Film Festival Secrets

Programmer Profile: Lisa Vandever of CineKink

2009-11-09T15:38:00.001-08:00

My name: Lisa Vandever

My festival: CineKink - “The kinky film festival.”

My title: Co-Founder/Director

Other fests I've worked for: Before co-founding CineKink in 2003, I organized and programmed the New York S/M Film Festival (2000-02). I was also—prior to an educational/frustrating stint in indie film development—the director of programming for a small-market public television station. (Whether my current focus on sexuality is a reaction to or a continuation of that experience is open for debate.)

Movies that best represent my personal tastes: Confessions of a Dangerous Mind, Secretary, The Auteur, Score, The Last Seduction, Say Anything

When I'm not watching movies I like to: Eat, drink and relax with friends.

A movie I recently programmed that I consider to be a great personal discovery: While I hate to single films out from all of the wonderful others, one recent film that could be deemed a signature style for us is a short that played our 2009 festival and took home one of our jury prizes, Kink, Inc. About a financially struggling couple who stumbles into the “home domination business,” the film manages to incorporate both comedy and conflict without denigrating the type of sexuality depicted—or its practitioners. It’s smutty, funny and kind of sweet—a combination that is definitely one of my weaknesses (see also The Auteur, listed above, another CineKink 2009 offering.)

When filmmakers ask me "What's different about your film festival?" I say: Obviously, the thing that sets us apart is our singular focus on films that celebrate and explore sexuality. We bring together a community of open-minded folks – at our annual festival and through our tour – who are eager for smart and engaging discussions and depictions of sex. And we also work on promoting these types of films, throughout the year, to audiences who aren’t able to attend our screenings.

Our festival audience has come to expect: Nothing wrong with a little titillation – or a lot – the CineKink audience has also become used to works that take an intelligent approach to sexuality, to depictions that move beyond the clichés, to portrayals that don’t denigrate or preach. They also join us for the sense of community you can get from experiencing a film in the company of like-minded others. And, of course, for some really killer parties!

We program the following categories of films (narrative features, doc features, doc/narrative shorts, animated, etc): We program all lengths and genres with, again, the caveat that our focus is on sex and sexuality. We look for works that cut across orientations and like to mix in both explicit and non-explicit materials.

A recent trend I have noticed in submissions of which I approve/disapprove: I’m very pleased that our pool of sex-positive and kink-friendly possibilities seems to expand every year and, though we’re not all that possessive about premiere status, I like that we’re having more and more directors create works specifically for a hopeful CineKink appearance. (On the trending disapproval side, we’ve had a jump in filmmakers submitting works—and even requesting waivers from us—who are clearly unfamiliar with the fact that we’re focused on sex. Please do your research!)

The submissions period for our next festival is: We opened submissions in August and are currently in the midst of our call for entries. Our next postmark deadline is November 20; our final deadline is December 2, 2010.

If you want to be kept up to date on the festival, you can sign up for our mailing list at: http://www.cinekink.com/list

Filmmakers can contact me here: You can email me via lisa at cinekink dot com (though watch for a spam verification reply). I’m also semi-responsive on Twitter: @CineKink

If I could impart one thing to filmmakers about submitting to my festival, it would be: If your film is selected, do consider joining us for the CineKink festivities! One of my favorite things is bringing a film’s creator together with our audiences – it’s a very heady experience for a filmmaker to show his or her work to people who clearly “get it” and I love to be around for that!

This is the first installment of the Programmer Profile series. If you're a festival staffer with a hand in programming and you'd like to be profiled, please email chris at filmfestivalsecrets dot com.

Premiere status etiquette

2009-10-29T12:50:00.001-07:00

The subject of your film's world premiere can be a tricky one, particularly if it's a feature. Don't be too coy about your plans with the festivals to which you submit, however – the festival directors have a better grasp on premiere politics than you do. They also know all too well their own festival's relative prestige status when it comes to the decisions filmmakers make. But how should you properly use your film's premiere status as an incentive for festivals to program it? As one filmmaker recently asked me:

I don't want to be disingenuous in my application by promising the world premiere to everyone, but not having had it yet, see it as a sweetener for the cover letter. Should I hustle it until I have it?

