long as the story needs to be.
The six best film festivals are these…
1 – The one in which you see someone else’s film which suddenly makes you realise what you’ve been doing wrong and inspires you to do better.
2 – The one in which you find someone who loves your work so much they want to help fund your next film.
3 – The one in which you find someone who loves your work so much they want you to work on their next project.
4 – The one where you meet people, directors, writers, actors, producers or industry executives who really get you and suddenly a world of new unpaid possibilities opens up.
5 – The one where you get laid.
6 – The one where you very drunk and have a great time without embarrassing yourself.
Sadly, or happily depending upon your viewpoint, these events have no basis in geography.
Or, to answer the question in another way, somewhere in this world is a director who has just screened a 28 minute film in a tiny festival where, quite by chance, it was seen by a rich old man who has given her a blank cheque and the keys to his wine cellar and she’s currently nursing a hangover in bed with his beautiful daughter who’s amazing screenplay lies waiting to explode her mind on the bedside table.
There’s no right answer in life and you make your own luck.
Hope that’s clear.