Following up on last year's video on surviving SXSW, this year's installment includes Top Chef winner and local restauranteur Paul Qui with recommendations on what to eat in Austin.
Toward Transparent Festival Economics
Heather Croall, writing for Indiewire:
Filmmakers deserve more money for their hard work on making their films. It’s time to look at who’s really benefiting from, and piggybacking on, their success. Analyze the budgets – are there any people in the budget earning fees for hard-to-define roles? Is all film funding going directly to the filmmakers? If not, where is it getting stuck along the way? Analyze the contracts - who gets what in the back end, so to speak?
Film Festivals 411 - Why Didn't you Program My Film?
Jon Gann, writing for Script Magazine:
Film festivals are a business to showcase outstanding films to established audiences, attract new audiences, and provide a solid platform for filmmakers to meet and connect with these audiences and one another. That’s a lot of planets to align, and sometimes the math just may not work in your favor. It really is that simple.
Jon has written a really excellent book of interviews with festival programmers - this article is just a taste of the wisdom that lies therein.
Michelle Obama's workshop on "Beasts of the Southern Wild"
Colleen Curtis, writing for the White House blog:
First Lady Michelle Obama today welcomed 80 middle and high school students to an interactive workshop with the cast and crew of the film Beasts of the Southern Wild, in the State Dining Room. The students, who were from Washington, DC and New Orleans, LA, got to talk with director Benh Zeitlin, actor Dwight Henry and the movie's 9-year-old star, Oscar-nominated actress Quvenzhané Wallis, who stars as Hushpuppy.
You can see the entire workshop, moderated by Rachel Goslins, Executive Director of the President's Committee on the Arts and Humanities, on YouTube.
Where would the money come from?
Tom Hall from the Sarasota Film Festival, responding on Indiewire to a recent article by Sean Farnel which promoted the idea that festivals should share ticketing revenue with filmmakers:
...a reality check seems in order; in almost all cases, there is no profit to share and the loss of revenue from ticketing would create another economic disadvantage in an already difficult environment. That said, festivals must work with filmmakers to help create real value for their films, value that capitalizes on the rapidly changing marketplace without repeating the failed models of the past.
I didn't link to Farnel's original piece because, frankly, it is an argument which surfaces all the time. "Festivals spend all that money on plane tickets and parties," goes the thinking, "so why can't they kick some of that ticketing revenue back to the filmmakers?" I've written rebuttals before (here's one from 2008), but the bottom line is, as Hall points out, that there is very little revenue to share. (Never mind that the accounting would be nightmarish.)
I like Hall's attempt to shift the focus from potential monetary compensation to the value that festivals should bring to filmmakers and their films in other ways. Hopefully we can put this idea to rest for another few months.
Put your film in the right category OR How not to screw up in Withoutabox
For the last few months I've been managing submissions (and a host of other things) at the Atlanta Film Festival. The experience has been a re-education in the seemingly simple things that have the power to puzzle the uninitiated, and it puts me back where I was when I first started taking the notes that became Film Festival Secrets.
One particularly surprising point of confusion is the concept of a film's category. When submitting your film to a festival, it's important to tick the right box so your film will be routed to the correct programming department. Otherwise you run the risk of delaying your film's evaluation or even its disqualification from consideration. Here's a quick guide to the different categories you'll encounter as your submit your film.
Feature vs short
Traditionally, anything over 60 minutes is considered a feature film, and anything under is a short. Different festivals draw the line in different places, however, so pay attention to each festival's definition. If you have a film that falls into that weird gray area between 30 and 60 minutes, be aware that your film faces greater challenges in being programmed than more traditional shorts (under 20 minutes) and features (over 70).
Narrative
Narrative = fiction. In general, if there's an element of fiction to your work, it belongs in this category. Don't get cute by submitting your documentary-style fiction film in the doc category.
Documentary
Documentary films, while inherently biased through editing, purport to represent their subjects in a factual way. There can be a lot of blurring of this line, but if you have a doc on your hands you tend to know it.
Animated
Animated features and shorts get lumped into the animated category regardless of content.