You definitely want to use your premiere status to your own advantage, but be honest about it and clearly communicate all changes to that status. You might be tempted to refrain from notifying the other festivals, but that will only create an awkwardness if and when that other festival calls to notify you of your acceptance.

The following sentences added to your submission's cover letter will cover most situations:

As of this writing, the world premiere of "Example Movie" is still available. We have submissions out to several festivals and will keep you apprised of any premiere status changes.

When you decide to have your world premiere at a particular festival, simply send an email to the other festivals still considering you with the subject line "premiere status update for EXAMPLE MOVIE" and let them know about your film's upcoming screening(s).

Stop waiting on Sundance

2009-10-27T11:00:00.001-07:00

There are plenty of filmmakers who rush to finish their film for Sundance, fill out the paperwork, send off the DVD, and then... stop. There's nothing wrong with waiting anxiously to hear from what is arguably the world's most famous film festival, but if you're not submitting to other festivals while you wait you could miss out on the entire Spring season. Break out your list of target festivals (see chapter one of Film Festival Secrets for more on this) and get cracking. Here's a handy (but by no means complete) list of festivals with upcoming deadlines. Check each festival's web site for their late deadlines, submission rules, etc.

Edit: I should point out that I picked these festivals for their relative prominence and for the fact that their deadlines come before the Sundance notification date (around Thanksgiving). If you're a festival director and would like to post your own upcoming deadline in the comments, please feel free.

Slamdance - October 30
Dallas International - October 30
Phoenix - October 30
Cleveland - November 30
Gen Art - October 31
South By Southwest - November 5
Florida Film Festival - November 20

Upcoming appearances at Austin Film Festival

2009-10-19T18:10:00.001-07:00

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:

Thursday, October 22nd at 2:45 p.m. - It Ain't Over 'Til It's Over

Saturday, October 24th at 3:45 p.m. - Independent Productions: Marketing & PR

Sunday, October 25th at 2:30 p.m. - Independent Productions: Marketing & PR (moderating)

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.

The CineVegas "hiatus" and what it means

2009-10-15T09:44:00.001-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, while we here in Austin were enjoying the film frenzy that is Fantastic Fest, the word came over the intertubes that CineVegas, Las Vegas' well-respected and much-gabbed-about summer film festival, will put its annual event on hold for 2010.

“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.

Getting an Education about Film Festivals

2009-10-15T05:51:00.001-07:00

IDA's roundup of a pair of panels from FIND's Filmmaker Forum:

All agreed that the film festivals are going through a tough time right now. "Film festivals are losing money and they are closing," lamented Jones. "CineVegas is closing for a year. Jackson Hole [not the Wildlife Film Festival] has closed completely. Sponsors are pulling out, so festivals are dealing with budget cuts in other ways, such as taking fewer films. When the festival outlets dry up, we lose a critical distribution mechanism. I consider film festivals like art galleries--they are the only place where you can see particular films onscreen."

Read FIND's Filmmaker Forum 2009: Getting an Education about Film Festivals.

Indie Memphis - come hear me gab on a coupla panels

2009-10-09T08:29:00.001-07:00

I'm currently in Memphis, Tennessee for the Indie Memphis film festival. The festival staffers have kindly invited me to speak on two of their "Café Conversation" panels. Both talks take place outside the Malco Studio theater at the Festival Café tent. The events are free to the public so even if you weren't planning to attend the festival itself (and you should), you can stop by and soak up a little knowledge without spending a dime.

The Film Festival Circuit, Saturday October 10 at noon with Heidi van Lier

Distribute Me: A Conversation On Getting Your Film Out To The World, Sunday October 11 at noon with Steven Beckman.

OpenIndie Hopes to Bring Theaters within Filmmakers' Reach

2009-10-01T08:32:00.001-07:00

Eric Kohn's article in indieWIRE explores a new startup concept from Arin Crumley and Kieran Masterton.

OpenIndie.com will allow filmmakers to input their e-mail lists and discover locations with high audience demand. The grassroots strategy allows movies to reach their intended audiences with a community-based approach. Because the site is open-sourced, anyone can enter a location into the site and figure out the level of interest for specific movies.

Read DIY With a Little Help: OpenIndie Hopes to Bring Theaters within Filmmakers' Reach.

