If you’re coming to the South By Southwest film festival this weekend, you’ll have the chance to see me speak during the Short Film Secrets panel on Tuesday, March 16th at 2:00 p.m.
The official description from the SXSW guide: There’s more out there for shorts than just YouTube, despite apparently limited sales and distribution avenues. Learn to make the most of festivals, the red flags that might keep you out, how to get away with breaking the rules, and what to do with that opus afterwards.
I will also be serving on the Texas Short Film jury at the festival, and you’ll be able to buy copies of Film Festival Secrets in the bookshop on the expo floor.
Tate English and Lynn Mikeska (writer/director and star, respectively, of The Ballad of Friday and June) spent some time at the Oxford Film Festival recording a series of webisodes to document their festival trip. Rather than making the series a simple travelogue, however, they went out of their way to make each episode funny in a self-deprecating way. Well-made webisodes like these capture some of the local flavor of a festival town and involve fellow attending filmmakers involved whenever possible. (You want to give people a reason to link to your videos, right?) Off-the-cuff video blog entries are a fun, inexpensive way to build a fan base and to draw attention to your film’s festival run.
I’ll be in attendance Thursday through Saturday and participating on a panel on Friday afternoon at 2:15 p.m. at the Malco Studio theater. If you’re in driving distance of Oxford I encourage you to check it out. Two of my favorite films on the festival circuit, Stingray Sam and Happy Ending, are playing there.
Also check out the series of “Take 5″ interviews that the festival has been publishing with its filmmakers.
Feeling left behind because you’re not going to Park City this week? Here are a few ideas on how to keep yourself occupied — either by distracting yourself with other business or by taking part vicariously. In no particular order:
Hold some test screenings for your own film. Chances are you haven’t held nearly enough test screenings to really know how an audience will react to your film, so why not have a little festival magic of your own? See chapter one of Film Festival Secrets for more on holding test screenings, but it’s pretty simple: Get a bunch of strangers together, show them your movie, and gather some opinions. It feels good and it’s good for you. Read more »
With the Park City festivals (Sundance, Slamdance, and other ‘dances that come and go with the years) just a week away, I thought this was a good time to check in with Chris Thilk about some of the philosophies and techniques of promoting an indie film at a large festival.
Let’s say I’m a filmmaker with a feature film playing at Sundance or Slamdance. I’m aware that million-dollar advance checks are few and far between, but I’d like to give my film the best chance possible for finding a distributor and/or an audience. What are some realistic expectations to set for this experience?
The expectations you have going in should be in direct proportion to the leg work you’ve put in prior to the festival, whatever it is. If, in support of your movie, you’ve already done some outreach to movie blogs that might be interested in the film, have built up an audience on Facebook or Twitter and generally can go in to the festival with some wind at your sails already your chances are much better.
I don’t have a lot of money for a publicist. How can someone with a limited budget be heard over the hype?
First off, dissuade yourself of the notion that you’re going to be heard by a large audience. The best strategy for creators of niche products – whether we’re talking about small movies or small beers – is to be heard by the right audience. That takes a lot of work upfront as you do research into potential communities of fans and such but then participating in those conversations is exactly as hard as having a conversation over email or even real life. You’ll never break through the hype around something like Transformers, but that’s not where your goal line is. Your goal line is finding the audiences and communities who are interested in what you have to say. Again, that takes a lot of upfront work, but it’s every bit as essential to the movie’s success as finishing the script so don’t consider it an add-on effort.
One of the more popular pages on the Film Festival Secrets web site is the list of fests that require no entry fee for some or all of the submissions they accept. As festivals fitting this description come to my attention I’ll be posting them to that page and highlighting them here on the blog.
Boys & Girls Club Aspiring Filmmakers Festival – The BGCAFF was created to showcase films by young filmmakers (21 and under) from across the country. The festival is designed to promote the making of films by youth, especially youth who traditionally do not have the resources to explore filmmaking.
The Archaeology Channel International Film & Video Festival – To exhibit for our audience the wonderful diversity of human cultures past and present in the exploration of our place in history and in our world. To promote the genre and the makers of film and video productions about archaeology and indigenous peoples.
Bicycle Film Festival – The Bicycle Film Festival celebrates the bicycle in all forms and styles. If you can name it – Tall Bike Jousting, Track Bikes, BMX, Alleycats, Critical Mass, Bike Polo, Road Cycling, Mountain Biking Recumbents – we’ve probably either ridden or screened it. What better way to celebrate these lifestyles than through art, film, music and performance?
