Hi all! I've started my festival submissions with my short film "Val" and have been accepted to two that I am not sure about. One is the Pinewood Lift Off Festival (part of the global Liftoff family). It seems like they accept ALL films and then have a competition online to screen? I can't get a clear answer from them.. Anyone know?
The other one is NewFilmmakers NY. Thanks all! Trying to "somewhat" hold for a good premiere.
Both festivals are not considered really anything other than cash grabs but if you're looking for laurals, and to impress investors that may not know the difference then why not? You can also leverage those festivals to get local press so if you can work it to your advantage then I say go but if you're waiting to hear from a bigger better festival then I would consider that as well. It all comes down to what you want from a festival and keep in mind that most big festivals aren't looking for smaller indie films, they want name talent so as a whole, festivals have lost a lot of their luster as they no longer look for low budget films like they used to in the 90's.
Thank you Chris !
Hi Samantha Lavin -what is your film about? I suggest doing some research on FilmFreeway and look for festivals that fit your genre of film, or elevate female directors.
Happy to send some suggestions your way!
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Hi Samantha Lavin - congratulations on finishing your film and wishing you great success on the festival journey. Stage 32 has a webinar today at 1pm PT called HOW TO GET YOUR PROJECT INTO FESTIVALS hosted by an expert in the field, Greg Sorvig. If you join live you can ask Greg questions that may be helpful to you right now. Here’s a link so you can register if you’d like to join (if you can’t make it live you can register and email questions into edu@stage32.com and watch the recording later):
https://www.stage32.com/webinars/How-to-Get-Your-Project-into-Film-Festi...
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I am actually attending that webinar Sam, so I will. Thanks! Shellie, thank you for the input! I am definitely doing targeted submissions for my genre. The film is about a female first responder who struggles with agoraphobia after a sexual assault at work. We also have a trans female co-star. Here's the website if you're interested in having a look. Thanks again all! www.fairfight.wixsite.com/val-e-ree
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Hi Samantha, short notice but we are having a webinar about how to get your films into festivals and which ones are best for your film. It's led by artistic director Greg Sorvig of the Heartland Film Festival and its Academy Award®-qualifying Indy Shorts International Film Festival. If you miss it today, you can watch it via download. Direct message me if you're interested and I can send you a discount code :)
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Hi Samantha, the Lift Off 'group' is a big network of film festivals across the world; entry is free, and yes, if you are lucky enough to have enough people following/aware of your project who are willing to each pay approx £10 /$12 to view films (and vote for yours) it is possible to get a win (means some coverage); they do also organise online webinars, (their youtube channel has quite a lot of stuff) and have FB pages/groups which could be more networks to tap into.They do help new filmmakers get something (a laurel, networking); after that, it's worth maybe checking out Filmfreeway as Shellie Schmals suggests to get a feel of the kind of festivals you want to try for (and those most likely to take your film in). Quite a lot have free entry. If you are up for a little extra coverage, there is a one time $20 fee to be featured in a newsletter that goes out to all the film festivals; I did that, and started receiving invites to submit with discounts. Also, once you get going, after a few wins, networking via social media can build up, with more festivals taking an interest. Hope this helps. Good luck with submissions!
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Thanks all! Decided to wait on Lift off and give my film more time to do offline fests.