festivals Post on youtube or send to film festivals?

I made a short film and music vid. Should I submit to film festivals or just post on youtube? Both? (Is that possible? Or do film festivals only accept things not yet published?) What would be the reasons for one vs the other? I tried googling some info, but all I get are results about youtube streaming film festivals. lol
 
Hard to say. First film. And I've been 100% focused on the film itself. I suppose I want people to see it and hit me up for work.

If I put it on youtube, could I still submit it to festivals? Or is it only one-way, festivals first then other platforms?
 
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I want people to see it and hit me up for work.
Honestly, getting someone to hire you from your first movie is a serious long shot.

In the past, I've valued festivals mostly for networking opportunities, the feedback you can get from talk backs after live screenings - and yeah, an award or two is great for the ego after working so hard on a project.

But it's hard to tell right now when in-person screenings will return for small to mid-size festivals. Streaming festivals are better than nothing, but to me it's hard to see how you'd get the same interactions (but that might just be a generational thing for me).

For your first film, I suggest you put it on you tube and share it around (here and elsewhere) for feedback that can help make the next one better.
 
I made a short film and music vid. Should I submit to film festivals or just post on youtube? Both? (Is that possible? Or do film festivals only accept things not yet published?) What would be the reasons for one vs the other? I tried googling some info, but all I get are results about youtube streaming film festivals. lol
You'll need to research individual festivals rather than a wide search. Each
festival has its own rules. Most want some kind of premiere. But not all.

So first; decide what festivals you want to enter. Then look at their requirements.

If you are hoping this movies leads to work offers I know people will not just
happen upon your movie and decide to hire you. You need to target specific
companies. The movie doesn't need to be on YouTube for that. You might want
YouTube to host it and sent the link to interested companies and people. But it
shouldn't be public.

What festivals are you interested in entering?
 
When I googled festivals, the first result was filmfreeway, which allegedly enters you into thousands of festivals, and for free. Is there a catch?

And why should the film not be public if I'm to send a link to targeted people/companies?
 
llegedly enters you into thousands of festivals, and for free.
They don't enter your movie in festivals - they're a site that facilitates YOU doing that.
You set up the info (cast, crew, logline, etc), upload your trailer & movie once, and then use that to submit to whatever festivals you choose.

Film Freeway doesn't charge you a fee for that service but as @indietalk said, many festivals do. Also how selective festivals are varies A LOT.
 
In answer to your original question? Both. Generally what filmmakers do is submit their created movie to festivals. As soon as the festivals have finished showing the film, they then release said film onto youtube. This is the most efficient way promotionally. Since in the film thumbnail you could boast the competitions you were in. (Ive seen this work VERY affectively). And you might have seen it too. This will pull in more viewers, also, people who saw the film at the festivals (and whom you now probably are in contact with) would probably love to support your online version. That being said, While festivals do offer a lot of professional contact and work which is vital Ofcourse, they don’t offer a very large audience, which is a problem cause at one point in your filmmaking career you MAY want to start getting recognized by more than just critics. In which case you just need to figure out the algorithm and build a fan base. Which unlike how most people say, is actually pretty damn easy and fun to do if you just know how to do it right. I hope this helped, also, what’s your film about? I’d love to know more about it.

Edit: The reason that filmmakers upload their films AFTER they have been through festivals, is because generally competitions will not show already released movies. At least not as much.
 
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Ok, so I posted it privately, giving the password to the actors involved. Being my first film, I'm hoping to get some feedback and make any needed adjustments. Question: one of them asked if they could post a snippet to social media. Would that disqualify entry into festivals? Fwiw, the film is 22 minutes, and he'd post something less than a minute, basically end credits where I used some behind the scenes b-roll.

HNY y'all!
 
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