Help me create the perfect film festival

carol rose

carol rose

Hi. I have been given the dubious honor of coordinating a film festival.

I work for a movie theater in Connecticut dedicated to showing independent American and foreign films. We are a four screen theater with a total of 430 seats and have been in business since 1993. Although we show 35mm on a daily basis, we have full digital projection capabilities.

Here's where you come in. Please tell me what makes a great film festival. What categories are you interested in? Besides cash, what sort of prizes float your boat? Are you interested in forums and seminars about the industry? Would you travel to southern New England in early December? Snow happens, although usually not that early. Do you use "withoutabox" for your submissions? Any objections to mixing professionals with non-professionals? Are most of your films on DVD and VHS?

So tell me what you think. I'm listening. I'm taking notes. We're looking at early December, 2005, which is only 15 months away!!!
 
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My
smiley_pop.gif
is bigger than your :pop:

:lol:
 
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I'm a film maker who has submitted to, been accepted by, and in turn attended a few festivals. Here is what I look for in a festival when submitting my work:

Is is close to home? If it's close enough to where I live and I get in, I might be able to go. I rarely attend festivals that are out of state.

Are there awards offered? Since I only have shorts so far, I'm not expecting any distribution. The most I'm hopeing for is that I might get a job out of it or that I'll get some recognition in the form of an award

Is my film the type of thing they are looking for? There are so many films floating around out there it can get real competitive. I know I'll have a better chance sending my horror film to a horror film festival then to just a regular festival that doesn't have any preference.

Once I get into a festival, I have to decide if it's worth my going. Then I look for:

Workshops, lectures, etc. I love workshops, especially ones that will help me as a film maker. I just attended the Shocker film festival in Modesto, CA and I loved their workshops. They had a make-up guy there shareing all kinds of tips for doing FX make-up on a tight budget. They also had a writer shareing tips on writing a spec script. These were my favorites and they made the trip worth while to me.

Free admission, parties, and other opportunities to network. If I go to the effort and expense of getting myself out there, what will I get out of the expirience? Will I meet anyone that I might be able to work with in the future? Will I learn anything new? The shocker film festival also scheduled an event for every night, be it a party or dinner.

How expensive will it be for me to attend? I've come to expect free admission for myself and one other. This seems pretty standard to me. To get out to CA was expensive for me especially because I live on the opposite coast, and I never would have thought to attend if the director of the festival hadn't called me personally to tell me I was accepted. That is the first phone call I've had from a festival director and I was so impressed by the personal attention, that I got a plane ticket and went.

Being rejected from a festival is never fun, but one of the things that makes it a little easier to take is when they include the judges comments. I think the Cleveland International Film Festival did this. I really appriciated it and it helped me revaluate my work.

I love the Mad Hatter Film Festival title, you could have a themed party one night where everyone had to where a crazy hat and give prizes to the best ones. Go to local businesses and see what you can get them to donate. I once went to a lunch at a festival that was advertised as a film maker get together where a restaurant offered a reduced rate to film makers, it was a great way to meet people. I hope this helps.
 
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Carol, I'm not sure how much time you have left before this festival, but if you're considering flyer advertising, let me know I've got some good contacts that do an amazing job printing, are cheaper than everyone else, and have a quick turnaround..

Also I can help you with the designs, if needed. ;)

I'd just post the info here, but I don't want to offend anyone by effectively 'advertising' someones business.
 
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Do filmmakers sell copies of their DVDs at festivals?

Hi Guys

Still working on the film festival in Connecticut. Whew, there has been so much to learn! Our "Call for Entries" will be announced in a few weeks.

I'd like to give filmmakers the chance to sell copies of their DVD at the festival. Obviously if you are still looking for a distribution contract this is not viable. However, if you are no longer pursuing that option, then why not?

Has anyone had any experience selling copies of their films at festivals? Does this make sense (and some dollars for you)?

Anyone...anyone?
 
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" The Mad Hatter Film Festival." Why? Years ago our community was linked to the hatting industry.
There were numerous hat factories in our town as well as the sorrounding area. Thus, "Mad Hatter"
is a link to our past as well a funky kind of literary name.
Click to expand...
I really like that one!
 
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carol rose said:
Hi Guys

Still working on the film festival in Connecticut. Whew, there has been so much to learn! Our "Call for Entries" will be announced in a few weeks.

I'd like to give filmmakers the chance to sell copies of their DVD at the festival. Obviously if you are still looking for a distribution contract this is not viable. However, if you are no longer pursuing that option, then why not?

Has anyone had any experience selling copies of their films at festivals? Does this make sense (and some dollars for you)?

Anyone...anyone?
Click to expand...
A better idea would be to include a film market. Some festivals have markets, some do not. Basically, you give the filmmaker a table, and you can rent tables to filmmakers that are not in the festival. The filmmakers set up their presentations, which may or may not include a video display with his/her film running, promotional material, literature, etc. To make it a worthy market it is up to the festival to get distributors to attend.
 
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carol rose said:
Hi. I have been given the dubious honor of coordinating a film festival.

I work for a movie theater in Connecticut dedicated to showing independent American and foreign films. We are a four screen theater with a total of 430 seats and have been in business since 1993. Although we show 35mm on a daily basis, we have full digital projection capabilities.

Here's where you come in. Please tell me what makes a great film festival. What categories are you interested in? Besides cash, what sort of prizes float your boat? Are you interested in forums and seminars about the industry? Would you travel to southern New England in early December? Snow happens, although usually not that early. Do you use "withoutabox" for your submissions? Any objections to mixing professionals with non-professionals? Are most of your films on DVD and VHS?

So tell me what you think. I'm listening. I'm taking notes. We're looking at early December, 2005, which is only 15 months away!!!
Click to expand...

Will you have all 4 screens for 3 days? If it is less than this, you need to focus on genres, as there won 't be enough space for dramas, comedies, horror, animation, and documentaries.

Are you planning for a certain mix of features and shorts?

Are you targeting a minimum proportion of Film vs. Video?

Will there be some established anchor films (e.g. a prize winner from Cannes, Berlin, Milan, Venice. Toronto, Woodstock, AFI, IFC, Sundance?). You probably won't have to pay the distributor much for showing the work at your festival.

How many qualified reviewers for the official selection process? Be realistic about how many films each reviewer can score, and make sure that each film has at least 3 reviewers as you cannot break a lot of ties.

How do you qualify the reviewers and the jury for a genre? What role will they play throughout?

Be sure to run a thorough sound check and log the parameters for showing each film at its optimal level. Every film has a correct level which is different from every other film. Make sure that films with Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound are decoded correctly. If the DVD player doesn't have a digital optical audio cable to the projection audio, then you must get one AND make sure that the projectionist has tested this setup correctly for each surround sound film. Too many festivals fall flat here. Also be sure to have backup equipment and lens cleaners for the lasers.

Promote competition for the sake of publicity. Will you have audience choice awards? Will you have an awards ceremony? Best director? Best actor? Best screenplay? Best music? Have a lot of discrete trophies. Make sure that everyone knows about it.

Can you enlist a highly qualifed film critic to serve as the master/mistress of ceremonies? This can be a tremendous draw.

Are you inviting award winning independent filmmakers, directors, producers, editors, actors, etc. to submit particiular films? One out of ten films shown should be invited.

Last but not least, attract a lot of high quality work through publicity early, often, through many channels, and follow through.
 
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