Filmed by Bike – Every year the festival features a fresh selection of exciting, creative films that are eight minutes or under. Sure, we like those movies of messengers riding like daredevils in-and-out of NYC traffic, smacking taxi butts and skidding in style, but Filmed by Bike is about so much more than that. An advanced and mature society is one that recognizes, nurtures, revels in and celebrates it’s creative class, it’s art and culture. Here in Portland, our bike culture is beyond the basics and we are wholely embracing our place in society as more than just bikers. We revel in bringing together movies from around the world for festival that celebrates bike culture.
The Austin Film Festival begins this Thursday, and as it is the festival where I got my start “on the inside” of fests, it holds a special place in my heart. I’ll be checking out the films, schmoozing at the parties, and of course rattling on about festivals, marketing, and film distribution at a few panels during the accompanying Screenwriters’ (and filmmakers!) Conference. Here’s where you can find me, and when:
Check out the Austin Film Festival schedule for full info on the films and panels to see. You can also pick up a print copy of Film Festival Secrets at the merch table near registration.
“Given the current economic climate and the pressures it has created, we made the difficult decision to put CineVegas on hiatus for the coming year. CineVegas has become such a well respected film festival, and rather than allow the economy to affect its level of quality we have opted to put the event on hold,” said Robin Greenspun, Festival President.
While none of the CineVegas reps in attendance at Fantastic Fest seemed particularly eager to go on the record about the festival’s woes, there was plenty of tongue-clucking, head-shaking, and speculation to go around. CV is a top-notch event with a great venue (a cineplex inside the Palms Casino), a sexy hometown, some of the best staff in the business, and a celebrity backer (Dennis Hopper). The festival’s contraction to five days in 2009 (down from ten days in previous years) even seemed like an improvement and a smart move in a down economy. How could this vibrant and apparently healthy festival hit the skids so quickly?
While much of the conjecture revolved around the lavish parties and apparent “industry vacation” aspects of the fest, the stated and simplest reason for the hiatus is probably the truth: in a troubled economy, corporate sponsorship dollars dry up fast. It doesn’t take a financial wizard to look at the festival’s four largest sponsors (the Palms, Vegas.com, The District at Green Valley Ranch, and Greenspun Media Group) and notice that they’re all in industries (tourism, retail shopping, and print media) that have been hit hard by the financial downturn. There are very few festivals that can run on ticket sales alone, and none of them are of CineVegas’ size and stature. Greenspun and the festival’s Artistic Director Trevor Groth (also head programmer at Sundance) made the difficult decision to try to weather the storm and hopefully come back with a bang rather than risk sinking the CineVegas ship entirely. It’s a disappointing move (especially for those staffers who were laid off) but ultimately a smart one. Trying to put on the same level of show without the same level of backing would spell disaster.
Will CineVegas be back? I sure hope so. In the meantime, the writing is on the Palms Casino wall for every festival that relies primarily on corporate sponsorships to operate each year: it’s time to implement (or further develop) your membership and individual giving programs. Diversifying your “portfolio” in this way not only provides a bit of a cushion in the lean times, but it also strengthens your ties to the community and can lead to more corporate sponsorships when times are good. There are a number of good resources out there about fundraising during a recession, but it boils down to tapping into your fan base and offering them something they can’t get elsewhere: recognition, exposure to unusual movies and experiences, the satisfaction of making a difference to the independent film scene.
This isn’t a cure-all; even the greatest individual giving program won’t replace corporate sponsorships, but it’s a heck of a hedge against those famine years. The Seattle International Film Festival has one of the most comprehensive and successful film fest membership programs I’ve ever seen – if you want an education on how to do a membership program right, invest the $55 in a basic membership and watch them go to work.
Be sure to tell me all about your successful new membership program at CineVegas 2011.
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If you’re coming to the South By Southwest film festival this weekend, you’ll have the chance to see me speak during the Short Film Secrets panel on Tuesday, March 16th at 2:00 p.m.
With the Park City festivals (Sundance, Slamdance, and other ‘dances that come and go with the years) just a week away, I thought this was a good time to check in with Chris Thilk about some of the philosophies and techniques of promoting an indie film at a large festival.
The Austin Film Festival begins this Thursday, and as it is the festival where I got my start “on the inside” of fests, it holds a special place in my heart. I’ll be checking out the films, schmoozing at the parties, and of course rattling on about festivals, marketing, and film distribution at a few panels during the accompanying Screenwriters’ (and filmmakers!) Conference. Here’s where you can find me, and when: 
A couple of weeks ago, while we here in Austin were enjoying the film frenzy that is 
Film Festival Secrets: A Handbook for Independent Filmmakers