ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

12 years, 5 months ago - Ashley Briggs

Hi Cato,

In addition to Helen's answer;

You have to work out your strategy for your short, ideally prior to producing it. Most who go the festival route go this way;

Tier 1, Prestige Fests (Cannes, Berlin, Sundance etc)
Tier 2, Very Good Fests (Encounters, SXSW etc)
Then either prize money festivals or festivals with a good market attached.
Then audience festivals or festivals in places you want to go to.
Then some form of distribution whether that is selling it or distributing yourself (if money is no consideration Online is of course good).

Once put online your film will have voided it's chances with many festivals and certainly all distribution deals. But to be honest, as long as no one pirates it and re-posts, you can put it online and then take it off as and when, somewhat playing the game as many filmmakers do. There are exceptions though, for example the film Ekki Mukk which won LSFF is actually online yet it played LSFF and it's here at Clermont-Ferrand amongst others. It all comes down to the small print of a festival's regulations - yes that means reading every regulation prior to working out whether to submit (so, so boring...). If I was you, I'd hold off the Shooting People FOTM until you've tried your chances with a few Tier 1 and 2 festivals. The FOTM runs all the time and won't be a career-maker, even if you win. (Unless your film is perfect for an internet release right now). Better to build a momentum at some festivals and then go into FOTM at a later stage. OR... put it up online somewhere safe (vimeo with no download optioned) pop it onto the FOTM and then remove it or reduce it to 'password protected' after the FOTM has run and try to hide the fact it was online and continue with festival applications. If you really were 'found out' you could always re-cut the film somewhat and perhaps re-title it to continue its festival career, as a certain BFI London FF short did recently in order for it to satisfy the BFI's strict 'world premiere' status. Good luck.

Ash. www.inspirationgone.com / www.ashleybriggs.co.uk

12 years, 5 months ago - Cato Hoeben

Thank you for your answers, both are extremely informative. I think it's likely we'll hold off from placing our film online as I believe there's still some mileage in festivals that don't want us to place the film online and Ash is right that we can always do the Shooting People FOTM whenever (we were only considering it as it's a romantic film and wanted it to coincide with Valentines day).

Thanks again, really appreciate the responses.

Cato

12 years, 5 months ago - Helen Jack

Hi Cato,

It really depends on your film and what your ambitions for it are. If you want the film to reach a wide audience, then online is the way to go. And not all festivals are stringent about the film existing online (in my opinion, this is a little old fashioned. People will still pay to see a short film programme, even if a couple of the films exist online - it's a curated package, which is very different to watching the film in isolation online). If you're serious about the film having a festival life, then I would suggest thoroughly researching the festivals you want to submit to and see what their rules are - festivals vary. If there are a couple of fests you really want to aim for, and they are strict about online films, then keep your film offline until it has run its course on the circuit (this can take up to 18 months).

12 years, 5 months ago - Patrick Nash

Hi Cato

To answer your question - as the comments above said - it all depends on your strategy and what you want to achieve with your film. If you just seek maximum exposure and audience then go online by all means. However if you want any of the significant festival awards and credits or industry exposure at key festivals, to be picked up by a distributor or have a paid TV broadcast you need to keep it well away from e Internet until those possibilities are exhausted... For several reasons.

1. The Oscar accredited film festivals will not screen your film or accept it for competition if it has been broadcast or made freely available online. The rules allow only a maximum of ten per cent of the film length to be made publicly available as a trailer or for marketing purposes any more and it's disqualified. You will find the detail on e academy awar website under rule 19 for short film awards. Rule 19 sect ii specifically. There are currently 75 qualifying festivals for the academy award and you'll find they cover nearly all the major ones you'd be interested in submitting to.

2. I am involved with one such Oscar accredited festival and once selection and short listing is complete all entries for competition and screening are googled and checked out extensively online. There's hardly a year passes when good films aren't disqualified because they're available online so do take it seriously. Festival programmers are well aware of the many dodges pulled to try and get round the rules and they vet the films in a variety of ways not just checking a title but searching via names of director, company, key actors etc. I've seen films resubmitted in different titles some even do a tiny re-edit to try and get round it but we do spot them. The problem then is do you be lenient and turn a blind eye? The reality is festivals worry about maintaining their credibility and integrity with the Academy who will check those short listed to them to double check their eligibility. I've seen one film from another continent resubmitted three times in different guises over four years and it's excluded each time. No one likes someone trying to con, bluff or lie to them so pulling a fast one to get round the rules usually has a negative effect. One thing to watch out for is giving out complimentary copies of your film on DVD to everyone involved with making your film. It only takes one of them to upload it to the net maybe to show off their acting skills to friends and your film is dead. Likewise a disgruntled crew member can do it to scupper your festival dreams so beware.

3. Some festivals insist that to screen at their festival.in competition the screening must be the film's world premiere. Cannes, Berlin, Venice do this so you can only submit to one of them. You need to decide which festival most meets your needs (that is if you get selected). In reality it's very difficult to even be selected at a major festival. Some screen as we as 2% of the entries they receive because they get so many. Sundance had 7500 entries alone last year. Simply getting selected and screened is an accolade in itself.

4. Distributors will not take your film even if it's won a major series of awards once it's made publicly available online. Broadcasters are the same. Why should they or anyone else pay to see and broadcast a film when it's freely available to the public somewhere on the net.

5. Short films are regarded as having a two year festival life. Many have rules that restrict what they accept as entries to a period of time usually going back to January of the previous year - this is so that festivals aren't being hit by thousands of entries of old films going back 10, 20 or more years. So you target the big festivals/awards your first year then the lesser less strict ones the second year.

6. You must read festival submission rules and regulations or you will screw up with some of them -note some claim the right to broadcast your short on their own Internet tv or website if its selected or wins at their festival. So be careful.

7. General rule if you want to follow a festival /awards strategy keep your short off the net until all your options have been exhausted then do it to your hearts content.

I hope this helps.

Pat

12 years, 5 months ago - Cato Hoeben

Hi Patrick,

Thanks for taking the time to share those details, very very useful info. I think we're going to keep our film offline for the time being, until the two years festival run is over.

Thanks again,

Cato

12 years, 5 months ago - Ashley Briggs

Pat,

That's a pretty solid answer! How about running my next film's strategy?

Ash