People often ask what is the value in getting into a lot of fests? After the submission fees, travel costs and promo materials, does it really wind up being worth it all to even bother?
I’d have to say, “Absolutely!” Many of my dearest friends are people I’ve met on my travels to the fests over the years, I’ve made some important industry contacts and I’ve gotten some press out of it all. More importantly, I’ve seen a TON of films I’d never have seen otherwise, learned so much from other filmmakers and spectators, and I’ve gotten to see my film screen to hundreds of audiences. One learns a lot about how her work plays to a crowd after so many screenings. Every audience is different, so even a handful of fests is hardly enough to get a real sense of things.
That said, some fests are best left as laurel leaves on your website with no additional money or energy spent on them. I can usually figure it out in advance from the fest’s website archives of previous fests and their communication process (or lack thereof). I also make a point to talk to other filmmakers about their fest experiences.
The worst kind of fest is the one where you find yourself alone in an auditorium with 3 other filmmakers and no other audience to watch your film. I’ve been to a number of those over the years. That sucks. We as filmmakers put a lot of time, energy and money into making our films and submitting them to fests. I feel it’s the fest’s responsibility to publicize the event, make sure programming will appeal to audiences, and ensure there are actual audiences. If you can’t deliver that, you shouldn’t be running a fest – plain and simple.
That said, we went to the West Hollywood fest this week where my short film Death in Charge was officially selected to screen. Wow. I half suspect it was some sort of money-laundering scam. Nothing else makes sense. The venue changed 3 times in the final days before the fest, so I pretty much gathered what we were in for from the get-go. I was not wrong. Fortunately, I had not flown over with my cast and crew from as far away as Germany, Australia and Argentina as did many others – D’oh!
Nobody attended the screenings except the other filmmakers and, if that is not bad enough, they did not screen the films in the order they were listed on the program (which was just a computer printout list of movie titles and times). I don’t think my film even screened at all. I didn’t hang out long enough to find out. Some filmmakers’ films were merely screened on a TV behind a noisy bar. I mean, honestly, what’s the point?
Nonetheless, I gotta say I had a blast. The parties were great. I went to swanky L.A. clubs I’d've never known about, much less been able to afford otherwise, met some great filmmakers and danced until the wee hours with all manner of adorable gay boys. So, for me, it proved a very fun respite in between long hours of inserting FX into our film and prepping it for our upres to digi-beta tomorrow – yipes!
The moral of the story…when all else fails, make your own fun. No 2 fest experiences are alike.