First time Indie Fimmaker needs HELP!!!

[Reel Woman]

Hello!

I'm new to this site, and new to the indie film world.

I'm on the verge of finishing my first indie film, and I don't know what "road" to take next.

My film is a 15 minute thriller/suspense piece.

So, here's some of the ideas I have:

Enter it into a handful of major film festivals. (Sundance, Cannes, Tribeca, etc.)
Find someone to represent me/my film at these festivals. (Unless they are close enough to home that I can go myself.)
Find a distributor for either my short (they could release it with several shorts on one DVD) and/or a distributor for a feature-length film based on the short.
Find a producer for the feature.
Use this thingy called "Createspace" that's advertised on this site. (Don't know much about it...)
Pull my hair out and scream!!!

(And I thought making a movie was hard!!!)

I know very little about the business side of "show business". I can make a move, but I'm not sure how to make money...and/or start a career in the film industry.

Any and all advice would be great. Websites to go to...books to read...people to bribe...whatever.

I've spent the last two-and-a-half years making this film. I put everything I had into it (including my life savings). I wrote, directed, produced, edited, and coordinated the entire film. I am ALMOST done...the last thing I want to do is screw it all up now!!!

Thanks in advance for your help!

~Reel Woman

"Sometimes you just have to take the leap and build your wings on the way down" ~Walt Disney

 

[indietalk]

Concentrate on #1. Short films rarely get distribution. For festivals, try to go in person to make contacts. A proxy would be useless. They want to meet you.

CreateSpace is a good way to sell your DVD online. I do it.

 

[Reel Woman]

Thanks for the quick responce!!!

So I should only enter my film into local festivals, since I spent all my $ on my film and can't afford to travel across the country or around the world?

Do you have to pay anything to use CreateSpace? Is it o.k. to use that and to enter my film into festivals? (I thought some festivals had rules about them being the only ones or first ones to show your film.)

 

[indietalk]

I didn't sell my DVD until after a barrage of fests.

 

[directorik]

Hello!
Enter it into a handful of major film festivals. (Sundance, Cannes, Tribeca, etc.)

Do this and enter it into the "minor" festivals.

Find someone to represent me/my film at these festivals. (Unless they are close enough to home that I can go myself.)

The filmmaker doesn't need to attend festivals. But you should. Not just festivals
your movie is in, but any festival you can. You would never try to play a major
sport without at least going to a game. But so many makers of short films never
go to festivals to watch other short films.

I don't understand.

Find a distributor for either my short (they could release it with several shorts on one DVD) and/or a distributor for a feature-length film based on the short.

This, too is a fine idea. I'm sure you own several collections of short films, right?
So you know exactly what distributors are looking for. Sometimes filmmakers want
their movie distributed, but they never buy short film collections.

I don't understand that either.

Find a producer for the feature.

Always an excellent idea. No reason to stop at one short film. A feature is the way to go.

Use this thingy called "Createspace" that's advertised on this site. (Don't know much about it...)

To find out about Createspace and if they charge you should go to the site and check
the FAQ. Also you should buy several films from the site. You want people to buy your
film, so you should start by buying the films of your fellow filmmakers. And as you poke
around the site looking fro short films to buy, keep mental track of WHY you are buying
the films. That might help you understand why people might buy (or not buy) yours.

Pull my hair out and scream!!!

(And I thought making a movie was hard!!!)

Nope. Making the movie is the easy part. There are hundreds of thousands of finished
short films out there. Very few of them get into festivals, find a distributor or attract a
producer to make a feature.

That's the difficult part.

Is it o.k. to use that and to enter my film into festivals? (I thought some festivals had rules about them being the only ones or first ones to show your film.)

Some festivals have restrictions. You should check out the requirements of the festivals
you want to enter before you make it available.

It's essential that you do all these things. An option you left out of your poll.

 

[cibao]

Some great advice, but I'll add another - put it on internet sites (ie: Youtube, Crackle, Atom Films, etc.). Get as many people as you can to get a buzz out on the film, and see what happens.

Good luck with it.

