What film festivals and can do for YOU and ME
Physical film festivals have been dying a slow death of irrelevance as the interweb gains ultimate power but they are still useful to filmmakers for getting some press BUT I still think the way most of them in US work is BULLSHIT
Wanna know why the "indie" filmmaking scene is mostly rich kids who go to expensive film schools?
Here's how it goes...
You pay a fee... $50 - $100 for a feature
A) You get rejected AND they are nice enough to keep your money
B) You get accepted THEN they send you a page of EXACT technical specs you must meet so they can screen your film
Example: "We are the Strange" was HD.... so my cheapest full quality option was HDCAM which cost about $1,500.00 for one copy
When the film screens at the festival... people PAY to see your film yet you get NOTHING and yeah you just had to pay out of your pocket to make a tape for them AND you had to pay for your flight and lodging to attend the festival.
So why would a filmmaker do this? To get exposure you say? Well in the past this was the ONLY way to really get any exposure BUT today NO FILM FESTIVAL can match the exposure you can get for being feature on youtube for just one day...
So you don't "need" film festivals for that...the interweb pwns them badly...
NOW the Hollywood brainwashed amongst you might say "yeah but IMPORTANT people will see it at the film festival" again this is NOT true... YES many Hollywood types go there to schmooze but they are lazy fUX and most of them are at parties all the time anyway... its easier for them to click a link and see your shit online... If you build buzz online THEY will see it regardless of what fest your in...
Now what are film festivals good for these days? Well a lot of old media press still pay attention to the going on's at the big fests like Sundance so if you can get in one of those use them for the press...
NOW I must say with my new film "Heart String Marionette" will PWN hard... so I'm not going to pretend like I'm some lost little indie filmmaker hoping to be accepted by some festival... It's all about what festivals can do for me... And thats the attitude we need to take... stop letting them leech off of us with us getting nothing in return... I mean most big fests are filled with studio/celebrity produced fake ass "indie" films... they NEED the real shit every once in a while so they can pretend they still have street creD nah mean...
So I as a real moPHUCIN filmmaker d00d Sayeth...
Entry fee's are ok... I'll pay and play the game that far BUT if my film is in the fest I AM NOT PAYING TO MAKE A TAPE TO PLAY AT THE FESTIVAL... I will give the festival a digital file and THEY CAN MAKE A TAPE that they can keep in their archive..The bastards ask you for a free copy of your film after for their archive anyway...
If the festival is charging for my screenings then...
A) they pay me a screening fee
or
B) they give me a percentage of the ticket sales like %50
So if any film fest people are reading this you need to get in contact with me ahead of time if you want to screen my new film which will be completed late 2010... and you know ahead of time that I'm a pretentious bastard BUT I can back it up over 9000 times.
The only fest I'll jump through hoops for is Fantasia in Montreal because they really championed my film at the fest...it had great screenings and won a few awards... and also the festival in Waterloo... real animation fans there....
Seeing as this film is going to be FUCKING insane and epic I'd like you all to be able to see it in a theater on a big screen... So that will be my priority...
And I must say after all the fests I attended in all the different countries... the REALIST one was in Waterloo... no "celebrity" bullshit... no parties... no VIP bullshit...just great UNIQUE and CHALLENGING films from all over the world and a crowd of knowledgeable and appreciative peoples.Brought to you by professional weirdo M dot Strange.