ASK & DISCUSS
INDEXFestival strategy for recently completed short -- all advice welcome.
7 years, 8 months ago - Paulina Brahm
Hello SP community,
I've been asked to assist in submitting a short to festivals and would love to know the first steps. I am gleefully accepting this challenge as I'm in the short, I believe in it, and I have large chunks of time (at the moment) to devote to applying. I also have accepted the mindset of possible rejections and am determined to carry on.
I am super-organized and I believe the first item on the agenda is creating a calendar of festivals that have a shorts category. From there I can read their rules, deadlines, criteria, costs, and create a submission plan.
If this has been covered before, or there exists a template to which I can be referred, I'd be most grateful.
Warmest regards, and thanks in advance.
Paulina Brahm
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7 years, 8 months ago - Jane Sanger
Hi I have funded and submitted 11 shorts and won 16 awards. I can refer you to my tip sheet on www.luminofilms.co.uk but there is a small fee for it. Or come to the next Media Lunch Club event friday 19 Jan where this subject will be talked on. Look on their website and book the lunch. It also has a small fee that covers lunch as well.
7 years, 7 months ago - Rebekah Smith
Thank you Jane and hi Paulina - I’ll be giving a talk about creating and managing a successful Festival strategy at the Media lunch club on Friday - if you’re not able to attend do drop me a message and I’ll get in touch
My company is called the film festival Doctor
www.thefilmfestivaldoctor.com
7 years, 7 months ago - Vanessa Bailey
Hi Paulina! I've produced and submitted a multi award-winning short as a complete first-timer and this is what I've learned:
FORGET ABOUT USING WITHOUTABOX, it's dreadful and no one likes it, including festival admins.
Search and submit via FILMFREEWAY - it creates a profile for you and then all you do is re-submit that profile to each festival you are interested in. It's simple, quick and efficient. It keeps track of all the info for you and stores it. You can search for the most relevant festivals to your film using several categories including looking for Early Bird cheaper submissions, awards-qualifiers and genre specific festivals.
You need CRACKINGLY GOOD PROMO MATERIAL, by that I mean a great poster and some good official stills to hand. You'll also need a short and long synopsis and a log line. Google those to find out how to write them.
SOCIAL MEDIA - festivals often look at your social media activity to see how much value you will bring to them in terms of exposure and promotion. You should have a twitter account and FB page for the film set up, which should be active and engaged. A website is also good. They can be set up easily via Jimdo or Wix etc... (if I can do them, anyone can!)
Some festivals are loners - you need to find them and apply directly, such as the CANNES SHORT CORNER. The short corner is an out-of-competition showcase for short films and if your film is accepted it allows you two passes to the Cannes film festival which is great for networking and telling people about your film.
BUDGET - entering film festivals very expensive, averaging at around £20 a pop - some less, some significantly more.
BEWARE SCAMMY FESTIVALS - There are some festivals to avoid - MONACO for example is nonsense. Some festivals offer nothing except earning money for themselves.
Many are highly political and agenda-driven, so check that your film fits their agenda!
Hope this helps and good luck! x
seeinghimfilm.com
7 years, 7 months ago - Paulina Brahm
Thank you all for your very kind and detailed advice. I will be responding more fully later.
Kind regards,
Paulina