Experimental
Experimental is kind of a catch-all category for films that push the envelope of filmmaking: the weird, the off-kilter, the not-quite-narrative. Many festivals include a category for experimental shorts where they showcase films at the cinematic frontier.
Music video
If it's about 3 minutes long and it's set to a song, it's a music video.
Student
These are generally narrative shorts, sequestered in their own category to allow for the "emerging" nature of the filmmakers. Each festival has its own definition of "student film" – some insist on films from students at film schools, others simply accept films made by students of all kinds. Consult the festival's policy.
You should now be able to place your film in the correct category when you submit. Good luck.
How to Do a Festival Q&A
Scott Macaulay, writing for Filmmaker Magazine:
“The secret magic of film festivals is that they offer audiences direct communication with the artist,” says Sundance Film Festival Director of Programming Trevor Groth. “You can definitely elevate the impact of your screening by the way you introduce the film and handle the Q&A.” Explains True/False Co-Director and Co-Founder David Wilson, “A great Q&A can really guide your audience, making them feel better about your film and have a clearer understanding of your intentions in making it. And a bad one can hurt that initial buzz that all films depend on at festivals.” “Having access to you, the director, is what makes festivals special for audiences,” agrees SXSW Film Festival Producer Janet Pierson. “And the Q&A will affect how audiences interact with your work and how they’ll talk about it later.”
I agree with some of these points and disagree with others, but overall it's a pretty good tip sheet for handling a festival Q&A.
For my take on the topic, see How to Nail Your Post-Screening Q&A.
The Dark Underbelly of the Film Festival Circuit
Jason Guerrasio, writing for Indiewire:
Since 2008, a string of film/screenwriting competition events, or events that call themselves film festivals but do not screen films to the public, have popped up on Withoutabox that are misleading filmmakers into thinking that they are submitting to regional festivals set in beautiful locales when in fact they are sending their work to mere online competitions that may or may not have an event to celebrate the award winners.
What is impressive about this article is not so much the number of scam festivals outed here, but the fact that it still just scratches the surface of the questionable events that take money from credulous filmmakers. Scam fests are a relative rarity in terms of their percentage of the festival populace, but many filmmakers adopt a shotgun submission strategy. The result is many a wasted submission fee – sometimes on scams, sometimes on festivals that just aren't appropriate for your film.
Sundance Flu Scare: Park City Medical Center to Hand Out 5,000 Bottles of Hand Sanitizer
Tatiana Siegel, writing for SThe Hollywood Reporter:
As the flu wreaks havoc nationwide, the Park City Medical Center is trying to keep the pesky virus from crashing the party by handing out 5,000 free bottles of hand sanitizer.
[Festivalgoers are encouraged to] Get plenty of sleep and exercise, drink lots of water, and eat healthy foods.
As one commenter points out, these are three things that are basically impossible to do at a film festival.
(Hat tip to Lisa Vandever at Cinekink.)
As for Sundance, the PCMC is urging fest-goers to:
A Talk With Directors Rejected by Sundance Festival
Tom Roston, writing for the New York Times:
Career highlights may await filmmakers whose movies have been accepted at the Sundance Film Festival, which begins Thursday in Park City, Utah. But more common is the hurt, frustration and fallback strategizing that occupies the thousands of directors whose dreams have been dashed. Of more than 12,000 films submitted to this year’s Sundance, only 193 landed slots.
This is further compounded by the perception that there are only a handful of festivals that "matter" – as if anything but the most stellar of festival runs invalidates one's existence as a filmmaker.
No question, it's great to play Sundance. Or Tribeca. Or South by Southwest. But plenty of filmmakers have has fulfilling festival runs playing smaller festivals like Sidewalk and Newport Beach and IFF Boston. Some made incredible careers for themselves without playing a single festival. It's a big world of moving pictures out there, and festivals represent one corner of it.
