Thesis:  Planning the festival run for your movie helps to drive sales, increase exposure and secure funding for your next project.

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INTRODUCTION

Hello, thank you for the opportunity to talk to you today about Film Festivals and Festival Strategy.  Not knowing how to use film festivals to maximize the success of your movie really hurts your chances of making all that money back when you first made the film.  There was a movie back in 2015 from Estonia called “Tangerines.” The festival strategy was well planned and researched to the point where the film had a festival run for about 3 years.  Films usually last about 2 years at Film Festivals, the longer the festival runs the more money you can make back. Because of their festival run, “Tangerines” became nominated for both the Oscars and Golden Globes within the same year.

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BODY

1. There is a lack of knowledge about the usefulness of Film Festivals and their importance.

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   A. Film Festivals are competitions for movies, this is the chance to have the world know about you and your film.  When attending these festivals and meet buyers and investors.  You can win money for your hard work if you are selected for its official competition, as well as awards.

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   B. Film Festivals provide free advertising within their Community, for example, Toronto International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival (in France), and Berlin Film Festival(in Germany). Once a film has been selected to participate in one of these festivals, they advertise your film within their community in that country.

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2. Finding out which film festivals to submit your movie to helps save time and money on submission fees and deadlines.

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   A.What is the end goal for your movie? Are you looking for a distribution deal or the funding for your next film?

          i.  If you are looking for an Oscar nomination, find out which film festivals are Oscar-qualifying and have your film screen there.

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          ii. Looking to secure financing for your next movie by meeting with other producers and investors at these festivals is another way that improves the chances of your next film made.

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   B. What about an International Film Festival release.

          i. Can your film relate to an audience in another country. Is it easy to understand if it were subtitled, if there is humour can a foreign country understand it?  Keep in mind that when you are making a movie if you want an international release, it has to be understandable and relatable overseas.  Drama, comedy, and romance are not going to be successful if there is no Hollywood actor attached once it hits overseas.

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          ii. Does your movie fit in with a niche market internationally? Making a horror movie about killer beavers wouldn't fit in at a festival that shows kid films.

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   C. Now that you have an idea of where you want your film to go, pay attention to the type of festival you’re submitting to and the dates when your film would show.

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          i. There are different classes of festivals based on their prestige.  For example, getting a film into TIFF, one of the top festivals in North America, can widely increase the chances of your film begin sold to a distributor.  Because of this, TIFF will only take North American premieres, you can’t show your film at Toronto Black Film Festival in February and expect to have your film premiere at TIFF in September.

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          ii. Remember that films generally last about 2 years in the circuit, so pay attention to submission deadlines and festival dates.  Sometimes a festival will have a theme in how they select films.  The year you missed the deadline, the theme for the festival was movies by female directors.  You happen to have a horror film with a female director, but you missed the deadline and choose to wait the full year.  The likelihood of your film getting selected to play at that same festival a year later is slim since now the festival wants intense love stories with a diverse cast. 

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3.  Having a strategy that supports the final outcome of your film.

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   A. Whiplash started out as a 90 min film script.  The director, Damien Chazelle, then decided to choose a scene and film it as a short, using film festivals to showcase its potential to investors.  The director planned out the festival strategy in such a way that it was able to be made into a feature film.  The director then planned another festival strategy and was able to win at the Oscars.

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   B. “The Hate U Give”  a film adapted from a novel, planned its festival run targeting certain cities.   Once released in theatres both domestically and internationally the director,  George Tillman Jr., of that film was able to land a DVD and digital streaming deal that sell worldwide.

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CONCLUSION

Basically, all planning should be done before the movie is even made, this will help you to save time and money.  You can even start submitting your script to festivals to help better plan where your film should go once it’s been shot.  Having an idea of how successful you want your film to be once it’s ready to be shown to people is the start of planning your festival strategy.  Paying attention to the quality of the film festival when submitting and the festival dates are vital keys to having a successful run.  As I mentioned before, the longer the festival run the more money you can make back

 

Works Cited

Fusco, Jon. “Watch: How ‘Whiplash’ the short led to ‘Whiplash’ the Oscar-Winning Feature.”  Nofilmschool.com.  No Film School, 24 Oct. 2016. Web. 5 March. 2019. <https://nofilmschool.com/2016/10/watch-short-whiplash-damien-chazelle>

 

Valentini, Valentina. “Festival Strategy 101: Plot the Right Course for Your Film.”  Moviemaker.com. Movie Maker, 17 Sept. 2014. Web. 5 March. 2019 <https://www.moviemaker.com/archives/festivals/festival-strategy-101-advice-plotting-films-game-plan/>  

 

Sperling, Nicole. “Can THE HATE U GIVE Make Its Own Word-Of-Mouth Wave?” Vanityfair.com. Vanity Fair. 22 Oct. 2018. 5 March. 2019. <https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2018/10/hate-u-give-box-office>