ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

11 years, 11 months ago - Catsnake Film

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-festivals/). Main results were...

* There are around 3,000 film festivals currently active (i.e. ran in the past two years)
* 9,706 film festivals have run at least once in the last 15 years
* 75% of all film festivals were created in the last ten years
* 2009 was the peak year for new festivals
* 2012 had the lowest number of new festivals launched for 14 years
* 39% of film festivals only ever run once
* 71% of film festivals screen short films and 52% screen feature films
* Half of all film festivals run for less than 7 days
* North America hosts 70% of the world’s film festivals
* October is the busiest month, with five times as many festivals as December

Part two focused on the economics of running a film festival (http://stephenfollows.com/the-economics-of-film-festivals/)

* 45% of festivals use Withoutabox to accept entries
* 65% of festivals charge for submissions
* Under 15% of film festivals’ income comes from submission fees
* 14% of festivals regard their funding situation as “great” or better
* Average submission fee is $27 for short films and $40 for feature films
* 51% of festivals give discounts to students
* 77% of festivals allow your film to be online publicly when submitting
* The festivals rated Withoutabox 4.2 out of 10 for value for money

And the last part has the comments, thoughts and advice from film festival directors (http://stephenfollows.com/what-festival-directors-really-think/)

* Film festival directors are just like filmmakers
* A great story is the most important factor in picking films
* Cinematography is the next biggest factor, along with good sound
* Every festival wants your film to be shorter
* The smaller festivals are crying out for better films
* Festivals expect the filmmakers to market their own screenings
* Press kits and fancy packaging won’t help your chances of being selected
* Better subtitling and sound will
* Festival Directors really don’t like Withoutabox