Film festival plays a crucial role in the movie-making process, and submitting your film to these events can be both exciting and intimidating. You’re eager to represent your work, but how can you make sure that it grabs the attention of festival programmers and stands out in a sea of film festival submissions?
This blog provides useful tips on what screeners seek and How to Submit to Film Festivals.
How to Choose Film Festivals?
As a filmmaker, you are eager to submit your work to as many film festivals as possible, hoping to increase your chances of getting noticed. However, submitting to too many festivals is much more expensive and time-consuming. It’s crucial to focus on the options that are best suited to your film. But how can you achieve that?
The first step is to research festivals. Look at the types of films they have screened in the past few years and check whether your film style or genre is matching or not. For example, if you have made a horror film, you would not want to submit your film to a festival that primarily screens romcoms and vice-versa.
If you have found the festival that best suited your film or has a good match research submission guidelines, rules, and deadlines.
Another step is to consider the festival’s reputation and prestige. Festivals like Sundance, Cannes, and Toronto International Film Festival have a long history of presenting exceptional film and introducing the careers of many filmmakers.
However, they are also highly competitive and often have strict entry requirements. In contrast, smaller festivals are more approachable and offer higher chances of accepting your film, though they might not offer the same level of exposure and networking opportunities.
How to Submit to a Film Festival?
Remember your film’s poster is often the first impression for festival screeners, programmers, and directors. It is crucial and essential to make the moment striking and unforgettable.
However you do not need to spend more on the designs, they should be professional and reflect the story of the film. It will help you to draw audiences and make sure it’s a real showstopper.
Here are some key points to remember before submitting to a film festival:
Trailer
While most of the screeners won’t have time to watch the film because they are getting busy watching your film, uploading the trailer with a submission is a worthy step. A Trailor is an effective promotional tool for your film, if your film got selected then they want one.
Keep it Short & Sweet
Brevity is key for your film’s cover letter and director’s statement. Most screeners prioritize watching film over reading additional materials, but there are times when a bit of context or background information is helpful.
So keep it short and to the point don’t make us dig through a lengthy statement to find the essential details.
Fill Out All Details
Fill out all the details including your genre, budget, cast, crew, and camera used. These common things are essential for proper evaluation. Highlight notable names and limit genres to two or three.
Keep Premier Status, Screenings Updated
Keep your festival account updated with your premier status and previous screenings. Check whether it’s a world premier or where it’s been shown because some festivals prefer world premiers, while others value screenings at top festivals. Don’t forget to update your poster with laurels from prestigious festivals. Stay! transparent.
Tell Us if You’re an Alumni
Do you know that mentioning your previous film screened at the festival can work in your favor? include it in your cover letter to remind screeners, programmers, and directors of your work and show your commitment to industry relationships.
What Do Screener Committee Judge?
Each festival has unique criteria of judging and advancing films, but most of them look for great stories that can inspire or entertain. What one thing or value may differ from another, but engaging storytelling is key.
Key points that the Screener Committee Judges:
- Story
- Sound
- Performances
- Production Value
Cost of Submit to Film Festivals
A common & Silly question many people have is: How much does it cost to submit a film to a film festival? The reality is it quite expensive. However, some of the festivals offer free submissions, and the majority of the film festivals charge an average of $35 to $45.
But if you’re targeting big film festivals like Bafta, Oscar, IIFA or others it may charge up to $80 or more.
FAQs
Can Anyone Submit to a Film Festival
Whether you’re a professional hobbyist or a student filmmaker festivals are your stage. From short films to animations, there is something for everyone. Always remember before submitting, check out the festivals’ categories because some film festivals only accept specific genres, and lengths like micro shorts (under 3 to 30) minutes.
Where can I submit to Film Festivals?
No longer are the days of mailing tapes and DVDs and paperwork! FilmFreeway now is the top platform for film festival submissions and dominates 99% of the market. And rest are festivals using their own sites or less popular platforms. If you’re frequently submitting films, consider a FilmFreeway Gold Membership. For $13/month, you get 10% to 50% off select festivals and waived submission fees. You can cancel anytime once you’re done submitting.
Do filmmakers get paid for film festivals?
No, a festival will not pay for your film screening. But in bigger festivals, you may get a chance to get some kind of deal when distributors attend the festival or notice your film.
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