How Your Trailer May Kill Your Chances of Being Accepted
Charles Judson of the Atlanta Film Festival, writing for CinemATL.
Programmers are no different than anyone else. Just as it is with audiences going to a local multiplex, we look at trailers and we instantly decide if films are ones we think we want to see, as programmers and as film lovers, if we think will enjoy them.
. . .
Unfortunately, too many films submitted to festivals either have misleading trailers–stop playing by the Hollywood big budget marketing playbook and you would be much better off. Or they do not have strong trailers at all.
So far this season I’ve seen at least three films that a filmmaker sent me a trailer for that had me pumped, and I walked away a little disappointed that the film was nothing like the trailer.
I’m in favor of cutting a trailer for your film and as a screener for festivals I rarely watch the trailer first.
Read How Your Trailer May Kill Your Chances of Being Accepted.
2011 Science Film Festival tours Indonesia
Science documentarians take note: this touring science film festival may be the place for your film, particularly if it caters to children.
Does Exclusive Content Matter?
Ashkan Karbasfrooshan at mediapost.com, writing about online video distributors like Hulu and Netflix:
Now don’t get me wrong, while content is king, monarchies are no longer in vogue; indeed the distributors have the power. Any producer that doesn’t “get this” is living in the past. But to ensure that advertisers keep the system running, distributors need to please viewers. To do that, you have to give viewers the content that they want when they want it.
The lesson is that producers are still paying the price for giving away too much, too easily, too fast. That kind of reputation is hard to shake. But once they realize they can have the upper hand if they play the game right — then maybe, just maybe, they can get the diamond they deserve.
Read Does Exclusive Content Matter?.
(Via Amy Letourneau.)
Mont Blanc creates “The Beauty of a Second” One-Second Film Festival
Normally I’m not crazy about advertising gimmicks masquerading as corporate sponsored “film festivals,” but this one is creative and compelling. The video above is a compilation of some of their best entries. The competition is open until December 13th.
From the official website:
190 years ago Nicolas Rieussec recorded time to an accuracy of a fifth of a second. The chronograph was born.
To celebrate his invention we challenge you to “seize the moment” and capture the beauty of a second.
The subject? It can be anything as long as it celebrates the fragile beauty of this short-lived unit of time.
Infographic introduction to crowdfunding
Long, scrolling infographics like the one linked here have become a bit of a fad – the best ones tell an engaging story by visualizing related information in ways that make that information easier to understand. This one doesn’t quite reach the heights that I’ve seen in really great infographics – it’s too monochromatic, and some of the information isn’t helped by its graphical presentation. Still, there are some good tidbits here. Raising funds through sites like Kickstarter is now an essential part of independent filmmaking so it’s good to know all you can about the phenomenon of “crowdfunding.”
5 Great Gifts for Filmmakers on the Festival Circuit
It’s the day after Thanksgiving – let the shopping begin! And don’t forget the filmmaker in your life while you’re at it. Here are some things that are essential to any filmmaker entering the film festival circuit.
5. A good travel bag like the ones made by Crumpler. At a festival a filmmaker needs to carry all sorts of things with her – promotional postcards, screener DVDs, cell phone charger – the list goes on. Crumpler makes some of the best bags I’ve seen. They’re durable, attractive, and well-designed. For a festival day bag I recommend the Western Lawn messenger bag (pictured), but for more room consider The Complete Seed, a mammoth bag that can handle all your laptop/carry-on needs.
4. Submissions fees. Filmmakers spend a lot of money submitting to festivals and they rarely budget for this expense. You can help quite a bit by pledging to cover a submission or two. Fees run anywhere from $20 – $100 depending on the festival and timing (later deadlines are more expensive).
Webinar: Top 10 Tips for the Film Festival Circuit
One of the more popular talks I give at festivals and related events is a workshop on “The Top 10 Tips for the Film Festival Circuit.” This workshop introduces new filmmakers to some basic festival concepts and helps experienced filmmakers get more from their festival run. For the first time ever I’m holding this talk as an online seminar on Thursday, December 1st 2011 at 3pm EST. Included in this workshop is a live Q&A session with yours truly, during which I’ll answer as many questions as I can. I’m allowing 90 minutes for the full session so odds are good we’ll get everyone’s questions answered.
Some of the topics I’ll be covering in the seminar:
- Making sure your film is ready for festivals
- Setting goals for your festival run
- Getting your submissions organized
- Submitting strategically
- Saving money on submissions fees
Spots in the webinar are limited so if you’re interested, please register now using the form below.
15 doc features picked to advance in Oscars voting process
From the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences web site:
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences today announced that 15 films in the Documentary Feature category will advance in the voting process for the 84th Academy Awards®. One hundred twenty-four pictures had originally qualified in the category.
I’m mildly disappointed that Being Elmo isn’t on the list but one can hardly argue that the film hasn’t been successful. If you also enjoyed its Muppety goodness, you can always vote for it in the IFP Audience Awards.
