Screening your film at festivals can be nerve-racking for anyone, but for an introvert, it can be downright terrifying.

Not only are you showing your precious film to complete strangers. You also have to talk to them!

Yikes.

Luckily for you, I’ve been down this path before. This week, we’ll talk about everything you need to do once you actually get selected for a festival:

• Why attending is a must if you want to get the most out of the festival.
• The number one thing to do before attending the festival.
• My simple guide for surviving festival small talk.

PS: If you missed it, last week we talked about how to handle submissions and increase your chances of getting accepted at festivals. Check it out here if you missed it.

Let’s roll.

The biggest mistakes I made when getting into over 80 festivals

With my final student film, Total Awesome Viking Power, we got into festivals all over the world and across every month of the year.

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

But my reality was that I was broke, working full time, and I had no way of attending any but the local festivals we got into.

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.

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 as for providing a stepping stone in my career?

Nada.

We spent thousands of dollars on festival submissions.

I hoped it was an investment in my career, but the return on investment was, at best, intangible.

The lesson I want you to take from this is that festivals are not about selections, laurels, or awards.

Festivals are about becoming part of a community.

If you can’t attend the festivals you get into, you’re giving up 80% of the benefits of the selection.

Attending a festival gives both you and your film visibility. Which makes it more likely that the audience will engage with your film.

When you walk the festival floor, attend events, and go to screenings, you get to know the people attending the festival. Both fans and fellow filmmakers.

Use this as an opportunity to forge connections, maybe even find future collaborators.

Here are three things you should put on your to-do list for every festival you attend:

• Connect with the programmers/director of the festival, even if it’s just a casual introduction. Putting a face to the film helps them recognize you when you return with another film later.
• Connect with filmmakers whose work you admire. See something you like? Seek out that filmmaker and let them know.
• Connect with your audience. The people who show up to watch your film are super important. Listening to their reactions will give you a great sense of what works about your film and what doesn’t. You'll also notice who it resonates with and who it doesn’t.
• Take note of this and keep it in mind for when you market your film later. After your screening is a great time to ask the audience to join your newsletter to follow the film’s journey.

So even if you’re a hopeless introvert, get your ass to the festival and enjoy it. It’s a big victory for you, your film, and everyone who worked on it. Why wouldn’t you make the most of it?

If you do this before attending the festival, everything else becomes easier

Last week, we talked about connecting with programmers, directors, and alumni filmmakers before even submitting to festivals.

As soon as you get the acceptance letter for a festival, let those people know. For the programmers and directors, thank them and let them know how excited you are to attend. Ask them one question: what are they most excited about for this year’s festival? Whatever it is, make sure you attend.

For alumni, thank them for their help and ask them for tips about how to get the most out of the festival, or what their favorite part was. And if they’re going this year, try to meet up.

The new group of people I want you to connect with is your fellow selected filmmakers.

This is a group where a good amount will attend the festival. If you can meet them virtually before the festival starts, it’s going to make for a lot less awkward small talk when you’re actually at the festival.

If you’re anything like me, having in-depth, interesting conversations with people I enjoy spending time with is great. I struggle more with the surface-level small talk that usually goes on at events like this.

By making friends and connections before the festival begins, I’ve found I’m more likely to talk to people, and I’m also more likely to have a good time.

If you’re unsure how to find your fellow filmmakers, look at the list of selected films; they usually come with a director or producer named as well. You could also ask if the festival staff can connect you with your fellows.

They will probably love that idea.

Surviving festival small talk

While making friends beforehand helps a lot with the awkward small talk, you are still bound to meet some new people.

When I went to festivals with Viking Power, I was shy, didn’t talk to a lot of people, and kind of just went to watch movies and left.

Not the greatest festival strategy.

I’ve since learned the secret to talking to anyone at a festival: curiosity.

Simply put, I ask people questions.

Let me give you some examples:

• Before a screening: ask them what they’re here to see. Have they seen anything good yet? Do they have a film in the festival? People love talking about themselves, and asking interesting, in-depth questions is a great way to get a conversation going.
• After a screening, if you talk to a filmmaker, give them a compliment. They will love you for it. I’ve found that complimenting one specific thing you liked about their film works great. From there, ask them questions: what was it like making the film? How did they do XYZ? What are they doing next?
• If you’re mingling, you can use a mix of these two. Ask people if they’re filmmakers, if they are, go with the questions from “before screening.” If they are fans, ask them what they’ve liked, what they like about the festival, and what they’re looking forward to. And invite them to your screening.

A special note about programmers and festival directors. During the festival they can be hard to get hold of. They are usually crazy busy. It’s great if you can say hi and introduce yourself, but where I and most other filmmakers are missing out is in the follow-up.

After the festival is over, send them an email or a DM. Thank them for having you. Give them a compliment about something you loved about the festival, and ask if there’s anything you can help with for next year’s festival. This is such a simple gesture, but 90% of filmmakers don't do it.

When festival directors and programmers know you appreciate their hard work, you're more likely to build a long-term relationship with them. This means it’s easier to get selected in the future. It could even open the door to return as an alumni to speak at panels or workshops.

Think about the festival as the first step in a long journey.

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