Dos and Don’ts of Creating a Festival Worthy Film

Don’t:

Even if your roommate, who may be a kick-ass actor, has his hair powdered with a grey goatee to match, he will still not come off as 60.
Ask yourself: is your friend from theater class really old enough to be the mother of a 16-year-old?

Use copywrited music. Chances are, unless you play at Sundance or your film plays on TV, you won’t be sued because you’ll still be under the radar. But still, it’s good not to get in the habit of this – and besides – you’ll be forced to be inventive where your soundtrack is concerned.

Make a “short” film that’s 20-30 minutes long. Anything longer than 16 minutes is usually the kiss of death for a film. Keep in mind that festivals usually program short films in 1:30 – 2 hour blocks. If you were a programmer, would you take four really tight five-minute films or one pretty-good (or even good) twenty-minute film (think about the audience, selling tickets and keeping your audience excited with variety)? True, there are 20-30 minute films that get programmed in some festivals (though keep in mind that many festivals actually have a time limit) but these films are either exceptional (in the eyes of the programmer) or fit the festival’s theme perfectly.

Make movies about making movies, make shoot-em-up style movies, movies involving angsty twenty-somethings finding their identity. You might be able to pull it off and very successfully, but be aware that sooo many films out there are doing more or less the same thing so your film better be brilliant if it’s going to tread down this path.

Use bad actors. Nothing is more heart wrenching than spending so much time and money on a film and having it shot exquisitely if the acting sucks. Don’t cast your friends in key roles unless you know they can act. . . no matter how much they beg. Put audition notices in the theater department or in the newspaper and hold auditions.

Do:

Observe the good rule of fashion that states: “before you go out, look in the mirror and take one thing off.” In other words, look at your finished film and have your friends, parents, teachers, etc. look at your finished film and take one or two shots, seconds, scenes off. Your film is finished. It’s brilliant! It’s ready to take to festivals. But it can still be tighter. If your film lags in any place, it could be given the thumbs down be a festival pre-screener.

Keep in mind: festivals receive hundreds and in some cases thousands of entries. They can’t watch every film all the way though. Make the first minute of your film brilliant and get to the point, quickly, or plan on having your film ejected while still in the infancy of its plot.

Be a festival pre-screener, if you have a chance. You don’t need a degree. You don’t have to be a film critic. You just need to offer lots of time. But there is no better way to learn about what films are made over and over and what films are truly unique and festival worthy. Working for a festival is also a good opportunity for you to see how a festival is run.

Work on perfecting the 3-5 minute film. This is a great way to start. Festival programmers love these films because they can be very tight (though a bad one-minute film can seem to last an eternity) and they’re much easier to program than a ten or twenty-minute film.

Look at your unique situation on this planet. Is there something that you can bring to the table that isn’t covered in the mainstream? Is there something happening in your community that the rest of the world might find interesting? This is the antithesis of the shoot-em-up type film. Why? Have you ever been part of a crime ring? Ever run drugs from Columbia to Miami? Then how do you know about those things? From watching movies? . . . Just like millions of other film students. Your eccentric neighbors tweezer collection could make for a fascinating documentary if it’s done the right way. You don’t always have to go for the big guns.

Create a website for your film or even a myspace page. You can even have a short clip of your film (though I wouldn’t recommend putting the whole film on the site). Anything to generate publicity (especially free publicity) is good.