ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

5 years, 10 months ago - Richard Anthony Dunford

Not heard of festival formula but there used to be one called 'the festival doctor' I think. Never used them personally though.

I guess it depends on how much spare cash you have to hire someone to come up with your festival strategy or just try and figure it out for yourself.

5 years, 10 months ago - Peter Storey

I've not put a film through Festival Formula personally, but I know Katie professionally, and she's excellent, lots of integrity. She won't take your project on as a client unless she thinks she can make it work. She and the team maintain good connections with a lot of programmers, so she knows what they're looking for and can get you attention from the right people.

This is not to say that hiring a strategist is necessarily right for you or your project - but if you're going down that road then Festival Formula are a very reputable outfit. I suspect there are a few cowboys out there in this space, so use some judgement.

5 years, 10 months ago - Brendan O'Neill

The Film Festival Doctor knows her stuff IMO

https://www.facebook.com/pg/filmfestdoctor/about/?ref=page_internal

5 years, 10 months ago - Mick Dow

Thank you for your answers. I didn't know about Festival Doctor but will check your link. Thank you. I agree that the expense of paying for a festival strategy has to be for the right film and you want to balance the cost against how you may benefit. Would be interested to hear also from film makers who have used a festival strategist?

5 years, 7 months ago - Luke Albert

Hello Mick,
I have used Festive Formula for a short film I did a couple of years back. I found it really helpful as i had no idea how the short film festive circuit worked and where to place my film. It basically worked like this. I showed them my film, they looked at it and responded whether it was worth them helping out or not (which i thought was amicable on their part, rather than just taking the money) Then we had a Video chat about the film and my expectation my budget etc. They then went away and created a full years data base of all the short films i should enter (which they thought my film has a good chance of getting in) The date base tells you the submission date, the early submission date, the cost of entering, whether it is connected to Bafta etc. And that was it, it didn't hear from them again. You are basically paying for a personalised date base. For me at the time it was very helpful, but i don't think I would use a company like that again, as now i have some knowledge I would work out my own date-base and use the money to pay for all the submissions, as the expense can rack up fast! For me if you are going to pay for someone to make you a datebase then i would like a lot more communication and something more than just a list of film festivals. I know I took the basic package with festival formula, I know they offer different packages where there is more communication and advice. Definitely worth dropping them a line.

5 years, 7 months ago - Matt Mahmood-Ogston

If you'd like to do it yourself, Filmfreeway is awesome... it has hundreds of festivals listed, and you can submit to all of them directly through their platform... saving you hours of research and form filling :-)
https://filmfreeway.com/

5 years, 7 months ago - Brendan O'Neill

Personally I would aim for film festivals on the British Council Key Festival list. A lot of film festivals are little more than vanity presses IMO. If you have a film selected for a British Council Key Festival then it qualifies you for other things like BAFTA consideration and prestigious talent schemes such as Guiding Lights. British Council also do travel grants to attend the festivals on their list. There's a PDF here.

https://film.britishcouncil.org/opportunities/short-film-travel-grant

5 years, 7 months ago - Jane Sanger

Film Festival Doctor are good , Rebekah meets you, looks at the film, discusses where to aim for (no guarantees) this manages your expectations and therefore wasted money on festivals you will never get into. She gives you a list and a lot of discounted waivers for entry fees. So why take an agent .... it’s a lot like acting. Of course you can get work/ selections yourself but your agent has built relations with CD’s/ film festival programmers that you cannot possibly do and do they know what those festivals are looking for and if your film fits. Owe er on top of that if you do get selected she will maximise your success with social media shout outs and if it’s prestigious will often be attending the festival and give you further support. It’s not cheap but weigh up the actual facts- normal unsolicited selection has a 1 in 10 chance. Very good shorts may get up to 1 in 4 selection. I got with Rebekah 1 in 3 selection plus 12 awards.