The Kickstarter page for OpenIndie has an explanatory video and a donation button.

Find out what festival screeners think

2009-09-17T17:50:00.001-07:00

A smart move from the Festivus Film Festival; this series of YouTube videos presents volunteer screeners talking about the films they pulled from the stacks and got through to programming. It's a great way highlight the films in your festival, present yourself as an organization that keeps its filmmakers' interests in mind, and draw attention to your event in the process. There's a bunch of these on the Festivus FF Youtube channel.

How to "do" the Toronto Film Festival

2009-09-06T07:44:00.001-07:00

I've been to Toronto before for Hot Docs, but this will be my first trip there for "Toronto" - the shorthand for the Toronto International Film Festival (I've never heard anyone outside the staff call it "TIFF.")

Larry Richman, on the other hand, seems to have been a number of times, and offers this three-part guide of "tips for real people," ranging from line etiquette to specific advice about particular venues.

Check it out. Part one, part two, and part three.

Festival Tips from The Pigeon: Impossible Blog

2009-09-04T13:25:00.001-07:00

Fellow Austinite Lucas Martell has been hitting the fest circuit with his new short, Pigeon Impossible. (You may recall that I linked to an episode of Martell's podcast a while back.) Here's what he has to say about getting to know the festival staff.

One big thing that I learned at Palm Springs: do your research. More specifically, know the names and titles of the key people working at the festival. There’s usually 3-7 people ranging from print traffickers, to the festival director, programmers, and media coordinators. If you don’t get something from the festival introducing these people beforehand, they’ll definitely be in the printed program. Be sure to glance over those names so that when you run into them at a party, you’re able to put a face to the name and say thank you for all their hard work.

Read more on The Pigeon: Impossible Blog.

SXSW Panel Picker - it's time to vote.

2009-08-28T11:52:00.001-07:00

Since 2007 the South by Southwest Film Festival (and its sister Music and Interactive events) have allowed attendees to suggest panel ideas and then vote on them using a web site called the PanelPicker. It's not the only method by which the SXSW team selects what panels to present, but it formalizes the process of gauging audience interest in particular topics. They've continued to use the PanelPicker since its inception, so I'm guessing it's a fairly useful tool for the programmers and it certainly makes the target audience feel included.

The PanelPicker for 2010 is currently open for audience voting, and for the first time I've submitted a panel idea: Short Film Secrets. I get a lot of questions from the creators of short films asking how the concepts in Film Festival Secrets apply to short films in particular. There are also a ton of questions out there about the distribution potential for short films, how they can be used to give your career a boost, and which festivals are best for short filmmakers. So that's the panel I think SXSW should host, and I hope you like it well enough to vote for it.

Some other notable panel ideas include:

Crawford filmmaker David Modigliani's "Adventures in Distribution: Innovative Filmmakers' Risks and Rewards"

Cinekink festival director Lisa Vandever's "The Porn Police are STILL at the door"

Atlanta Film Festival director Gabe Wardell's "Premiere status: saving it for 'marriage?'"

Toronto Film Fest's Jane Schoettle suggests "Festival Strategies for Independent Film"

Voting ends in about a week on September 4th, so get in there to vote early and often!

Twitter, File Sharing and Pink Slime

2009-08-27T13:53:00.001-07:00

Brian Chirls on Jake Abraham's Tweet This.

What this is really about is taking advantage of Twitter and other communication tools to play a major part in the global conversation about your work. (If there isn’t one, you need to start it.) Piracy on Canal St. happened before the Internet, and illegal downloading happened before Twitter. As Abraham acknowledged, you can’t stop it. Beyond pointers to free downloads, people are going to be saying lots of things about your film that you don’t like, including bad reviews, off-brand descriptions of your work and possibly even lies or personal attacks. The power of the Internet is that you can be in on it. You can know it’s happening, you can respond to it and you can preempt it.

Read Twitter, File Sharing and Pink Slime.

