film festivals – Page 2 – F47 Productions

It’s been a while since I last posted something about the film so I’d like to give a few updates (as I wait for my slightly *adjusted* version of the film to render in Final Cut).

First some results from some of the festivals that I’ve submitted to….
Sundance (UT) – rejected
Slamdance (UT) – rejected
SXSW (TX) – rejected
Dam Short (NV) – rejected
Sedona (AZ) – rejected
Rutgers (NJ) – rejected
Ann Arbor (MI) – rejected
Phoenix (AZ) – rejected
Cinequest (CA) – rejected
Gen Art (NY) – rejected
Atlanta (GA) – rejected
Beverly Hills (CA) – rejected
Nashville (TN) – rejected
Method Fest (CA) – rejected
Tulsa United (nationwide) – awaiting
Rooftop Films (NY) – awaiting
Cambridge (UK) – awaiting
deadCenter (OK) – awaiting

Pretty good, huh? That’s a lot of rejection! I’m almost getting used to it. The only thing I hate about being rejected is the fact that I paid anywhere from $40-60 per event to enter. And all I get in return is a form email that reads as follows:

“If you are receiving this email, we regret to inform you that your entry has not been selected for the 2010 (Insert Name) Film Festival. We do thank you for submitting your film, and we wish you success in your future endeavors.

If you have any questions, feel free to email us at ….

Sincerely,
Programming Staff of the (Insert name) Film Festival”

Isn’t that great? I’ve received like 14 of these now – and it’s always so much fun opening one. I feel my character building one form-email at a time.

So now for the good news: I haven’t been rejected by everyone yet. I received a call from someone at deadCenter Film Festival yesterday saying that my screening DVD did not work. So I am making another one today to mail to them. Then they can reject me too.

But it got me thinking…what if one of the DVDs I sent to one of the many other festivals had the same issue? Would they call and ask me for another copy or would they just toss it aside? Makes me wonder. I’m thinking of contacting a few of them just to see: 1) what their policy is on non-operating DVDs 2) if they have any notes about the functionality of mine.

I would at least like to know that someone (anyone) was able to actually view the film and reject it based on it’s merit (or lack thereof).

So is my ego bruised from all of this rejection? No. I need it. I like it. Really, I’m being serious here. Rarely is someone’s work “accepted” first time running. And a little rejection is good to make one work harder next time. I’ve gone well beyond my initial goal of going from idea to movie – I never thought I would even attempt a siege of the festival circuit. And perhaps this will be a lesson to me – that I should have saved my money. But then again, I don’t regret applying either. If I hadn’t submitted to all those festivals I would have never known the possibility of having my film shown at one.

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In other news – I am in the process of mastering a complete DVD which will hopefully have subtitles in English and French and possibly (if i can get around to it) a commentary track, a slideshow, and maybe other features. The goal is to get this done by Spring and get everyone who helped on the film, a copy of the film – as well as hold a private showing or two.

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As for music rights: it’s been an on-going pain in the ass resulting in stalemate. Doesn’t really matter though if I’m not showing it anywhere!

This is kind of a dead period right now. It’s a waiting game to see which festivals select the film as part of their show.

Good news bad news: got the word from Sundance – no go. Got the word from Slamdance, also no go. That’s the bad news, I guess. But it was such a LONG shot. I mean, Sundance had 9800 submissions in the short film category alone and they selected 200. Slamdance had 5400 short film entries and selected only 100. Those are some sucky odds. But I’m not sweating it. This is a Super 8 film – I don’t think either of those festivals are really the market for this type of film. I’m really hoping for a more artsy type festival – something a little more underground. With that in mind I submitted to a few more festivals.

I sent the film to a film festival in Brooklyn that screens films on rooftops – cool idea and right up my alley (see RPS). It’s also going to the Dam Short Film Festival in Boulder City, Nevada. Sent it to the U.S. Super 8 Film and Digital Video Festival at Rutgers University in New Jersey; The Method Fest Independent Film Festival in El Segundo, CA; The United Film Festival series which includes several major cities.

And of course I couldn’t pass up an opportunity to send it to South-by-Southwest Film Festival in Austin and last but not least the deadCENTER film festival here in OKC. I’m saving the big OKC metro debut for deadCENTER, that is, if they’ll have me.

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I am still having some issues with the music licensing side of things. They sure make it difficult to do business. I think the only organization with more hoops to jump through would have to be the U.S. government. Seriously. Do these people want to be paid for songs or not? I’m getting pretty discouraged with getting the licensing lined up. Seems like I’ve made all the right contacts and have some agreements here and there but each entity makes their agreement contingent upon someone elses concurrence. Frankly, it is probably good that things are still up in the air. Nothing needs to go into effect until I have a scheduled festival to show.

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I have some other content I am working on and have even been encouraged to write or include as a DVD commentary some information about the process of making the film – sort of an educational look at doing a narrative short in Super 8.

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Finally, I have plans to host an exclusive cast and crew showing very soon. Stay tuned.