where to start?

[danncooper]

i'm new here, hi!
i'm a student filmmaker from the UK.
I've made a short documentary that i wanna enter to festivals but i have no idea where to start and my budget for them is pretty low, any advice you guys could offer would be great.

 

[Alcove Audio]

What festivals have you looked into so far, and why couldn't you get into them?

 

[rayw]

Any of these appropriate for your documentary?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_film_festivals_in_Europe#United_Kingdom


I guess you could perform a more specific search:
http://www.google.com/webhp?source=....,cf.osb&fp=95610a9fc4d9debf&biw=1599&bih=809

 

[danncooper]

I haven't submitted to any yet, I'm not sure how to start it. I was wondering if there were any free ones worth entering? Or should I just avoid them?

Thanks for the links. I need to look into them with more detail, I was confused about sending it off, what sort of things should I include with the screener?

Also, how much money should I be looking to spend on this?

 

[directorik]

Don't avoid any of the free festivals. The very worst thing that can happen
is they accept and show your movie and no one attends the screening. But
you get in!

I was confused about sending it off, what sort of things should I include with the screener?

As you do your research you will find that each festival has its own needs. Follow
their submission rules. Some want only the screener and some want different
variation of a press kit.

Also, how much money should I be looking to spend on this?

Depends on how many festivals you enter. £600 isn't uncommon. Some spend
double that. But you will spend only what you can afford. If you can only afford
to enter two or three than that's what you will spend.

 

[danncooper]

thanks for all this. what would you say about online festivals as well? are they any good, or is it pointless to submit to them?

I think for this film I'll just submit to the free ones and save up for the next film I make to submit to festivals, but this has been helpful, so thank you all.

 

[jax_rox]

A lot of the higher up, and more prestigious film festivals have much more expensive fees, but then the rewards of being accepted into them can be much, much greater (even if not necessarily monetary 'awards'). This is also something you should plan and budget for in your pre-production.

Also keep in mind that some festivals demand premiere status, so you should also have a timeline - pick the festival that you will want to 'premiere' at (if you get accepted) and then have a list of successors that you will then submit to, that don't require an exclusive premiere.