Paper DVD labels: still evil (and three alternatives)

2009-08-21T07:50:00.001-07:00

If you've read the book you know about my campaign against paper DVD labels. They are a cheap and easy way to make your burned DVD-Rs look vaguely professional, but they can severely alter video playback to the point of making a screener unwatchable. Google it up if you don't believe me. The most compelling evidence comes from the Memorex Reference Guide for Optical Media:

Paper labels are not recommended for DVD discs. The expansion and contraction of moisture in the paper and the accumulation of heat in a DVD drive can alter the flatness of a disc enough that it falls out of the tilt specification and may not be able to be read.

This advice still hasn't quite made it into the conventional wisdom – I still see plenty of paper labels on screeners – but when prompted, festival directors tell me that most of their bad screener copies are adorned with paper labels. There are, however, some alternatives that will get the job done and preserve the integrity of video playback. They are:

Hand labeling with a Sharpie marker. Low-tech and the least professional-looking option, perhaps, but reliable and very inexpensive. So long as you write legibly, don't worry about a hand-labled disc hurting your chances of acceptance; the quality of your film will determine that, not the surface of the DVD on which it arrives.

The LightScribe labeling system can create good looking "printed" disc surfaces without ink or a printer. You'll need a LightScribe-enabled DVD burner and DVD discs with LightScribe coating. Here's how it works:

The laser inside a CD/DVD disc drive with LightScribe technology focuses light energy onto a thin dye coating on the label side of the disc. Only LightScribe media has this special coating. The light from the laser causes a chemical change in the dye coating that shows up on the disc. With laser precision, the drive renders the text and images that you created for the label.

Although the cost of LightScribe discs has come down quite a bit in recent years, they are still somewhat more expensive than regular DVD-Rs, even the ones with white printable surfaces (see below). Perhaps the biggest drawback to Lightscribe is the amount of time it takes to burn an image on the coated surface; I've seen estimates of a few minutes for a simple text label to up to half an hour for a complex image.

Printed DVDs, though more time-consuming and expensive than hand-labeled DVDs, can't be beat for looks. Buying discs with a white printable surface isn't much more expensive than the plain silver-surfaced media and the printers and ink are widely available. The big drawback here is expense; inkjet cartridges are pricey and notoriously fussy. If you've got a good label design and the funds to spend, however, this is definitely the best way to get great looking DVDs.

A cheaper alternative is a thermal transfer printer like the ones made by Casio; they won't get you four-color printing but they will print on plain silver discs which are inexpensive and get you good-looking results.

Yet another DIY film distribution article - NY Times

2009-08-13T08:47:00.001-07:00

In anticipation of the upcoming Toronto Film Festival, the New York Times regurgitates what every filmmaker with an undistributed picture already knows:

The glory days of independent film, when hot young directors like Steven Soderbergh and Mr. Tarantino had studio executives tangled in fierce bidding wars at Sundance and other celebrity-studded festivals, are now barely a speck in the rearview mirror. And something new, something much odder, has taken their place.

Here is how it used to work: aspiring filmmakers playing the cool auteur in hopes of attracting the eye of a Hollywood power broker.

Here is the new way: filmmakers doing it themselves — paying for their own distribution, marketing films through social networking sites and Twitter blasts, putting their work up free on the Web to build a reputation, cozying up to concierges at luxury hotels in film festival cities to get them to whisper into the right ears.

Nothing new here but it's always nice when the major news outlets turn their attention to independent film and the problems we're facing now.

Film Independent's Spirit Awards submissions opens Monday, August 10

2009-08-06T11:42:00.001-07:00

From the Film Independent Press release:

LOS ANGELES (August 6, 2009) - Film Independent, the non-profit arts organization that produces the Spirit Awards and the Los Angeles Film Festival, announced today that the 2010 Spirit Awards will be held on Friday, March 5, 2010, and will air live and uncut at 8:00 p.m. PST/11:00 p.m. EST on IFC (Independent Film Channel). The nominations press conference will take place on Tuesday, December 1.

This year's celebration marks the 25th Anniversary of the Spirit Awards, which honors films made by filmmakers, who embody independence and who dare to challenge the status quo. To celebrate the milestone, Film Independent and IFC will be broadcasting the ceremony live in a special primetime event rather than the organization's signature Saturday event in a tent on the beach in Santa Monica.

