AN ONGOING SERIES ABOUT ONE SILLY LITTLE MAN’S FILM FESTIVAL SUBMISSION EXPERIENCE
Film Festivals: Positive Reviews & Deserved Boos: Pt. 2 – SoCal Clips Indie & Brightside Tavern Film Festivals
Article by Justin Bowler
Hello filmmakers,
This is an ongoing review series about my film festival submission experience. We have all been there. It is the point where you have finished the hard work of post-production. You are enjoying the fruits of your production labor, and mostly happy about how much of your original brilliant script was actually in the final edit. Now, you have to send your baby out into the world to be judged. It costs money and it’s stressful. What if all of your hard work was for nothing because you made a bad film? Even worse… What if everyone just assumed it was a bad film and never even watched it? That is the greatest fear, and a very real one.
Filmmakers submit their films online to festivals, after paying upwards of $100 just to be considered, yet, they don’t even know if anyone actually watched the film. They never speak with anyone from the fest. They don’t know who is judging the film. They just have to “trust the system”. I, personally, don’t like that, and I think it is unfair. Check out my friend Paul Osborne’s documentary Official Rejection. It will give you some real insight into how unfriendly some fests are to filmmakers. Sadly, it will blow your mind.
So, I am writing a series about my film festival submission experience. This way, other filmmakers don’t have to go through the emotional and financial pains of figuring out which fests are worth their salt (or more specifically, their entry fees). Please, understand, these festival reviews are not based on whether or not I was accepted to their festival, it is based merely on my interaction with them as a filmmaker inquiring about their festival and if my genre film is the right fit. As you will see, some fests are extremely filmmaker friendly, whereas others really don’t give a sh*t about filmmakers at all.
Let me set the scene. I have a short film called OH, THE EFFING HORROR (that’s right, the title is meant to be shouted).
(Check out the teaser HERE)
Clearly, it is a genre picture. It’s a horror/comedy or “Horr-omedy”. In addition to the gore and general subject matter, it contains nudity. Finally, with a run time of almost seventeen minutes, it may be too long for some festivals to program. All three of these points give rise to questions I have for festivals. First, do they program horror films? (The majority of the fests out there are NOT horror fests, so I would like to know if they even consider the genre in their short film competition) Secondly, do they accept films with nudity? (Plenty of festivals have to keep it family friendly. I don’t have a problem with that, but, I would like to know that before I shell out my $45) Third, is a seventeen minute run time too long? (Many fests have time limits for their shorts, but don’t always post that info on WithoutaBox.com or FilmFreeway.com) (For you newcomers, these are the two websites used for the majority of festival submissions)
My journey began by contacting festivals through the informational e-mail they listed on WithoutaBox.com. In my e-mail, I stated who I was, the answers I was seeking and inquired who could answer. Typically, I was referred to the Artistic Director or Programming Director.
SoCal Clips Indie Film Fest – 4th annual
Submission Price – Up to $45
I got an immediate response from Leah Shaw, the Artistic Director.
The SoCal CIF is all about diversity! Most of our films have adult content (language and some have nudity.) We offer a teen filmmaker category and screen them separately during the day unless they contain adult content which quite a few do.
We are by far one of the most filmmaker friendly festivals out there! We offer some of the lowest submission fees and the films that screen annually are gifted with an amazing unforgettable experience.
We promote each film leading up to the festival. Offer swag bags, press interviews, discounted passes to the cast and crew, as well as complimentary food and drinks, not to mention opportunities to network at our events. Definitely worth submitting to! I hope I was able to answer your questions.
Leah’s answers were expedient, simple, and delightful. I immediately submitted.
REVIEW:
SoCal Clips Indie Film Fest gets a POSITIVE REVIEW for their filmmaker friendliness. I am confident that my cold submission will get a fair chance. That is all I ask for.
Brightside Tavern Film Festival
Submission Price: Up to $50
Chris Cullen, the head of the festival shot me an e-mail back.
We love horror and we love comedy we also have many different awards for the different types of films.
We take any type of short film. Of course, we may prefer some types, but we have many different personalities when choosing. Since Brightside is a smaller venue we usually pack the place. That is why to grow we extended the days and do it twice a year.
If you have another version, since we do have a lot of families come, we prefer it to not be nude, if possible. Though we do have some and we just have to warn people ahead of time that this section of films is more adult.
I also run a bigger shorts fest in Asbury Park called Hang Onto Your Shorts.
I loved a few things about Chris’ response. First, he was honest. Nudity may hurt my chances of being in the fest. I don’t mind hearing that, informing me shows that the festival is on the up and up. They aren’t trying to get every buck from anyone they can. Second, he offered up another festival as an alternative if I didn’t want to submit. Third and most of all, his entire response resonated “filmmaker friendliness”. That is what filmmakers want in their festivals. They want the festival to be a champion for filmmakers.
REVIEW:
Brightside Tavern Film Festival gets a POSITIVE REVIEW for their filmmaker friendliness. I was so happy with the festival’s straightforwardness, I submitted anyway. Even though, I knew my chances will be decreased because my film has nudity.
See? It’s not that hard to be filmmaker friendly. It so sad, other fests won’t even take the time to respond to filmmakers. They primarily want to be a champion for themselves. They want stars and they want attention, so they invite known films and known filmmakers to “submit”. That in no way helps Joe Filmmaker. First, invited films eat up one more spot in the screening lineup, thus decreasing a cold submitter’s chances. In addition, it drains the new filmmaker of money he could have used to submit to a festival that would have given him a fair chance. Furthermore, it corrupts the whole system.
Check back next Friday to see which festivals champion filmmakers and which ones just appear to want your cash!
Justin Bowler
IG @IndyFilmTwittic and @OhTheEffingHorror
Twitter @JustinTBowler
Read More of Justin Friday Film Festival Friendliness reviews:
PART ONE – Cheyenne ZombieFest & MiSciFi
