(Though there are sometimes exceptions - see the chapter in the Film Festival Secrets book on submissions for more.)Īs the entries come into the festival, they are sorted by category and catalogued for review. When it comes to a call for entries here are usually at least two deadlines: one "early" deadline with a reduced entry fee and one "final" or "late" deadline, after which no more films are accepted for review. Of course the opposite is true: the festivals that promise better odds are the ones that receive fewer submissions, so the prestige of playing them is lower. The festivals that can do you the most good are the ones most in demand and therefore receiving the most submissions. The catch, of course, is that there are thousands upon thousands of films made every year and only so many festival eyeballs to watch them. If that movie strikes a chord with the programming team, a filmmaker can very quickly rise from obscurity to a place of renown on the platform provided by the festival. This is what makes film festivals special: they’re willing to watch a movie from anyone (so long as they submit according to the rules). Festivals play up-and-coming films headed for theaters, yes, but they also depend on submissions from relative unknowns to provide the new, the original, the unexpected. By the time they put out the call for entries, this year's staff has already put a lot of thought and work into the upcoming event.įilmmakers responding to the call for entries fill out the festival's submission form, pay a submission fee (at this writing, anywhere from $20 - $50 and sometimes more), and send one or more copies of their film to the festival for consideration. If you're submitting to a festival for the second (or third or fourth) time, be mindful of the fact that the relationships you established with last year's staff may need to be rebuilt with someone new. The period between the end of one year's festival and the call for entries of the next is also when staff turnover is likeliest. In reality there often have been months of preparation leading up to the call - analysis of the previous festival's successes and failures, reworking of the festival procedures and format, the courting of sponsors, and more. (There are a few festivals in the world that occur during the six weeks or so in between, but the holidays make such events impractical at best.)įrom the perspective of a filmmaker, the festival process begins with the call for entries. This is not to be confused with the January - December festival calendar that opens with Sundance and closes, more or less, with AFI Fest at the end of November. A little knowledge and a bit of graciousness go a long way.Ī bit of housekeeping before we get started – the festival year to which I refer is the annual cycle that most festivals perform when one festival season ends (generally just after the festival occurs) and another begins. Those stories rarely end with the festival programming that filmmaker's next picture. This is not to say that you should surrender all dignity at the festival door, but the books of festival lore are replete with stories of filmmakers who pestered festival staff with inane queries, displayed a sense of entitlement when their film was accepted, and then complained about the experience afterward. The less time you spend asking questions whose answers are readily available on the festival web site and the more you present yourself as an easygoing soul who is happy to make the festival's job as trouble-free as possible, the smoother the entire process will be for all involved. Few things will gain you more favor in the eyes of a festival director than a familiarity with the annual cycle most festivals go through and your attention to detail when it comes to the peculiarities of that festival. One of the most useful weapons in an independent filmmaker's arsenal is a general understanding of the way film festivals work. If you’re just getting started on your festival journey, it’s a good overview of the festival year and the what, how, and why of festivals in general. That’s why this article exists - it assumes very little knowledge about what film festivals are or how they work. Often it’s worse, since every festival invents its own way of doing things and some words (like “screener”) have multiple meanings. You take for granted the conventions and jargon used commonly by those “on the inside” with you, only to be brought up short when a newcomer asks you exactly what you mean when you use that word. When you immerse yourself in a topic – discussing, thinking, and writing about it over a period of years – you can’t help but lose the beginner’s perspective. A Beginner’s Guide to the Film Festival Year
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