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Question about how film festivals work.

H

harmonica44

From another post on here it seems that film festivals are usually not the way to DVD distribution for a newcomer who made a feature. And that distribution only gets lucky if someone in the business sees the film, but normally those people do not attend festivals. Is this true? What's the point of making a feature then, if the film festivals are just their to review your craft, rather than possibly distribute it? Why not just stick to making shorts then?
 
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Features make money because people want to see features. Nobody really wants to watch a bunch of shorts, let alsone pay money to watch them. It's just our culture. Long features seem to be more and more popular. TF3 was like 2 and a half hours long, at least an hour longer than it should have been.

You still make shorts first because you don't know how to make a movie. You're going to mess up. Better to learn on a $0-1500 short than a $2,000-2,000,000 feature because (especially the low budget route) if you mess up the wrong area because you didn't know about it, you probably won't even finish the production let alone make a good one.

Bro, please go shoot something. Just 90 seconds long, whatever. You don't have to have all the knowledge and 5 years of preproduction to do it. That's the point Shoot something, and it will probably be bad. That's ok. That's the point.
 
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PaulGriffith said:
Features make money because people want to see features. Nobody really wants to watch a bunch of shorts, let alsone pay money to watch them. It's just our culture.
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Well, we could have a bit of a debate about that. The business model for movie theatres changed radically with the advent of television, as has the way movies have been financed and made ever since the traditional "studio" model became what it is today. Most especially in the 30's and 40's, but even well into the 50's, when you went to the movies you got a couple of shorts, a cartoon or two, MovieTone News, a serial (Flash Gordon, for example) and there might even be a sing-along to accompany the feature film. Some theatres even had a small orchestra or at least a pianist or organist and live entertainment. The local theatre was very central to the community and going to the movies was a community event.

And there are plenty of folks like myself who would (and do) watch a program of good shorts. The problem is finding the diamonds in the cesspool; I go to too many festivals and screenings where the majority of shorts just don't cut it - at least for me. These days movie theatres want to rush as many paying customers through the doors as possible. You have anywhere from four to a dozen screens in a multiplex showing as many films. Back then it was one theatre and the whole above mentioned package. Even today Pixar puts an animated short in front of its films, and I don't hear anyone complaining. TV created a cultural shift; todays shorts are half hour comedy shows and hour-long dramas (18 and 42 minutes respectively these days). So there a millions of people who watch shorts every day.

Shorts have their place in the world. For indie filmmakers it's a learning tool, sort of like a band doing demos before cutting an album. Serial shorts are what makes up the bulk of TV programming. Short documentaries make up a large percentage of programming for Discovery, History and similar networks. Even kids TV animated shows are basically 8 and 16 minute shorts.

Shorts are also your calling card. If a short has a great story and solid acting coupled with technical proficiency it can open a lot of doors. When you ask folks to invest in your feature they want at least a chance of getting a return on their investment. A couple of award winning shorts goes a long way towards establishing your credibility.
 
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It's not entirely true that features at festivals don't make money at the festivals, themselves.

I have a friend who produced a fun documentary on wiener-dog racing. He ran at a few festivals, always let the local dog groups know about screenings, and was eventually selling-out screenings and sometimes getting additional screenings at festivals. He then started requesting screening fees when approached by festivals, based on the past performance of the film.

So, it can be done. It's just rare.

gelder
 
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PaulGriffith said:
Features make money because people want to see features. Nobody really wants to watch a bunch of shorts, let alsone pay money to watch them. It's just our culture. Long features seem to be more and more popular. TF3 was like 2 and a half hours long, at least an hour longer than it should have been.

You still make shorts first because you don't know how to make a movie. You're going to mess up. Better to learn on a $0-1500 short than a $2,000-2,000,000 feature because (especially the low budget route) if you mess up the wrong area because you didn't know about it, you probably won't even finish the production let alone make a good one.

Bro, please go shoot something. Just 90 seconds long, whatever. You don't have to have all the knowledge and 5 years of preproduction to do it. That's the point Shoot something, and it will probably be bad. That's ok. That's the point.
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I am making stuff right now. I was just wondering why bring features to film festivals when festivals don't seem to put movies into DVD distribution, if good enough. Unless they do and I missed something. But if not, why not just try to get DVD distribution outside the festivals, if the festivals do not do that much.
 
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harmonica44 said:
But if not, why not just try to get DVD distribution outside the festivals, if the festivals do not do that much.
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You can go this route, avoiding festivals altogether.

Some filmmakers like to screen at festivals because being accepted is a nice "good job" kind of affirmation that you made an exceptional film. You also get to screen in front of an audience, sometimes, a huge audience, and hear and feel their reaction to your work - that's pretty nice.

You can also win awards at festivals, and "Official Selection" and "WINNER!" laurels on your film's press materials look good to prospective distributors.

Festivals alone won't necessarily do the work for you, but if you generate press when you get accepted to a festival, promote your screenings, sell or give away copies of your DVD after the screenings, network with other producers and filmmakers, et cetera. et cetera., you might be able to catch someone's attention and get distribution, or some other type of boost to your career.

A great deal of this business is based on your skills and abilities, but another part is based on whether or not people think they can put up with you for 21 days or longer. Getting seen, screened and meeting people can be beneficial to your career path, depending on what you want to get out of filmmaking.

gelder
 
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Filmmakers also want their films in festivals because festivals are really fun. Being a filmmaker at a film festival can be a small taste of being a media star. You get fans, immediate feedback on your work, get to expound your opinion during Q&A or on panels, get press coverage, and get to hang out with other filmmakers, sometimes people who are your heroes. You know, recognition and appreciation for your efforts! Who doesn't want that?

Unless you're a short filmmaker. Shorts are the redheaded stepchildren of festivals. Which is why I tend to simply post mine online. You can get a bigger audience on YouTube than you ever will on the festival circuit. (Though I have a new one that's aimed at the festival circuit -- we'll see how that goes.)

Film festivals are not useless to your career, but only a few key festivals are truly useful to it.
 
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Yeah festivals are fun for sure. And I do wanna get DVD distribution for a feature eventually. I thought of handing out copies of the movie on DVD at the festivals before as a good idea. I won't be able to go to every festival it would be playing at of course, but the major ones are probably the best to spend the money to attend if you wanna promote your movie.
 
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