ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

5 years, 11 months ago - David Knight

Hi Everyone

I returned to filmmaking two and half years ago and was lucky to have my first short 'Suicide Blonde' selected by festivals and in two cases win awards. Where possible i attended all the screenings of my film, to meet like minded filmmakers in an attempt to increase my network of collaborators. But found that the screenings to be not very full and after the screenings most people tended to leave, which was very disheartening.

The question i ask is this? should i have put more time and a little money into advertising my film? For example attending every day of the festival with promotional material, say like post cards, a banner/ poster?

I've had conversations with other filmmakers that have been doing this a lot longer than me and they seem to think its more the festivals job to advertise the films within there program and any time/ money i put into advertising would be wasted and futile?

Now the reason i bring this up, is because my latest short film 'Rachel' is about to have its first festival screening and i want to try to make sure i have a better experience this time around, with fuller screenings and better chances to network.

What are peoples thoughts?