"The influence of independent filmmakers on the language of cinema and popular culture during the last 25 years has been phenomenal, and we have been proud to provide a platform for these talented artists at the Spirit Awards," said Film Independent Executive Director Dawn Hudson. "In planning this yearís significant anniversary, we decided to venture away from our beloved day at the beach to a Friday evening where we hope an even broader audience discovers us as we kick-off the awards weekend."
Also announced, Film Independent will be accepting submissions beginning on Monday, August 10, with the early deadline of Monday, September 14 and the final deadline of Tuesday, October 6. Submission guidelines, applications, and more information can be found at SpiritAwards.com.

Build your mailing list the old-fashioned way

2009-07-16T15:02:00.001-07:00

One way to take advantage of the enthusiasm of an audience present at a screening is to gather their email addresses right on the spot. Bring a clipboard (or several) loaded with signup sheets that you print beforehand. Gather whatever information you think is relevant, but an email address is probably the contact info that audience members will be most likely to hand over. At screenings of The Yes Men Fix the World at South by Southwest, the filmmakers did just that and left the festival with dozens if not hundreds of points of contact to poll later about their political activities, later screenings, and eventual DVD release.

Of course not every film inspires the same level of "give me more" interest as that of a pair of humorous activists with an axe to grind. In every well-attended screening, however, there will be a group of folks who want to know when the film comes out on DVD or how to recommend the film to a friend. Capitalize on that immediate interest by letting those people take action in the moment.

Be careful about adding such addresses to your mailing list service in bulk. Your provider may ask you to use the "invite" feature instead of simply adding the addresses to ensure that the recipients really do want the mail you intend to send. Stay within the bounds of their service guidelines, however, and the clipboard-to-email method is a great way of adding new members to your list.

(Photo by Richardstowey/ / CC BY 2.0)

SXSW 2009 wrap-up - better late than never.

2009-06-26T11:40:00.001-07:00

For those of us who live in Austin, Texas, few phrases strike such simultaneous dread and delight in our hearts as the three little words "South by Southwest." For the better part of the month of March, this celebration of music, film, and technology turns Austin upside-down. Thousands of people flood into the city to snarl traffic, invade Austin's bars and restaurants, and generally make merry with their fellow hipsters. For a few days, it's great to see everyone. Then it's great to see you all go home again.

If you're not in the film or music industry or living on the bleeding edge of internet technology, you may not even have heard of South By Southwest (hereafter printed as "SXSW" and known colloquially as "South-By"). But for those who work in one of the industries served by this three-headed monster of an event, SXSW looms increasingly large on the professional travel calendar.

What is SXSW?

Simply put, SXSW is a combination trade conference and festival with three overlapping areas of interest: music, film, and interactive technology. While it's possible to purchase admission into the events for just one area of interest, many attendees take advantage of the fact that they can indulge multiple passions in one convenient trip. For years, SXSW has been the place to see emerging musical acts and legends side-by-side regardless of genre. The interactive conference (the fastest growing segment of the event) has become the de facto annual reunion of people who only know one another through their internet occupations. Finally the nine-day film festival (which was added in 1994 along with the interactive conference) plays over 100 films – both features and shorts, including docs and narratives – and hosts a series of film conference panels, workshops, and mentoring sessions as well.

What makes SXSW different from other film festivals?

The music and interactive conferences that play alongside the film fest make SXSW an event unlike most other film festivals. Festival attendees are thrown into a throng of people who may or may not have any interest in the film festival aspect of the proceedings. Personally I find this makes things more interesting – people from many different backgrounds end up at the same party, so the person next to you at the bar could be a fellow filmmaker or the founder of your favorite internet startup. You won't know which until you start a conversation.
SXSW is a for-profit entity. Unlike many (probably most) festivals which establish themselves as non-profit tax-exempt entities, SXSW runs itself as a for-profit company. The event still relies on hundreds (thousands?) of volunteers to make things happen, but the company's need to make money to survive often affects their decision-making process.
Location, location, location. It's rare that a conversation about SXSW won't include some mention of the fact that Austin is a very cool town. It's difficult to envision an event like SXSW taking place in a city that didn't have the critical mass of technology workers, the vibrant boot-strap filmmaking scene, or a reputation as the live music capital of the world. Not to mention a world-class party district downtown, tons of awesome restaurants, and extremely pleasant weather in March, when most of the rest of the country is still suffering the woes of winter. Even if the idea of Texas doesn't appeal to you much, Austin is a great escape early in the year.