Chris

 

[FilmmakingStuff]

Short films

To find festivals, consider the withoutabox service. Those folks uncover festivals you may not have otherwise heard about.

There is some great advice here. So I won't overlap too much. But again, I emphasize YouTube. With that, it's possible to find a global audience... and it's free!

 

[directorik]

Just be careful when using those sites before you enter
a festival. Some festivals have requirements

 

[Blade_Jones]

Don't throw your money away at those BIG festivals. No way your can compete with 4,000 other entries, including big budget films. Start with smaller festivals in the NY and LA area. San Fernando Valley Film Fest, Long Island Film Fest, New Jersey Film Fest, Malibu Film Fest, Palm Springs, etc. See what happens. And don't waste your time with film festivals in places where distributors don't live.

You could buy the Hollywood Distribution Directory and start emailing companies. Unfortunately a lot of the distributors that respond are predators looking for a "free lunch" with "dummy contracts" that aren't worth your time. If you are offered what looks like a legit contract you'll need to hire an expensive lawyer to make sure that you're protected, not getting ripped off, etc.

Also read the book "the Insider's Guide to Independent Film Distribution" by Stacy Parks so that you'll know what to expect. This is must reading. One of the things I learned from the book is that 9 out of 10 filmmakers never see a dime from foreign sales when working with a "sales agent". Even after they make some sells they never recoup their expenses, so you never make any $.

I know someone who got his short film distributed on a compilation DVD via Echelon. They haven't sold enough units to repay their costs, and probably never will. Think about it: How many "short film" DVD's can you find in stores? Can you name 1 or 2 that you've seen? This is what you're up against, and without getting impulse buyers buying your DVD (in stores) you can't make a hill of beans worth of money. That leaves you with ONLINE sales, and if all a distributor is gonna do is sell your movie online then what's the point of going through the bullshit of signing a complex contract with a distributor, providing "deliverables", etc?

Anyone can open an account with Amazon and FilmBaby. That's a start for you.

 

[RobertAlexander]

Okay, Im going to do my best here. I've been away for the forums for a while but its exciting to see that things are still happening with up and coming filmmakers etc! The struggle is part of the fun, always gotta remember that....so first of all, try not to get too stressed out-enjoy the ride.

Anyways, I can't comment on your specific film that your talking about, but Im going to give you advice for short films in general that I have seen "make it" (meaning they made some money). The ones that I've seen generally had a niche audience. Think about it, short films are too small to be seen by mass audiences for the most part-but niche audiences, they love short films. Appeal to a niche group-a subculture etc-you may have a small, cult like audience.

Film festivals are good-apply to the small ones. Win those, pick up momentum then off to the bigger ones. Build your film up over time.

Post the film online-create a website for the film where people can contact you. Include information about yourself and what you did. Make people reading about you get a true feel for your passion. Then make sure they can view your product and support you.

Ask everyone who helped you with the film to help market it and spread the word on the film. This doesn't need to involve money-you'd be surprised how many forums you can post a little writeup saying: "hey check out my film" with a link to youtube and your website attached.

Win some contests, get some exposure, enter in some festivals and then, once you have some momentum-even a little, approach distributors and agents. Make sure the deals are good-even finding a lawyer friend(maybe a family friend) to look it over will help-Beware that there are a few negative people in this business who are non-professionals or scam artists-hoping to take money and products away from whoever they can.

Then finally, get some money. I realize you've spent your savings. But start planning ahead and do what it takes to push this thing to the next level-including financially. If this is your project and you believe in it, why not work an extra part time job a couple nights a week and weekends. Save all the money and plan a month or two long film festival road trip. Chart out a bunch of festivals and contests and just hop in a car with a buddy or two and go. You will have a great time and if you bring business cards with your films website and your contact info with you, you'll be spreading the word to the right people. Just hand your card to everyone and be bold.

Lastly, if that doesn't work, make another, even better film and try again. Keep it part time if you have to. Remember, sometimes in order to succeed you need to fail over and over and over again. Usually the ones who persevere, always get rewards... its just a question of how long your willing to go after this.

Robert
as always feel free to pm.