Speaker 1: So today we're talking about all things related to film festivals. Are film festivals worth it? And that's what we're going to find out today. We're going to discuss things to do to prepare to enter your film into a festival, and of course look at things to not do. All right, so there are festival guidelines or rules that all filmmakers have to follow if they are entering into the festival circuit, and the primary rule is to not show your film publicly. So if you apply to a film festival, they find out that your film is public, they will disqualify you, okay? And because these film festivals are connected to others, they all, to some extent, have relations with each other, that word of mouth could spread, okay? You don't really want to get disqualified for those reasons, and you just don't want to, you know, break the rules, okay? So once you're in the festival circuit, you cannot put your movie online. So if you're interested in putting your movie online, my recommendation is to make the movie public first, and maybe give it a one-week, two-week run, and then go ahead and enter in film festivals. That way, you can get some of your notoriety up before you enter. Maybe someone writes a review about you, your friends talk about it. And because, and I think that's good, because these festivals will look at your social media page, and I know that because I would create Facebook pages for my movies, and once I would enter into a festival, it will tell me how many people are looking at it. And I know, you know, a lot of those people aren't from my friends list, because I made the link specific for that festival. So they're looking at your social media, sometimes they're even reaching out to you on Instagram. You have an online presence, even when your film is in the festival. Another thing to know about festivals is that there are small ones, and there are big ones. So how do you decipher between the two? So usually, the small ones are like a few years old, and then the bigger ones have been running for many years. Okay? So does that mean that all the ones running for many years, are they the most professional? No. You know, some of them are scams. And it's safe to say that out of all 5,000 festivals there are out there, a lot of them are going to be scams. And most of the scams are from the first couple year festivals, but there's a few scams in the larger ones. So you just really have to look out for that. And so those are really the guidelines, the festival rules. You can't show your film publicly once you enter in a festival, and know the small festivals from the big ones. You have to know your research. Do your research. Okay. So think of a film festival like an art gallery. People from all around are showcasing their work, and people are watching your film. All right? This is your chance to network. That's the point of going to a film festival. It's like film camp. Or for some, it's the film school that you never had. And this is the best way to network with people, and to exchange contacts. All that good stuff. So here are things to do before you enter in a film festival. You have to be really smart about it. This is very high risk. It's probably less high risk than entering in the stock market. And I know that because I am in the stock market, and I've made more money than going to a festival. So really understand it's a high risk gamble. Once you enter in a festival, if you want to withdraw from it, you don't get your money back. All right? It's kind of like a one-way deal. So you're entering in a festival, hoping to be selected. So that means if you're not selected, you can't get your money back. So you're paying to jump into the pool, of other submitted films, hoping that yours gets chosen. It all depends on the length of your film. I think that makes a difference. If your film is over 10 minutes, the chances of getting into many festivals is very slim. It's 10 minutes or less. It's short films. Stick to the shorter time frame. And just really do your research. So if I make a drama and the festival I'm about to enter into is only accepting sci-fi films, obviously don't enter your dramatic feature into that festival. Complete waste of time and money. Again, entering in film festivals is high risk. It's a gamble. So you have to mitigate the risk by doing as much research as you can. Okay, what they're like. I've been to several film festivals. Our films have been in festivals all over the world. And I just want you guys to just know more about it. All right, so another thing to do when you're making movies, you're throwing up your film and festivals, you want to get that notoriety, enter in major cities. That will draw a larger crowd. Entering in cities in the Midwest, you know, the chances of meeting someone from the industry there is like close to none. The chances of getting a big audience, very rare, unless you do your research. Okay, look at their website, look at the pictures, look at the crowd size. You want a larger crowd to see your film. All right, and the major cities I like to enter in is LA and New York. I feel like that draws a crowd, it draws the audience that I'm looking for. And a lot of the times there's younger people learning about film who are there, people flying in from around the world to attend the festival. So you have a greater chance of even just networking with more people. All right, so also things to do when you're at the festival is the red carpet photo op. Yeah, you should post it to social media. It's a great accomplishment. Show people your accomplishment. It's worth it. But don't stay on the red carpet for too long. Don't do the whole selfies stuff. You know, just do the red carpet picture for a couple minutes and then leave. All right, festivals, because they are a lot of money to just not only enter, but to attend, you really have to think about saving your money. Think wisely. And a lot of festivals, what they'll do is they'll say, they'll send you a bunch of emails if you get in. And some of those emails will say, stay at this hotel and you'll get a discount. All right. I think all those discounted rates that they give you are ripoffs. They're just trying to promote another business. And that means you get to pay more money. So the best thing to do is to find out where the festival is going to be located. And you can find that on their website. Look at nearby Airbnbs. Stay at an Airbnb. It's so worth it. I remember I was in a festival at Burbank. And you know, LA is expensive. I stayed at an Airbnb, got a private room, 25 bucks a night. Literally just walked to the festival every day. Never had to pay for transportation. And it was great. It was actually probably better than the $150, $200 a night hotel room. So think wisely. Save your money. All that good stuff. I also went to the Awaka Film Festival last year. And they pretty much paid for our rooms, which is awesome. So