Why is it important?

South by Southwest is seen by many in the industry as the first important post-Sundance festival of the year. Sundance kicks off the festival year in January with the movies that they regard as the best in independent film but there's a lot of great stuff that gets left on the metaphorical cutting room floor once Sundance has made its picks. Those films tend to be less polished, edgier films from younger filmmakers, but there are a number of movies that don't fit that description which premiere at SXSW too. Whether SXSW's programming style emerged from picking among Sundance's leavings or whether they would program that way regardless is a matter for some debate. The simple fact remains, however, that a looser, freer atmosphere pervades SXSW than at Sundance. This may have something to do with Utah's trademark single-digit weather and the accompanying wardrobe requirements, but at SXSW there are fewer publicists, fewer industry parasites looking for a break, and generally less stress. If Sundance is the Superbowl, SXSW is the Ultimate Frisbee Championships. Bad analogy? How about this: if Sundance is Carnegie Hall, SXSW is Woodstock.

One might also speculate that fewer deals get made at SXSW as well, and you would be right. SXSW isn't a huge hub of acquisitions activity, but the industry does pay attention to the films that play there. These days, however, distributors are taking an approach that is much more wait-and-see regardless of festival context. Savvy distribution companies are looking for those filmmakers who can attract a critical mass of attention to their films without significant marketing help (i.e. advertising dollars) from a third party. SXSW is an ideal place to begin such a DIY marketing campaign – it's well-attended by the film press and is the center of the internet's attention for a week or more leading up to the event, as well as the days during and after the festival itself. Hanging around the press office and making friends with people who have popular blogs or thousands of followers on Twitter could be the start of your film's success story.

From the perspective of an exhibiting filmmaker, what does SXSW do well?

If you're lucky enough to have been selected to show your film at South By Southwest, you definitely need to show up. The festival provides some aid to visiting filmmakers: competition filmmakers receive a travel stipend and the festival negotiates special rates with local hotels to make the stay more affordable. Feature filmmakers receive three complimentary film badges and shorts receive two. You'll want to take advantage of those badges: not only do they get you into all of the film screenings (a moviegoer's paradise), but a badge also provides access to the Film Conference and nightly parties for which the festival is famous. Of course it's difficult to take advantage of those early morning conference panels when you've been out 'til the wee hours partying, but as in life, SXSW is all about priorities.

Not sure where to get started? The festival provides some advance materials and a welcome lunch to help filmmakers get their bearings. "For the first time this year, we held a filmmaker-only welcome lunch on Friday afternoon, hosted by Troublemaker Studios," says Festival Producer Janet Pierson. "In addition to the lunch, this year and for the last several years we've hosted a filmmaker orientation on Saturday morning. Next year, I believe we'll move the orientation to the welcome lunch if we can. Additionally, in advance of SXSW, we provide a lot of printed materials offering guidance on how filmmakers can make the most of their experience, including publicity tips and advice, and industry lists."

Once you've reached Austin, you definitely want to be present for some of the nighttime events, both to promote your film's screenings and to meet other filmmakers and industry types. The press is also easily accessible since there is a highly-identifiable press lounge in the convention center. If you're in the mood for some learnin', drop in on one of the many filmmaking panels on an array of different topics. Perhaps the best part of SXSW, however, is the way it recharges your creative batteries. With so many smart and talented people around doing so many cool things, it's difficult not to get swept up in the enthusiasm. That's what good conferences do: rekindle your passion for your art, and help you to improve that art in the process.

Where does SXSW need help?

Every event has its weaknesses and SXSW is no different. In the case of this mammoth event they might be problems that other festivals wish they could have, but here's my quick assessment of areas where SXSW could improve.

Too many venues, too many movies. In some ways SXSW is a victim of its own success and this is definitely one of those ways. While the downtown venues are reasonably accessible and it's no more than a fifteen-minute walk between any two of them, the "off-campus" venues can feel impossible to get to, especially when you factor in traffic and parking. I don't think I saw a single film at the Alamo South Lamar during this year's festival. Granted, the organization has taken steps to remedy this sort of thing recently; they no longer use the Dobie Theater as a venue, for one thing. Shuttle buses were apparently running between downtown and the South Lamar location as well, but for some reason I never felt well-informed enough to use them. (My own laziness is at fault here; kudos to SXSW for providing shuttles at all.)

