Strategizing Your Career Path On The Film Festival Circuit
Here we go with choices. Each road takes you down a path, but which one gets you where you want to go? Let’s start there. What goals are you seeking with a film festival?
Do you want to get funded, picked up (distributed), win tons of awards or build a respectable roster of accolades that can actually help you in a long successful career in entertainment? What works for you and the promises you made to those who helped you? Honoring those promises pretty much secures them to be part of your next project and maybe even the next one after that. It takes a lot of time and trust to build relationships in the film industry—or anywhere.
Once you have an idea of which direction you want to go, you have made selecting which festival(s) to enter much easier. Considering there are currently over 11,000 festivals, this is a valuable starting point.
A simplified version of the strategy would be to search for festivals that offer what you are looking for first. This should save you time, money and energy—valuable resources you could be using to actually make your next project.
• If your choice is “get funded.” Well, if it’s cash, how much? Figure out what strings, if any, are attached to that money. Is it a production deal? If yes, how much control/credit, if any, do you retain? What rights are you giving away for that cash/production deal?
The Rolling Stone Culture Council is an invitation-only community for Influencers, Innovators and Creatives. Do I qualify?
• If your choice is “distribution.” The distribution playing field has changed quite a bit over the last two years and it is now much easier for you to distribute on your own.
• If your choice is “win tons of awards.” This one is tricky, but here is an example. I’ve seen content submitted that won over 150 awards. When I asked which festivals were in person, they said none. Think about that: online-only festivals run by a person or team that we do not get to meet. In my next article, I’ll talk more about the types of festivals and what to look out for.
• If your choice is “build a respectable roster of accolades that can actually help you in a long successful career in entertainment.” I like this one because your time, money and energy actually amount to something tangible: the circuit. That’s why the festival circuit exists, to build momentum, relationships and accolades on a respected global stage. Hold your world premiere out for one of these greats: Cannes, Venice, TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival), Sundance, Tribeca or mine, New Media Film Festival. Make sure to go to the festival, let the organizers know you are going and would be delighted to be part of a Q&A or however else can you help. Be gracious, be your fabulous self and remember that your premiere status—whether it be world, by country (USA for example) or regional (such as Los Angeles and the 50-mile studio radius that comes with it)—is a valuable positioning tool, so give that premiere away wisely.
There are so many ways you can approach the festival circuit. Figure out what is best for you, your project and your career and move toward that path.