What do film festivals prefer? I have a premise I wanna write into a feature. I can write the shorter 90-110 minute story I have in mind, or I can write the big epic 130-150 minute one. At least I'm guessing that's how long the scripts will transfer to running time probably. So if you're a newcomer wanting to enter festivals, do they prefer movies 2 hours and under usually? Or is it like Hollywood and the bigger longer epics get more attention?
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Question about length of running time.
- Thread starter harmonica44
- Start date
Read up on that particular film-fest. All are different.
Then do it.
You have some very wrong info.
Well I thought Hollywood loves it's epics as their are a lot of epic hits. I am not aiming for a specific festival, just festivals in general.
Well I have a premise that can be executed in two stories I have in mind, but if that's the case, I will go with the shorter story. As it will be my first I feel more comfortable starting out smaller maybe.
I love a good, big epic movie. 12 hours is too short for Lord of the Rings, as far as I'm concerned! That said, there are way too many movies that are longer than they need to be. Being a fan of low-budget horror films (horror films in general, really), there's a reason 80-90 minutes is a sort of "standard". It's long enough to engage, tell a good story (or try anyway) and hold attention without getting bogged down in unnecessary filler subplots.
Write the script as 150 pages. Then see if you can trim it down to 90 (don't get rid of your original, just do it as an "alternate edit" sort of thing). Pretend you have a limitation and need to cut as much as you can. It'll help you tighten your storytelling.
I say this, of course, with a large sense of humor about myself, as that I tend to be long-winded. My current record for a single piece of continuous music is a little over 3 hours
Write the script as 150 pages. Then see if you can trim it down to 90 (don't get rid of your original, just do it as an "alternate edit" sort of thing). Pretend you have a limitation and need to cut as much as you can. It'll help you tighten your storytelling.
I say this, of course, with a large sense of humor about myself, as that I tend to be long-winded. My current record for a single piece of continuous music is a little over 3 hours
Festivals prefer movies at the 80/95 minute mark.
And a lot of readers won't bother to read a first time writer's 130+ page spec. They figure if it's that long then you did something wrong and it's overlong. Now that I've written a few other screenplays (with good results) people seem to be more willing to read the 130+ page one. I learned that the hard way.
Well yeah, I know that if you're selling a script to a company and you're a newcomer, it's a standard to keep it under 120. However since I wanna direct it to film myself, I was wondering if there is a film festival length preference.
My advice--tell the story in the best way possible. If you think too much about page counts, your film will suffer.
It's really not something to worry about at page 0. When you are at the end of your script and you have 70 or 125 pages it is something to consider.
Write it. Like building a high-rise without knowing how many floors you will build, but you know you have a solid foundation.
Write it. Like building a high-rise without knowing how many floors you will build, but you know you have a solid foundation.
I hope to god that city planners don't actually build high rise buildings using this method!
But, glibness aside, I'd agree totally.
What I would say is that 120 minute+ plus films are usually reserved for franchises and auteurs and, as a first time filmmaker, it will massively slash your chances of gaining distribution.