When I finished my final student film in the spring of 2015, I was dead set on getting into as many festivals as possible.
But getting into over 80 festivals did little to nothing for my directing career.
This week we’ll talk about finding and submitting to film festivals:
- A submission strategy that relieves the pain of rejection
- How my view on festival submissions has changed
- What I would do if I were taking another film on the festival circuit
A lot of filmmakers think festival selections will be their golden ticket to getting their first feature greenlit, or for agents and managers to come calling.
For most of us, this isn’t true.
But if you learn to leverage festivals as part of a strategy for your filmmaking career, they can be incredible places to both screen and build your network.
Let’s roll.
The trick we used to make rejections fun
Submitting to festivals produces equal parts hopeful excitement and existential dread. When you hit the submit button on Film Freeway and pay the fee, everything seems possible.
You could get in, have an amazing screening, and all the closed doors of the industry will open.
But then you get the rejection email. No matter how nicely worded, it stings.
We were able to soften the blow with a simple reframe.
Credit goes to actor and friend, Vince Major, who came up with “The 100 No’s Festival Submission Strategy.”
Instead of having a goal of getting into X number of festivals, or getting into Sundance, SXSW, and Tribeca, our goal was to be rejected by 100 festivals.
Our goal was to get rejected? What?
Bear with me here.
This has a few advantages:
- It made rejections hurt a little less. We knew some festivals would reject our film, but instead of letting it defeat us, it became part of the game.
- It helped us focus on the things we could control: our submissions. As filmmakers, there are a thousand things outside our control when we submit to festivals. By focusing on the one thing we could control, we stopped worrying about the rest.
Every festival programmer will tell you they reject hundreds, sometimes thousands of good films. A rejection is not a label for your film as “bad.” It just means it doesn't fit into this specific festival.
When all was said and done, on our road to 100 rejections, we also got 82 selections, which is pretty solid for a nerdy fantasy comedy.
But what good is getting into 82 festivals if they’re not the right festivals?
My view on festival submissions has changed a lot in the last decade.
How my submission strategy has changed
With Viking Power we targeted mostly young festivals (max 5 years running) or festivals specializing in the sci-fi/fantasy genres.
We thought these festivals would have a greater chance of accepting our film.
In retrospect, this turned out to be true. But submitting to a festival just to get accepted is not a very good strategy.
Let me explain.
The festival space spans a wide range of events; there are good ones, there are bad ones, and there are straight-up scams.
Since Viking Power, I’ve become much more selective about which festivals I try to get my films into.
Before even submitting to a festival, you need to determine what you’re trying to get out of the festival experience as a whole.
Are you looking to impress industry gatekeepers? Connect with an audience? Become part of a community? Get lots and lots of laurels for your poster?
If it’s the last one, go ahead and follow our Viking Power strategy; if not, keep reading.
Having a goal is critical for selecting which festivals you will submit to.
Most of us want to impress gatekeepers and get the industry’s closed doors opened to us. But honestly, the number of festivals that have that power is small.
If that’s your goal, shoot your shot at the top-tier festivals. They’re expensive, and the chances of getting in are tiny, but a selection could change your filmmaking career forever.
What I’ve discovered in the last decade, is that festivals are a great testing ground for your film.
To me, the goal of finding and engaging with my audience is now the primary reason I submit to festivals.
When you screen at a festival you get to:
- See and hear the audience’s reaction to your film
- Talk to your audience after the screening (collect feedback)
- Create an image of what your audience looks like: their interests, where they hang out, what other films they like.
This is amazing information to have when you are marketing your film for a wider release.
So when you are picking festivals, you are submitting to, look for:
- festivals that have selected films like yours in the past
- festivals that have an active community, and actually get people to come to their screenings
- festivals filmmakers love attending
This last one is a big one. If filmmakers love a festival, there’s a good chance they’re doing a lot of things right.
If you’re totally clueless about what film festivals to target, a good starting point is Movie Maker Magazine’s list of 50 Film Festivals Worth The Entry Fee.
What I’m doing for my next film
If I were to do the festival circuit again, I would start thinking about festivals in pre-production.
Yeah, you heard that right, PRE-PRODUCTION.
Festivals are as much about relationships as any other part of our industry.
The first step I’d take is to make a list of all the festivals I wish your film would get into. I’d be super specific and only pick festivals where I think the film is a perfect fit. This makes pitching the film later a much easier task.
The second step I’d take is to make two lists:
- Festival directors and programmers.
- Festival filmmaker alumni.
The third step would be to contact everyone on those lists. The idea is to start forming relationships while my film is still in development and pre-production.
For festival directors and programmers, I would try to catch them after their festival is over and before they start accepting submissions for their next festival. Even though we might not submit for another year, it will be valuable to spend time getting to know them and what drives them.
For festival alumni, I would reach out as soon as possible. The goal is to meet new filmmakers and share experiences, but more specifically to get their point of view on the festival you’re considering submitting to.
Did they like it? Love it? Would they go again? If you’re lucky, they might even connect you with the festival director or a programmer directly.
Once I have my lists of festivals and have made connections with key people at these festivals, I’ll keep in touch with them periodically. Sharing updates on our film and also engaging with them about the stuff they’re doing on their end.
My goal is to become a part of their festival before I submit. If I can attend before I submit, even better.
When it comes time to submit, I want to reach out again before submitting. I might ask if they have a discount code, or how the programmers like their submissions. Some festivals love cover letters; some don’t care. By being specific to each festival, I can increase our chances of getting noticed.
After submitting (and this is important), I will message my connection at the festival and let them know I’ve submitted and how excited I am for them to watch the film.
This is a lot of work. But if you’re not willing to put in the extra effort, can you really expect to stand out from the hundreds to thousands of other films submitting to the festival?
