ASK & DISCUSS

Hello fellow shooters,

My short was accepted into Cinequest but I'm heading over early to get the cheap flights. It's be great to meet up with any fellow film makers out there a…

A Welsh film festival waited until the day before the festival starts to tell us whether our film was in or not.

That's not enough time to prepare a trip, even within the same …

Thanks everyone for letting me know that I'm not alone here.

I just read in "The Complete Filmmaker's Guide to film Festivals" that, after being accepted, "You only have a few …

London Pictures Limited again plans on going to the first week of Sundance 2015 and we would be happy to meet any fellow Shooters at the Filmmakers Lodge during that time. If you …

Sure Lee, while there we can be contacted via my twitter id on twitter.com/JC_Crissey Hope to see you there. All the best. JC

It would be great to get as much feedback about UK based screenwriting and pitch festivals as possible for example.

Hi Vasco,

Good to hear from you. How did you prove you were a media professional to get the funding for the events you have been to in the past? Was there specific requirements f…

People keep asking me when they can see my film in London...

"Black Car Home", a darkly comic tale of homelessness and asylum seeking, which I wrote and directed, is selected for…

As much as I love making films, I've found the working with my fellow filmmakers to make web series can be a way to make projects more efficiently. I was lucky enough to have the…

Hey, this all sounds positive. I'm a producer and in the process of developing a narrative web series. I'd welcome connecting with anyone who has experience or knowledge and willi…

Hi Shooters,

I did put this in the ask section but I'd like to start a discussion too. I’m a student studying film production at university and for my graduation dissertation, I …

Way back on Shooting People I introduced our slime mould documentary The Creeping Garden which was in the last stages of post production and as a couple of people showed some inte…

@Tim iloobia Woooo... At the risk of sounding like a stalker, I recall there was a return address in Tufnell Park on the envelope when I bought the Kanzeon DVD a while back. Speak…

I held a VR screening of my film this week. The format opens up an interesting future for filmmakers to get their film seen.

Write-up of my experience here:

http://fnord-films…

You can currently use the RiftMax theatre software in 2d mode on your monitor however you do not get the stereoscopic 3d and obviously do not feel like you are 'there'. Oculus is …

Looking for a way to make your genre film stand out from the rest?

How do you give your film that extra edge over the competition? That extra something they don't have, that dist…

Yup. You always get someone coming in with "I hate 3D!", which turns into arguing over whether their 'reasons' have any real basis. They don't. But really, as you say, it's a matt…

Got a timely and original idea for a new film festival that could actually benefit indie filmmakers. Had some interest from potential sponsors, now trying to build a small team to…

Hi all
I’ve just had two very different experiences of film festival rejections to submissions - one good, one bad - that I thought worth sharing. The first is the bad one, and ma…

Hi Michael
I had the exact same experience and believe we were dealing with the same people - please send me a private message. Thanks.

Hi Shooters,

I am acting in a film that premieres at the Toronto Reel Heart Festival in fact it has been selected to represent the UK on opening night. I am very excited to go, …

Everyone one loves a good 48 hour, 28 day, 10 second or whatever film competition. Lovely little challenges. And it's nice when someone else organises the logistics for you and a…

I entered this, in London, a few years ago. I had to join a waiting list as they restrict the entry to first come first served. I got one of the only 90 places and got our film sc…

I submitted my film to Zero Film Festival (as it was a self made film) http://www.dayfilm.com/ad
and after payment you had to email laura to submit film.
Email came back "Emails R…

Just to add... Never pay money unless the festival offers to show your film!!!

I'd love to save a ton of money and not to have to send out DVDs to every festival I enter. But, I found with both my previous short and the now the current one, that even if I me…

Good posts & useful to hear how widespread is disappointment with WaB - a fine idea in abstract, but actual performance shows it's not fit for purpose. I take on board the an…

What's the deal with Premiere status requirements at particular film festivals?

As a director with a finished short, I'd like to get it seen but I am not keen on holding out for …

The website short of the week published a pretty comprehensive list of festivals and their 'premier status' stance. Really helpful for working out your festival strategy:
http://…

Not all festivals are the same. I have been to around 100 now in my years as a filmmaker and have experienced the Good, The Bad and the Truly Dreadful. The video above is from the…

Avoid the Long Island Film Festival. They have some kind of bizarre feud with the much-more filmmaker-friendly Long Island Int'l Film Expo, and because LIFF takes place 6 weeks af…

Hello Shooters,
I was wondering if anyone has had personal, first hand experience (good/bad/indifferent) of the Marbella International Film Festival?

It all looks pretty glamouro…

Scam. Back in 2010, they wanted me to sign a statement that I would attend, before they agreed to accept my last short BEDFELLOWS, meaning I would have to commit to appearing in …

My old man curmudgeon persona has added a new wrinkle this month. I fully expect to be beaten down with cricket bats and meat pies for this. On the other hand, I've never had a fi…

You're right, Dan. I took some Valium and I'm over it now.

I've just finished a big study of 10,000 film festivals.

Part one looked at the numbers of films festivals (http://stephenfollows.com/film-festivals-pt1-the-truths-behind-film-fe…

Hi, I've got my short "The view from the window" into the Metrage/Short Film Corner at Cannes. Does anyone have any tips on getting the most out of this investment? Before, during…

My friend Sophie got into the Short Film Corner this year and wrote me a guest blog about her experiences: http://neiloseman.com/?p=3616

Dear Shooters, Our short film made last year for a modest budget has screened at several festivals worldwide and been screened on SHORTSHD in USA and Europe. It was recently subm…

I do hope that you will still be offering the discounted tickets to the offer film makers on the program.

I've been collecting data on 10,000 film festivals and have published the results at http://stephenfollows.com/film-festivals-pt1-the-truths-behind-film-festivals/

The main findi…

...that's the breaking news from Short of the Week, who recently went through a big list of fests to see who accepts what: http://bit.ly/16vU3ku

Those amongst the 68% who do acce…

No, it won't affect how soon to go online - for the best festivals to actively feature a film, many of them want to be able to premiere it, which they can't if it's on YouTube!