Film Festivals: Positive Reviews & Deserved Boos: Pt. 5 – Fic Autor, Long Beach Int’l & Green Bay Film Festivals

AN ONGOING SERIES ABOUT ONE SILLY LITTLE MAN’S FILM FESTIVAL SUBMISSION EXPERIENCE

Film Festivals: Positive Reviews & Deserved Boos: Pt. 5 – Fic Autor, Long Beach Int’l & Green Bay Film Festivals

Article by Justin Bowler

A fast food worker walks up to his friend and says “Hey, you made a film in high school right?” The friend says “Yes.” The fast food worker says “Great, I’m putting on a film festival, you should submit.” The friend says “Have you ever put on a festival before?” The fast food worker says “No.” The friend says “How much does it cost?” The fast food worker says “$85 to enter. You can submit online.”

(Before you complain about one of the people in that joke being a fast food worker, just ask yourself “If I am offended by that, is it because it is about me?”) (If you are only a fast food worker, then I have nothing against you. I just don’t want you putting on a festival and charging $85.)

Hello filmmakers,

This is an ongoing review series about my film festival submission experience. 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 can’t/won’t/don’t respond to simple eligibility questions. Seriously, there are only three questions, and they are “Yes or No”. It’s pretty easy. But, you would be surprised by the myriad of answers/NON-answers I get.

Filmmakers submit their films online to festivals. They can pay upwards of $100 just to be considered, yet they never get confirmation that their film was actually watched. They never speak with anyone from the fest. They don’t know who is judging the film. They just have to “trust the system”. It can be very sketchy. Some festivals take the time to make sure it isn’t, whereas others…

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.

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 17 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.)
Second, 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 or FilmFreeway.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.

Long Beach International Film Festival
Submission Price – Up to $105

As always, I e-mailed the informational e-mail listed on WithoutABox. My first e-mail was sent on September 23rd. No one responded. So, I sent another e-mail on October 8th, which was responded to immediately by someone with a phone.

Just shoot any questions via this e-mail.

Sent from my iPhone

No salutation. Hmm. So, I wasn’t entirely sure who I was talking to. This response didn’t even say Programming Staff. So far, that has been a part of the generic salutation from the lower tier responses. From a festival that was priced up to $105, I was very surprised. However, it came from someone with the name Daniel Walker in their e-mail. Maybe it was Daniel. Maybe it wasn’t. I immediately shot off my standard questions.

Will I be ineligible based on the genre?
Is your festival against nudity? (I have two versions of my film, one with a topless shot and one without.)
Is seventeen minutes too long? Realistically, do you program seventeen minute shorts?

The response was interesting.

We screen oodles of shorts and have no problems with horror. In 2016 we had two suites of films particularly dedicated to horror shorts and they both sold out. We’ll be offering a specific prize for horror this year specifically because the genre was so successful for is this year.

Sent from my iPhone

That was good to know. I was not ineligible based on genre. But, what about the other two questions? I e-mailed again with the two other questions and a bonus question just for fun.

Thank you so much for getting back to me. Is nudity acceptable? Also, is seventeen minutes too long? Realistically, do you program seventeen minute shorts? How filmmaker friendly is your festival? Can you give me an example?

To this person’s credit, they responded immediately.

I think I answered these questions in my last e-mail. We do screen shorts. We do screen horror. Last year we screen more than 190 films. Of these about 2/3 were shorts. We had 22 film blocks dedicated just to shorts.

Sent from my iPhone

At this point, I was very confused. Was I going crazy or did he not answer my questions regarding length and nudity? Also, if the submission fee is up to $105, then they are raking in some serious cash for the festival. So, why can’t I get an answer from a department, or a person? Who was I conversing with? This seemed very fishy. Was it really Daniel Walker? I didn’t know. So, I pressed on.

“Sorry to bother you again, or if it seems like I am repeating myself… But, you didn’t mention if nudity was OK, or if the length (seventeen minutes) was OK. Some fests need to be family friendly, so language and gore are acceptable, but nudity is not. In addition, some fests don’t actually program shorts over fifteen minutes. That’s why I was looking for clarification. Finally, the article that I am writing is about Festival Filmmaker Friendliness. Can you give an example of how your fest shows they are filmmaker friendly?

I greatly appreciate it,
Justin”

The response was short and to the point. (What point? I’m not entirely sure.)

We accept all films. If it’s good we play it.

Sent from my iPhone

Well, there you have it? It’s a roundabout way of saying they accept nudity and the length is OK? Apparently, he didn’t want to tell me anything that they do for filmmakers. I’ll be honest, I was very confused about the whole interaction. While the website for this festival sure makes it seem like it is on the up and up, something doesn’t seem right. Why weren’t my questions directly answered? Who was I talking to? Why did it come off as low rent when they charge up to $105 entry fees. I did not submit.

