Dos and DonÕts of Submitting to Film Festivals
DonÕt:
- Immediately
send your film to Sundance.
- Pay
more that $45 for a festival.
- E-mail
the festival to see if they got your entry. A delivery confirmation from
the post office should suffice.
- Submit
your film without looking at the festivalÕs website.
- Send
your master copy to the festival.
- Submit
to only one festival.
- Submit
to 30 festivals at one time. Submit to 5 Š 10 and wait to hear back to see
how your film will play.
- Use
fiber envelopes to send VHS or DVD prescreeners.
- Not
preview your DVD or VHS copy. You may accidentally not have recorded
sound, your DVD may skip, etc.
- Wait
until a week before the deadline to submit your film unless you absolutely
canÕt help it. Too many other filmmakers wait till the deadline approaches
and so the festivals get bottlenecked with entries. This, in turn, may
translate to less time watching your film or a stressed and burnt out
pre-screener watching your film.
- Submit
your film too early. ItÕs good to have your film arrive a
month/month-and-a-half before the final deadline. If it arrives shortly
after the call for entries goes out, (which can be 4 months before the
deadline) it can easily get forgotten.
Do:
- Check
out a festivalÕs website to see what kinds of films they have programmed
in the past to see if these films would fit with the aesthetic of your
film.
- Look
for student film festivals or student categories. Sometimes student film festivals
are free or the student categories are cheaper. And, there is less
competition because the niche is tighter.
- Look
for local and state festivals.
- E-mail
a contact at the festival before submitting to see if you can get the
submission fee waived (this is especially effective if your film has
already played at a few festivals and you can mention your filmÕs track
record).
- Use a
bubble mailer to send your DVD or VHS tape.
- Learn
a DVD authoring software Š DVD Studio Pro is my preference but i-DVD
should be fine. Though it may take some time to author a DVD, it is much
easier and less time-consuming in the long run than batch producing VHS
tapes with your VCR. And the shipping is slightly cheaper.
- Test
your DVDs in at least a couple of DVD players. Some DVDs may not play in
(particularly older) DVD players. I prefer Sony brand DVDs as they donÕt
produce playback glitches like some other brands IÕve used.
- Create
a cover for your DVD/VHS or at least put the title and director name on
the spine and front cover of the DVD/VHS.
- Attend
a festival, if you have the opportunity Š again, to see what kinds of
films are programmed.