Sundance Director John Cooper - ask him anything on Reddit
This afternoon at 3pm Pacific time, Sundance Film Festival Director John Cooper will take questions from the general public in Reddit's "AMA" ("Ask Me Anything") format. AMA is an interesting way to hold a mass Q&A with the general public, and if you've ever had questions about the inner workings of Sundance, this is a rare opportunity to get some answers. Sundance has held public Q&As before (like a live video chat back in 2010), but the AMA format is well-suited to the task of getting the most sought-after answers to an audience. (Reddit members can "up-vote" questions from other members to indicate common curiosity.)
From Cooper's announcement on the Sundance site:
On Wednesday, Nov. 28 at 3:00 p.m. PT, on the heels of our announcement of the first 60 or so films selected for the 2013 Festival, I’ll be taking questions about just about anything — why we’re excited for this Festival, how we watch more than 10,000 films each year and narrow it down to 200, what it’s like to work for a festival that has launched the careers of many great artists, and why we love Park City, Utah!
The AMA section of Reddit is here - if you don't have a Reddit account already, go ahead and register for one ahead of time. Get familiar with how reading, posting, and up-voting works so you'll be ready to participate when the AMA begins. To see the AMA format in action, check out this AMA with animator Don Hertzfeldt, or this one with documentarian Eugene Jarecki.
Here's a link to the AMA with John Cooper, or you can read the full AMA announcement on the Sundance web site.
Film Festival Secrets Podcast #10 - The Perils of Programming the Atlanta Film Festival
Chris sits down with Charles Judson, head programmer for the Atlanta Film Festival. Topics discussed: women in filmmaking, the finer points of festival programming, and "disease docs."
Additional show notes to come.
Download the MP3 now or subscribe in iTunes.
Photo credit: flattop341
Film Festival Strategy seminar in Atlanta - December 8th
Attention Atlanta-area filmmakers - in cooperation with the Atlanta Film Festival and the Plaza Theater, I am offering a one-day seminar on film festival strategy scheduled for Saturday, December 8th at the Plaza. If you have a film that you're submitting to festivals now or will be soon, this three-part class will help you create a festival strategy for your film.
Each two-hour class session will include a Q&A with yours truly, and a brief evaluation of a film selected from attendees' submissions. (After you register for the class, you will receive instructions on how to submit your film for possible evaluation.)
Part one focuses on your film and how to evaluate its readiness for the festival circuit. We'll talk about how to get honest feedback, what festival programmers are looking for, and common mistakes filmmakers make.
Part two will cover submissions strategy – how to find the best festivals for your film, submissions tactics, and how to save money.
In part three, we'll talk about marketing your film at festivals. This session will cover finding your audience, putting together press materials, and getting people to show up at your screenings.
You can attend just the sessions you're interested in or sign up for all three at a discount.
Stop waiting on Sundance - 2012 edition
There are plenty of filmmakers who rush to finish their film for Sundance, fill out the paperwork, send off the DVD, and then... stop. There's nothing wrong with waiting anxiously to hear from what is arguably the world's most famous film festival, but if you're not submitting to other festivals while you wait you could miss out on the entire Spring season. Break out your list of target festivals (see chapter one of Film Festival Secrets for more on this) and get cracking. Here's a handy (but by no means complete) list of festivals with upcoming deadlines. Check each festival's web site for their late deadlines, submission rules, etc.
- IFF Boston - October 31
- Dallas International - December 14
- Atlanta Film Festival - December 14
- Cleveland - November 30
- South By Southwest - November 1
Koji Wakamatsu, Japanese Film Director, Dies at 76
Bruce Weber, writing for the New York Times:
“Filmmaking isn’t something you need to learn in school; it’s about imagination,” [Wakamatsu] said. “The best place to learn about it is on a set, not by studying. If a person has got no talent, it doesn’t matter what you teach them. It’s the same for stuff like crafting things with your hands, cooking or architecture: you either have a sense for it or not.”
Independent film by black director gets Oprah’s plug
Sandy Cohen, writing for the Washington Times:
The rebirth of black independent film is taking place in a small office in the San Fernando Valley.
