How To Get Your Film Into The Festival Of Your Choice
20 Steps to improve your chances on something harder than getting into Harvard
How To #1 & Film Festival #4: Still have Sundance on your mind? Isn’t over now, or almost? Looking towards the even icier winds of Berlin?
It still amazes me how I initially had no idea how great an impact festivals would have on my life. Almost as much as how dependent we’ve grown dependent on them. We don’t seem to be building an alternative path anytime soon, so we might as well figure out how to travel down that road.
With the help of a few of you, I’ve brainstormed some thoughts on how you just might accomplish the impossible.
If you’d like to take part in some short, fast, and on-your-own-schedule brainstorming sessions on “how to improve the film ecosystem” please be sure to join Substack’s chat function. You just need to download the mobile app and sign in. You’ll find the chat on it and I frequently share some posts I am working on and ask for input. I really appreciate the help.
Resist the urge to focus on the festival’s application deadline. Focus on making the movie you are finishing your film, the one that will represent you until the end of time, the one with your name on it, the one that is FULLY considered in all aspects.
Prior to applying, get lots of feedback from tough love advocates who will tell you what they really think.
Don’t listen to those that tell you how wonderful your film is, as long as there are folks you respect who believe you can still make it better. Keep trying to make your film better, until you just can’t anymore.
Before you apply, recognize that if you have truly made something strong and distinct, bold and beautiful, there is a right home for it and much love and appreciation to come. The festival you want may not be that. It may not be a festival you and your film truly need. Good work is a magnet. Good work is a beacon. Yes, it requires a mighty engine to travel, and it is hard to resist a lunar launchpad like the festive one you currently think you want, but you REALLY don’t need it. You need your strength and resilience, your stamina and insight. You will get there, but based on where you all now, your apples are not all in one basket. There are many opportunities and as much as you want it, you don’t need their acceptance. Fortify yourself in advance.
Be nice. Be compassionate. Be forgiving. Be generous. Use your everyday superpowers as a human being to encourage others to support you as you’ve been the example of the change that you want to see. It generates opportunity and serendipity and since the odds of you getting in are so stacked against you, you need all the support you can generate!
Apply with a film just shy of completion. It has to be a full film. The picture should be essentially locked. Festivals no longer aim to have an eye for “becoming” as there are just too many films (they once did, but…) It’s nice if they think if it will somehow get even better, but you want them to see the best version they can (“imagine when the rest of the score is as good as the opening cue!”).
Be part of a filmmaker community. Support others. It has a positive ripple affect when you root for others and others root for you. There is a whisper network that helps others.
Have an advocate (or 3 but not Too Many). It should be likely someone that previously got into the festival, the festival respects, and that doesn’t recommend too many films; be careful because there are a lot of folks who say they have a great relationship with the festival (and they may honestly think they do) but are total and absolute bullshit.
Get a celebrity advocate. This is particularly helpful for special interest documentaries and other films that don’t come with star talent. I mean this with nothing but love, but all festivals are media whores; they have to be.
Learn who the festival programmers are, how they got there, and what makes them tick.
Develop and maintain genuine relationships with festival programmers. Be their friend. Help them out. Don’t just like them because of what they can do for you (this means you both must be honestly interested in each other).
Hire the best team you can get for your film. Having the right publicist, sales agent, talent agent, & lawyer all help. Don’t just hire them because they want to work on your film. Your film will serve them and you need them to do more than a good job; you need them to truly serve your film. Do your research; there are many great folks out there. Start on learning who’s who in this land years in advance.
Craft the picture of how everyone will read & feel the film. This is done by all the things in this list, but also more. It is the vibe of the film. You have to craft it all. What will their first impression will be? Where will you need them next? How will they feel after? How will they talk about the movie and the process? What will they compare it to? This is an art and it too takes time.
Support the festivals. Become part of their community. Focus on giving not getting. Start on this early and go long.
Craft a log line as well as a synopsis that is dynamic and generates engagement & desire.
Take care in selection of stills and clips at an early stage. Including one of these in your correspondence with a festival helps them also anticipate future engagement.
Scout your desired festivals in advance. Get the vibe. Figure out the routine. Know the audience.
Stay aware that things change in all regards, including festivals. Those that once had influence, lose it. Those that once understood how it all works, fall out of touch. New methods are found.
Don’t give up. Keep working to refine your cut. There is always more that can be done. Keep applying as your film changes. Some of the legendary films at the legendary festivals applied two or more years before they got in.
I forgot what this one was. Can you remind me in the comments below.
We should build this list further. What did I leave out? What did I get wrong?
Thanks you for those that contributed to the brainstorming on this. I really appreciate and we build The Better together.
I hope you have appreciated these DAILY posts over the course of Sundance. I am going to slow the posting down for a bit and go back to the two or three times a week thing. And as always, if you there is something about our film ecosystem and creative processes that you’d like me to discuss, please let me know. There will come a time that I run out of ideas, won’t there?
Ted some really excellent advice here. I would also add that while you NEED great stills, posters, press kit, materials etc when you have your festival premiere, you don't need to bombard programmers with these assets at submission stage. I've seen filmmakers try to submit stills and an 8-page directors letter alongside a link. At the submissions stage you really want the film to be able to speak for itself (a short intro email is fine of course but programmers don't want or need to see a press kit, a trailer, etc when they are viewing during the submissions process.) also, I know first hand that festivals get FLOODS of submissions on the closing submission date, at which point your film has a slimmer chance of being accepted because some slots are inevitably taken by films that submitted earlier. so you get a better shot if you don't submit in the last days before deadline.
Start with a good script and make a really good movie. Have a clean and interesting online presence dedicated to your film. Use pull quotes (including from your celebrity advocate). Choose a great "central image" and title treatment that will be the main forward facing image of your film; get professional graphic illustrator advice/help on this. I don't know when it's best to apply to a given festival (early - mid - late?) but be aware that submission fatigue at festivals is a real thing.
Thanks for another enlightening post!