I pretty much got a free room. Outside of the grounds, you got to pay for food. But because we're at a hotel and we have free breakfast and lunch, well I can just go there anytime and get food. I don't have to pay. Did I pay and go outside of that anyway? Of course, because I want to try food over there and it's not too expensive. But that's kind of a way to leverage yourself to save money. You know, I would recommend, you know, taking Uber. But walk several blocks closest to your destination so that Uber ride is less money. All right, another important thing you should do at film festivals is participate in events. Usually they'll have after parties. Definitely go to them. This is your chance to meet people from the industry and network, make friends, okay? It's so crucial that you participate because this is your one chance. This could be your only chance. And I remember when I was in, you know, the bigger festivals a couple years ago, I realized this is my only chance to get myself out there, to get my name out there. I need to meet as many people as possible. And a lot of the people that I've met, I'm still friends with them today. So it's a great experience to just even attend a festival, hang out with friends, you know, go out for drinks. But don't party too hard, all right? Because you got to, you know, talk it up with other people. Another thing to look at is paying attention to the deals. And when I say deals, I mean pay attention to the sales, the distribution deals happening. I remember experiencing backroom deals happening at the Beverly Hills Film Festival. It was great. I learned so much just watching these executives from different networks talking to filmmakers. And I realized, okay, this is how it's done. Sometimes it's done fast. Sometimes it's done in another room, or it's done at dinner, all right? And by the way, if there's ever a festival with a dinner, especially in LA, it's always great to do it. Pay the money. It's not so bad. You get a three-course dinner, and you get to listen to the awards ceremony. Always a great experience. And sometimes you get a really cool goodie bag. I think one goodie bag I got gave me like every contact to, like, film industry, like equipment in LA. And I was like, yeah, super helpful. It's like totally worth it. All right, so things not to do at a festival. All right, don't ever give out your business card immediately. I strongly dislike people who do this. We'll be talking with a group of people, some random guy comes up and starts handing out business cards. Who are you? Who the heck are you? Why do I want to talk to you? You're just handing off cards. Create a conversation, okay? Don't be doing that. Don't talk about how great you are. These are the people I try to avoid at festivals. And I remember one guy, I actually saw him again at another festival. It was really like ridiculous. This one guy was like telling me he wrote this TV series. And he was like, yeah, it's a thousand page script. He gave me a binder. He literally brought a binder of 1000 pages. I'm thinking an industry executives gonna read it in front of them. And he hands it to me. He says, Look, read it. I'm like, I'm not gonna read this. And I gave it back to him. I never talked to him again. I thought he was like crazy. So avoid those kinds of people. The only things you should be paying for at a festival is something, you know, food from the concession stands or food outside of the festival. Your festival entry fee should be free. And your ticket for your guest should be free. And if you're traveling, of course, paying for the drive, the flights, that's all a factor of how much money you're going to spend and whatnot. Don't ever complain about a film festival when you're at one. I've seen people do this. What do they think they're going to win the award because they're complaining, complete waste of time, don't ever complain about anything, just go with the flow. Even if things don't work out, go with the flow. And if you really dislike the festival, leave a bad review on the website to share your experience with others. Sure. I've always disliked people at festivals, who with short film, short filmmakers, they'll they'll bring their poster, and they'll put the poster outside the theater. Nobody cares about the poster, a complete waste of money. And the festival will sometimes charge you for showcasing your poster. You know, I wrote a rip off right there. You have to spend an extra fee just to show your stuff. And nobody's going to care about the poster as much unless it's a feature film. You know, people are more likely to focus on the poster then. I mean, I've seen, I've seen one guy, he brought in like a projector. And that was his poster, he just put a projector up and cast it against the wall, huge poster. And I'm thinking, why did this guy spend so much money doing this? Yeah, it's just so weird. Partying also, yeah, you should party. Don't get too drunk. Don't look stupid in front of others. Definitely be careful, be safe. I was at a festival in LA. And we were on Hollywood Boulevard. And I wanted to talk to this filmmaker. She made an interesting film. She was a film student. And she started drinking while I'm like having this conversation with her. And my other friends are there as well. And and she ends up passing out. And I'm like, Oh my god, I know what do we do? And they kicked us out of the bar for this girl passing out. And, and I was just like they're just trying to have this, you know, conversation about her film. And it was like pass out drunk, not waking up for a while drunk. So it was like very concerning. And it was too bad because I was interested in talking to her. But after she was like plastered, I like lost interest. So definitely don't do that. Be careful, be safe. Another thing I'm sure some of you guys heard me talk about it in my last video. Stop entering in a ton of film festivals. Stop trying to enter in hundreds of festivals just to get the laurels. Doesn't mean you're going to get a distribution deal. I entered a film in eight festivals and distribution deal with my short films. So I'm the best, you know, I'm the evidence right there. I'm the best witness of that. So don't just focus on getting the wins, throwing hundreds of laurels on your poster. That doesn't mean your film is good. That just shows me how foolish of a filmmaker you are. You don't know how to navigate the festival circuit. I see what like people from Sundance, they have one laurel. All right. That one laurel at a prestigious festival is way more important than your hundred laurels of festivals we don't know about. So those are the things not to do at a festival. About film festivals, I hope you guys enjoyed this Instagram live stream. I'm going to do more, you know, industry talk. I'm interested in talking about, you know, subjects that interest you guys. So let me know in the comments, DM me.