What To Do When Your Feature Fails

[jeemseems]

So after three years of work and spending all my money (to the point of bankruptcy) I'm facing the reality today that I won't be screening at any film festivals with my feature film. I've been rejected by every fest I could afford to enter (about 30 - $1000+). I was even rejected by all the local fests in my city/state.

Im not here to debate whether I deserved a screening or not (I'm starting to wonder tho what the point of local fests are if not to support local talent) but I was curious if his has happened to anyone else, and if so, what you did to salvage something of your film.

It makes me sick to my stomach to think the only chance I have is to stick it for free on YouTube and try to find ways to cajole people into watching it. Has anybody else had to truly abandon their film like this and call it a total loss?

I've been writing a short the last couple months that I intend on shooting in the spring. I don't need any motivation or anything to "keep going", but I have this empty pit in my stomach when I think about how much time, money and self I invested into something I believed in with all my being, only to be left with a film nobody wants to see.

So I guess what I'm really getting at is, how do you go forward without having the closure of at least one screening or some sort of public reception for your movie? It's like an open wound that won't go away.

 

[sfoster]

Frame it that way and people will buy tix just to support their community no matter how good/bad the movies are.

By this logic… you think if you post on craigslist about supporting a local film maker people will pay you money for a screening?

If that's your position then you're delusional. People only pay money to be entertained and it takes a lot to convince them that your film will be entertaining.

Content creators are desperate for an audience.
The audience is not desperate for content.

 

[jeemseems]

i'm in a similar position but i'm working on a short instead of a feature. i don't think anything ever comes out of local festivals though so i'm not sure what your expectations were. To meet a big time producer there?
.

A premiere. A screening history. Watching it with an audience thats invested in their experience. A chance to win an award or money or resources. The chance to meet national/international filmmakers - the possibility of meeting collaborators, people who never wouldve been exposed to your work.

There's a lot of good reasons to want to get into a local festival. Although, yes, I'd much rather screen at something bigger with much more obvious rewards, but I never really thought I had a shot at those. You have to start small. But I feel like I can't get started at all.

 

[sfoster]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gxTRCPKFltE

 

[jeemseems]

By this logic… you think if you post on craigslist about supporting a local film maker people will pay you money for a screening?

If that's your position then you're delusional. People only pay money to be entertained and it takes a lot to convince them that your film will be entertaining.

Content creators are desperate for an audience.
The audience is not desperate for content.

No that's ludicrous, ha. Not at all what I'm saying. I'm literally saying that if you put local movies in a local film festival and make sure the audience knows that these films are from their own community, then they WILL buy tickets for said films. That's just how people work. That's why good or bad shouldn't be the strongest criteria for local films (at least if the fests are still relatively small, which these are). Your example wouldn't work simply because it lacks the legitimacy and framework that a film festival offers.

 

[sfoster]

No that's ludicrous, ha. Not at all what I'm saying. I'm literally saying that if you put local movies in a local film festival and make sure the audience knows that these films are from their own community, then they WILL buy tickets for said films. That's just how people work. That's why good or bad shouldn't be the strongest criteria for local films (at least if the fests are still relatively small, which these are). Your example wouldn't work simply because it lacks the legitimacy and framework that a film festival offers.

There's not much legitimacy if they accept any film just because it's local.

 

[jeemseems]

There's not much legitimacy if they accept any film just because it's local.

There's not much legitimacy if they don't in my opinion. These kinds of festivals advertise themselves as important contributions to the community, that they are about fostering local talent and exposing the larger community to the work their artists are making.

 

[jeemseems]

I think this thread has gone off tangent. Yes, I'm a bit salty that my feature film that I put my life and soul into couldn't even get a courtesy screening by any one of four local film festivals in my small city that's in the middle of nowhere. Especially since said festivals place such importance on that very concept.

Was just hoping to find other like-minded people to accept my complaining and to tell me what they did when it happened to them. Cuz it feels like a nightmare - I don't think most of the people in this thread have faced this scenario. It is very shitty. Thanks to those that have offered help.

 

[sfoster]

There's only two things you can do jeem.

You move on to the next project and learn from your last one or you give up.

 

[jeemseems]

You're right. I am moving on. Have been for the last couple months as I work on the script for my next short.

But man, there's just a big hole in my heart for my shitty little movie that never got a chance. I guess that doesn't ever go away like most other things in life.

 

[Chris Tempel]

Put it on youtube, monetize it, and use it as a calling card if you think it's good enough. You'll get to network with people, filmmakers, maybe make a little money, but the best part is that people are brutally honest in the comments section. If they think your movie sucks, they'll tell you where you messed up (now you know what to improve on). If they love it, they'll tell you. My last feature was made for $2000. I rented a theater for one night, cost $500. Now I'm up to $2500. Friends and family of the actors came to see it. We made that $500 right back. Sold about 200 DVDs online at $10 each. Made back that $2000. Put it on youtube and now three years later has 350,000 views and the ad revenue has also made about $2k.

 

[jeemseems]

Put it on youtube, monetize it, and use it as a calling card if you think it's good enough. You'll get to network with people, filmmakers, maybe make a little money, but the best part is that people are brutally honest in the comments section. If they think your movie sucks, they'll tell you where you messed up (now you know what to improve on). If they love it, they'll tell you. My last feature was made for $2000. I rented a theater for one night, cost $500. Now I'm up to $2500. Friends and family of the actors came to see it. We made that $500 right back. Sold about 200 DVDs online at $10 each. Made back that $2000. Put it on youtube and now three years later has 350,000 views and the ad revenue has also made about $2k.