One might also argue that there are simply too many movies competing for attention; a reduction in the number of movies might make for a less hectic screening schedule. I don't see this changing any time soon, however, so the best bet is to keep close track of the buzz, see the indie pictures without distribution that you really want to see (don't waste time on studio "sneak previews" that will be out in a few months), and try to catch up with the others at other festivals or on DVD at a later date.

(To digress for a moment: this year's new "priority seating" ticketing system seemed to work well enough when the theater volunteers actually knew about the procedures and followed them. Regardless, with a film badge I don't think I ever got shut out of a screening I wanted to see, provided I got there at least 30 minutes ahead of showtime. Ticketing is one of those things that festivals seem to forever be tinkering with, so I expect to see this system either evolve further or die entirely in the coming year.)
Panel programming is hit or miss. Programming a conference is an art; it requires a familiarity of what the audience wants, access to engaging and knowledgeable speakers, and strong moderators to keep the conversation flowing. As with so many events large and small, it is this third element where SXSW occasionally stumbles. A bad moderator can squash any promising discussion and all too often the moderators at SXSW did just that: they allowed panelists to pontificate at length and off-topic, they failed to intercept rambling audience questions, and at times they even hijacked the panels to further their own agendas. One moderator began the panel by reading aloud an entry from his blog – the audience was asleep before the discussion had a chance to begin. It is difficult to find people who are both good at moderating and willing to do so, but a good discussion leader is the single most deciding factor between a great panel and a bad one. SXSW should find the good ones and, if necessary, pay them to stick around.

Beyond the moderator complaint, I did notice that some of the panels could wander deep into "inside baseball" territory. I realize that it's hard for industry vets to remember life as a film fest newbie, but some care should be taken to warn panelists against assuming that everyone in the room reads indieWIRE religiously and has a comprehensive knowledge of the mumblecore catalog. Other panelists seemed underprepared or simply inappropriate for the panel -- in one case the filmmakers' circumstances of achieving success were so impossible to reproduce that his comments were practically useless. "We got incredibly lucky" isn't much of an insight.
All of these things said, the panels can be incredibly informative – especially if you're willing to bail out on a session that turns out to be a dud and move on to something else already in progress. SXSW has considerable clout in the industry and it would be foolish not to take advantage of the access to the people they gather into these conference rooms each year. Some of my complaints above are within the festival's control and some are simply a part of running an educational event, but with some planning and the right attitude there's a lot to be learned by showing up.

Who should attend?

If you're not exhibiting a film in the festival, your attendance should be tempered by your budget and by the festival's relevance to your career. If you're looking for celebrity actors to populate your next feature you're probably better off heading to Park City or Los Angeles, but if you want to meet scrappy, inspiring filmmakers with whom to start shooting your new webisode series, Austin is the right place to be. Because of the concurrent music and technology events hotels fill up quickly and lodging can cost you a pretty penny (or at least require you to rent a car to commute into the city each day if you find an outlying budget hotel), so definitely weigh the pros and cons. It would suck to spend a few inspiring days in Austin only to find that you'd spent your production budget on SXSW.

Who should apply?

SXSW has an extremely wide purview, content-wise; lush, thoughtful dramas seem as welcome as guerilla-style documentaries, though there are definitely more of the latter that get programmed at the festival. If your film is about music in any way, SXSW is a great place to submit. They're always hungry for good music-related material, be it music videos, music documentaries, or narrative films centered on music. Films related to Texas and the West are also favored, though the fact that your film was made in the Lone Star State (or even in Austin itself) is no guarantee that it will be accepted. Beyond that, SXSW is undeniably a top tier festival and should be high on the target list of any indie filmmaker looking to make the festival rounds.

(Full disclosure: I participated in the SXSW documentary film pre-screening process this past year and hope to continue to do so. They were also kind enough to host a book signing for Film Festival Secrets during the 2009 festival.)