Long Beach International Film Festival gets a DESERVED BOO for filmmaker friendliness. I contacted them September 23rd with an eligibility inquiry. They didn’t get back to me. I contacted them again on October 10th with the same inquiry. It took four more e-mails to get the answers I was looking for. This may be a fantastic festival once you are in it, but, with an entry fee up to $105, I would not risk it. I sent six e-mails before I got answers to three “Yes or No” questions. That says something. If they can’t answer some simple eligibility questions, then how do you know they will bother to watch your film? I’ll tell you what… after you submit, send them six e-mails asking if it was watched, so you can get an indirect answer.

FIC AUTOR
Submission Price – Up to $60

I sent an email off to the informational address they provided on WithoutABox. I received an immediate response from their festival director Jerzain Ortega.

We accept all kinds of genre and we have accepted different kinds of movies.. from simple, yet funny comedies, to the heartbreaking dramas. The things we look for are.. creativity and unique style if the director is not the writer, if the director and writer are the same person, then we are a little bit more flexible. Sounds confusing? Let me give you an example. We get this great mid length film about a couple’s fight in a car, the guy doesn’t speak at all in the discussion and he decided to park in the middle of the night in a little park zone in a little town. 90% of the film is inside the car because the guy decided just not move the car at all for one day and a half and he doesn’t speak! So, Im not so good writing in english, but you can tell is an “original” idea right? The film is very funny and the direction is good. But.. the director is not the writer… So, in this case I look more at the director style and said.. is the style that unique to be selected? No. But if he would be the writer, the film would have been selected.

The genre is not important, if it is an experimental film yes, this kind of films has its own category. We have 6 categories in feature films and 6 in short films.

Short film categories:
Fictional
Documentary
Animated
Experimental
One minute short film
Mexican short.

Again.. unless you are Mexican, you just have 1 option: fictional.

And even if you make a mistake and you submit it in the experimental category and it is not, I will move it to the right category and you don’t have to worry about disqualification.

Bring the nudity! We don’t have any problem about nudity or any other subjects.

I hope I answered well all of your questions, if not, please ask me again.
Jerzain.

What a difference between Jerzain and the previous festival I contacted. Furthermore, Jerzain went on to tell me they inform filmmakers WHY they are not selected. Not only is that helpful information, but also, it proves at the very least, that submitted films are watched and digested.

REVIEW:
FIC AUTOR gets a POSITIVE REVIEW for their filmmaker friendliness. They were helpful, informative and friendly. I was thoroughly impressed and submitted. Take my money, but give me a fair shot. That’s all I ask.

GREEN BAY FILM FESTIVAL
Submission Price- Up to $35

I sent an e-mail off to the informational address they provided on WithoutABox. I received an immediate response from their festival director Cyndee Sweetland.

Hi Justin,
Challenging questions, let’s see if I can give you a picture. We are a festival in which 99% of our films are those that are submitted. That said the shape of the festival itself is created by the submissions we receive and the jury’s rating of them. The 1% of films that may be played during the festival have other reasons for being selected, whether it’s a subject we have a panel for or a special reason for bringing it in.

We have found that there is a reasonable percentage of films that come in that are good quality thriller horror. We have had horror double features that have included shorts and we have had entire sessions of thriller/horror shorts. It depends on what we receive. In shorts we love to mix the types up so there is a greater appreciation of each.

We are not against nudity (typically horror is more teen/adults anyway) as long as it’s tastefully done.

Happy Shooting!
Cyndee

Straight forward and to the point. Also, I would like to point out, I did not ask her if seventeen minutes was too long. That was my bad. However, she spoke directly to the fears that I have been acknowledging most in this article: Are submissions actually watched? She addressed it before I even asked.

REVIEW:
GREEN BAY FILM FESTIVAL gets a POSITIVE REVIEW for their filmmaker friendliness. I received all of my answers within three days of my first e-mail. They were informative, thorough, and prompt. Why can’t all festivals be this great?

This was another interesting week with highly differentiating responses, but, all stemming from opposite sides of the same problem: film festival trustworthiness. (I am sure that isn’t a word.) (However, you know what I am trying to say.)

By the way, I would love to hear your own stories about submitting to festivals. Let me know your experience. If you think there is more to be said about any of the festivals I have reviewed, then I would love to hear it.

Thanks for joining me again, check back next Friday to find which fests are fabulous and which fests are fodder. (See what I did there?)

Justin Bowler
IG @IndyFilmTwittic and @OhTheEffingHorror
Twitter @JustinTBowler