My short films, web series, and feature film Wild Boys have played at over 100 festivals combined.

Yet, I haven’t made it.

Could it be film festivals aren’t the golden ticket to filmmaking glory we’ve all been promised?

Let’s dive in.

Case 1: Total Awesome Viking Power

I went all-in on festivals for my film school thesis film Total Awesome Viking Power (TAVP).

Together with my friend and actor Vince Major we decided to adopt a strategy that had worked for him: Trying to get to 100 “no’s”.

The 100 no’s also shifted our perspective to not take rejections so hard.

The idea was to submit the film broadly. We focused on genre film festivals and festivals less than 5 years old.

The reasoning was we would be more likely to get in to “lower tier” festivals.

We also submitted to the big ones you’ve already heard of - Sundance, SXSW, Cannes, Toronto, Tribeca etc.

They all rejected us.

But from an acceptance rate standpoint, TAVP did exceptionally well.

We ended with a 44% acceptance rate with 86 selections out of 200 submissions.

So what came out of this?

On the plus side it bolstered our egos.

It felt great to get acceptance after acceptance, adding laurels to our poster.

For the few local festivals I was able to attend it was fun to see the film on the big screen, and I met a handful of filmmakers.

Unfortunately I wasn’t in an financial position to attend any of the out of state festivals.

We were able to establish good connections with a few festivals and programmers. Filmquest in Utah and Hollyshorts in Los Angeles have had us back several times with other films.

But providing a stepping stone in my career?

Nada.

We spent thousands of dollars on festival submission.

I hoped it was an investment in my career.

I felt like festivals were useless.

Case 2: Barrier and other shorts

With my next couple of shorts and web series I took a more measured approach to festivals.

I thought only the big festivals were worth getting into, everything else was a waste of time.

We got rejected from the big ones again, but ended up playing on some mid-tier festivals.

Again I was not able to attend many.

The screenings I went to tended to be fairly empty. Only the filmmakers who had shorts in the program would show up to support their own work.

The Q&A sessions after the screenings were cringe at best.

My view of festivals being a waste of time got stronger and stronger.

Case 3: Wild Boys

At this point I didn’t even want to do festivals. I wanted to go straight to distribution.

Our producer, Joanna Fang, convinced me festivals are different for features than for shorts.

On the one hand there are far fewer slots, so competition is fiercer. And when you get in you’re expected to fill an entire theater on your own.

On the other hand the attention you get both as a film and as a filmmaker is much greater once you get in.

Festivals serve as a way to test the film with audiences, discover who likes it and who don’t. And it’s also a great avenue for generating press and excitement around the project.

At the end of our run we got into 5 out of 60 festivals with Wild Boys.

I’d gone from 44% acceptance rate to 8%.

A total failure in my eyes.

My best experience was at The Valley Film Festival in North Hollywood. It’s a small, local film festival on the far side of the Hollywood sign.

We had a great screening where friends and family were able to come see the film on the big screen.

That experience made me take a step back and reflect on the whole festival circuit. I knew I needed a different approach in the future.

What I’ve learned

99% of film festivals are not going to provide you with an opportunity to make your next movie.

Does that mean festivals don’t have value?

If all you’re looking for is for festivals to open the doors to the inner sanctum of Hollywood, the answer is no. They won’t do that.

That was the narrow, and faulty mindset I had to investigate after Wild Boys finished its festival run.

Here are a couple of things I’ve realized:

• Most festivals are all about community. They’re typically run by passionate movie fanatics who want to bring films they love and support to their local movie fans.
• The real value of getting selected for a festival screening is in attending the festival and engaging with this community.
• The festival experience is about finding the people that will love and champion your movie. It’s not about getting discovered by a high-profile agent or signing a deal with Netflix.
• The big, top tier festival are extremely political. The chances of getting in with a small film, without any recognizable stars is slim to none. This doesn’t mean your film sucks. Shoot your shot if you want, but don’t let a rejection defeat you.

How I will approach festivals in the future

• Determine what the audience for my film is, and pursue festivals that champion these kinds of films. I’m going to be very specific.
• Connect with festival directors and programmers on a personal level before submitting the film.
• Get an understanding of what they’re looking for in the films they select and figure out how I can provide value to them with my film.
• Attend all the festivals I get accepted to.
• Use the festivals to get out of my shell and engage with as many people as possible.
• Spend time creating opportunities for the film to gain visibility in the press and online through festival screenings.

I hope my festival experience gives you an insight into what it’s like doing the festival circuit. I haven’t had a sunshine and rainbows relationship with festivals so far. It’s important to me that you see that perspective as well as the overnight success stories you read about in the media.