This is where filmmaker Ava DuVernay and her staff of two operate AaFFRM, the African-American Film Festival Releasing Movement, a boutique distribution company dedicated to discovering and promoting black directorial voices. The fledgling company has released just four films since 2010, but one of its artists already has caught the attention of Oprah Winfrey: Ms. DuVernay herself.
Miss Winfrey repeatedly has told her 14 million Twitter followers about Ms. DuVernay’s latest film, “Middle of Nowhere,” which expanded to 14 more cities Friday after opening in six theaters the previous week. She described the film as “powerful and poetic.”
“Excellent job especially with no money,” Miss Winfrey tweeted to Ms. DuVernay. “Bravo to you my sistah.”
Economy, venue losses impact film festivals
A trio of articles crossed my desk this week that highlight the obstacles many small festivals face on the road to putting on a show.
The first is about the Vancouver International Film Festival, which will lose its main venue (a cineplex) in the coming year.
“When you have that really lovely centre of gravity and the dynamism around that, it makes it a pretty appealing event,” said [festival director Alan] Franey. “Whether we can find some magical way to create that energy, I have my doubts about that given available venues, so that’s a real loss.”
The second details similar venue woes for the Hot Springs Documentary Festival:
The event is being held at the Arlington Hotel this time around. That's because the Malco Theatre -- the festival's usual venue -- was damaged by a storm in August. Before that, Arvest Bank had filed a foreclosure suit on the theater.
Making matters worse, the festival board owes $20,000 in local taxes. But, the festival is bouncing back in style.
Finally and most disappointingly, the Lake Arrowhead Film Festival is suspending operations altogether, pending a financial comeback.
The festival, which had grown and evolved over the years, started to experience reduced funding in 2009 in the tanking economy.
"We so completely depend on our sponsors, and funding was cut way down," [festival director Mary] Dippell said.
The nonprofit had been turned down on about 50 grants and the effect was accumulative, she said.
"In 2012, we just had a fraction of the donations we usually have," Dippell said.
The festival scheduled for October 2013 has been called off.
Occasionally I hear from a filmmaker who assumes that festivals are universally rolling in dough from filmmaker submissions fees, or from someone who wants to start a festival, assuming that there isn't much to it. The reality differs from both of these perceptions – running a festival is serious business, and one shouldn't confuse "non-profit" with "doesn't need to make money."
On the festival venue front, I wonder how many small theaters will call it quits because they can't afford to make the jump from 35mm film to digital projection, and how many film festivals will lose their venues as a result.
The trials of being a film festival judge
Dave Garthmin, writing for Elgin Courier News:
We asked [the festival director] whether we should discuss what we just saw. He said he would prefer that we just fill out our ballots, with 5 points for the best film and 1 point for the worst. “There was one year when the discussion among the judges got a little confrontational down here,” he explained.
So we began poring silently over our ballots like six teenagers taking the SAT test.
Every festival is different – some encourage those lengthy discussions, others prefer to get things done as efficiently as possible. It's always nice to get a peek behind the judging curtain at a particular festival, though.
Richard Pena retires as programming director of the New York Film Festival
Jake Coyle, writing for the Associated Press:
"I'd be really pleased to be known as the person who kept the — what I think — extremely high level of the festival constant," Pena said in a recent interview in Lincoln Center's Walter Reade Theater. "That indeed I was given a trust in 1988 and I didn't screw up."
Most would give him far more credit than that. Pena has overseen film at Lincoln Center through a tumultuous period that's seen the graying of art house audiences, the birth of digital filmmaking and distribution, the exponential growth of film festivals and the shift of the art film's epicenter away from Europe and toward the Middle East, Asia and South America.
Film festival fare: No big budget, just big entertainment
Michael C. Moore, writing for the Kitsap Sun:
Even the fans of big-budget shoot-'em-ups and special effects bonanzas should do the festival thing, to see how a great story is told without a $200 million budget, a bank of computers that could land a probe on Mars and two or three of Hollywood's most marketable stars (who, incidentally, eat up a huge chunk of that $200 million before a single frame has been shot).
A nice recap of some films at the Port Townsend Film Fest.