I don't know, maybe it's not good enough. Maybe I fucked myself and made something so crappy (I still like it tho, ha) that its better off that nobody sees it.

That's so cool that you were able to do that tho.

 

[Chris Tempel]

At least on YouTube you'll know what people think. And you'll find it's mixed. Some people love it, others hate it. But you'll never know unless you try. I know it's not what you intended for distribution, but it is an option if you really want people to see it

 

[directorik]

Yes but if you're a local film festival you have a duty to support local talent. I firmly believe that. Frame it that way and people will buy tix just to support their community no matter how good/bad the movies are

How many times have you gone to see films in these local festivals? How many
locally made films have you bought tix to see?

 

[jeemseems]

How many times have you gone to see films in these local festivals? How many
locally made films have you bought tix to see?

A couple each year. I haven't ever bought tix to see any local films, but the local features and shorts sections are always sold out. The one time I did go to a shorts block, when I was invited cuz I helped a friend with his documentary, the theater was packed and the crowd loved and applauded each film. And they were definitely not worthy of all that love in an artistic sense - but the community pride was there. I guess I just wanted a little of that love.

 

[Sweetie]

Has anybody else had to truly abandon their film like this and call it a total loss?

Cut your losses and move on? Sure. Was about a 6 months in, made the decision that the end result wasn't going to be good enough to achieve our goals. It was either alter our goals or abandon the project. Abandon was the decision and everyone involved agreed.

I walked away and started thinking. What did I/we do that backed us into that corner? I learned from the experience.

Over the course of my life I've made about 30-35 narrative shorts. But in the year leading up to production on my feature I did a web-series that was like 15 short films in themselves - it was that experience that gave me the confidence (ha) that I could try a feature.

Did you enjoy success with those shorts? Awards from festivals etc?

3 years and $10,000

I maxed out credit cards totaling that amount over a three year period

Ouch. Very ouch.

I think I'm mostly angry because this was such an immense accomplishment for me and now it's not only as if it never happened
I literally bankrupted myself and made a lot of tough (and shitty) sacrifices.
And after all that, I thought I deserved....something.
then that person deserves a screening. Period.

A lesson I learned a long time back. No one owes you nothing. You must earn it. If you get a lucky break, thank your deity/stars, but never ever assume it was owed to you.

I really feel like a stooge spending all that money on fest entries.

I came to the conclusion a long time back that it was a waste spending money on festival entries a long time back. Your work has to be pretty special/lucky to gain acceptance to a festival that would help you professionally.

what choice do we have if we want a shot at some visibility?

Marketing? It's also an important beginning step if you want to be accepted into a festival.

Yes but if you're a local film festival you have a duty to support local talent.

See above. While I do agree with you, they SHOULD have some duty to the local filmmaking community, you're still owed nothing.

Was just hoping to find other like-minded people to accept my complaining and to tell me what they did when it happened to them. Cuz it feels like a nightmare - I don't think most of the people in this thread have faced this scenario. It is very shitty. Thanks to those that have offered help.

Some groups of filmmakers like to get together and commiserate how tough and unfair the industry is. I don't see a lot of that here on Indietalk.

I guess I just wanted a little of that love.

Short story. There's a local film festival near here. For each of the first two of those festivals, we entered in two films (two for each festival). We ended up winning each of those festivals best film with what we considered our weaker entry. It led me to believe that it doesn't really matter. No one knows shit.

It's a significant accomplishment that you completed a feature film. Grats. Well done. It sucks, but unfortunately the film didn't achieve the outcome you desired. It can happen to the best filmmakers in the world (though, not as often as it happens to those not as good). It's a time for you to step back, gain some perspective and do some soul searching.

As for your feature film, there are options available to you. You could look at self distribution, though, by a guess of it, you'd be best getting your life back together before working on your film. You're likely to be making decisions from a position of fear, which rarely achieves positive results.

 

[jeemseems]

Did you enjoy success with those shorts? Awards from festivals etc?

Unfortunately I did not. If I was less obsessed with being a filmmaker I would've taken the hint a long time ago, ha.

 

[Filman]

People approach projects in different ways. You had the local festivals as motivation and that got the project made. Someone else might need more certainty and direct promises from the festivals, or their projects will be on ice.

A local festival has the responsibility to show local movies and I would bet on that yours is sill interesting to them.

 

[Sweetie]

Unfortunately I did not. If I was less obsessed with being a filmmaker I would've taken the hint a long time ago

Not necessarily. It may simply have meant that you needed to develop more skills/people in your network.

It takes time and lots of hard work and determination to become a filmmaker. Even more time to become a good one. While there are always savants who are naturally great, those are in the minority.

The unfortunate truth is if you cannot handle rejection, filmmaking is not for you. It's a life of constant rejection and failure. If you're the kind of person that gets bent out of shape when it happens, perhaps you'll be happier in another profession.

If you truly believe filmmaking is for you, learn from your mistakes, improve and get a few steps closer to achieving your goals, find another way to achieve your goals or give up. As I see it, those are your choices. You have to do what's right for you. Since you're almost/in bankruptcy, your decision will be a tough one.

Good luck.