The World As We Know It Is Over? 10 Insights on the Movie Biz - indieWIRE

2009-06-25T18:58:00.001-07:00

I would say that only three of the ten "insights" are ideas that haven't been flogged to death in the indie film press over the last couple of years, but there are a couple of interesting quotes in there if you can wade through the redundant muck.

Every town has a film festival, there are film festivals of every possible genre, every possible niche that you can think of. And so now we’re kind of entering this world where nontraditional distribution platforms are starting to emerge and film festivals are definitely coping with and struggling with that new world. There’s real fear, I think, of obliteration. People think that technology will obliterate anything that came before it and I don’t believe that at all. I do think that film fess have to recalibrate, reboot, what their role is and why they’re important beyond simply promoting a sponsor’s product or beyond being a good junket for a few celebrities prior to the theatrical release of a big film. - Christian Gaines, Withoutabox

Read The World As We Know It Is Over? 10 Insights on the Movie Biz - indieWIRE.

Staff departs Starz Denver en masse, says indieWIRE

2009-06-03T16:47:00.001-07:00

A dramatic mass exodus is underway at the Denver Film Society, organizer of the three decade old Denver International Film Festival. Longtime veterans of the organization, including Festival Director Britta Erickson and Artistic Director Brit Withey, as well as esteemed co-founder Ron Henderson, have resigned in Denver. And now they are being followed out the door by more then [sic] fifteen other people at the Film Society and the festival.

Read Mile High Mutiny: Major Shakeup Hits Denver Fest.

Last Day Dream - a 42 second short film

2009-05-21T06:12:00.001-07:00

Last Day Dream [HD] from Chris Milk on Vimeo.

Produced for the 42 Second Dream Film Festival.

Festival Exercise: Define Your Film, Define Yourself

2009-05-20T12:13:00.001-07:00

Getting your film "out there" – whether that means out to the festival circuit or to a distributor or directly to your audience – is a sales job. A crucial part of any sales job is to figure out exactly what it is you're selling and thereby determining who might want to buy it. In this exercise you will define your film and yourself in a number of different ways. While this may seem obvious and redundant, forcing yourself to formally document these things about your film can be extremely helpful in later stages of your film's life.

Defining your film

Start with the basics: Is your film a narrative or a documentary? (It doesn't quite fit into either category? Maybe it's experimental.) Documentary filmmakers have a variety of doc-only options in the festival arena; it's kind of a consolation prize for the fact that theatrical distribution is a rarity for documentaries.
Short or feature? A lot of people misuse the word "feature" when they really mean "narrative." The word feature refers to the film's length, generally over an hour. Anything else is a short. As in the documentary world, there are festivals that focus exclusively on shorts.
Is there something about the film's format that makes it stand out? There are festivals that focus heavily/exclusively on formats. Animated films, movies shot on celluloid, hi-def video – sometimes the medium is what matters.
Subject matter - this one's a biggie, and your film may qualify for any number of special-interest festivals based simply on what's in it. Go through your film carefully and really think about the people represented in it. What they do, what they like, where they go to shop and eat and have fun. All of these things affect the kinds of festivals and audiences that will be interested in your film. There are festivals for extreme sports, for individual ethnicities, and for films of particular genres. There's even a film festival for movies that feature bicycles. Find your niche and exploit it.
Location, location, location. Festivals love to play movies that feature hometown talent and settings. It's best if your film features recognizable landmarks around town, of course, but sometimes you can even get credit if someone in your cast or crew happens to be from a town with a festival. Exploit the "local filmmakers made good" factor by mentioning relevant facts in your submission cover letter.
Cast and crew. It's something of a truism that recognizable faces will help your film get into festivals – fests need sure-bet movies with household names to pack a few showings. (If your film isn't one of those, try not to be resentful of the movies that do have stars. Without those tent-pole flicks to guarantee ticket sales, the festivals wouldn't have the ability to program films like yours.)

Look beyond the faces in your picture to the crew around you – do any of them have alum status at film festivals? Those connections can help your film too. Don't be shy about it.

Define yourself

You're not just selling your movie. You're selling yourself, too, and there are things about you that can help spur an audience's interest in your film regardless of what appears on screen. Take a minute to think about the things that define you and how that will affect the list of festivals to which you will apply.

Demographics: Gender, ethnicity, religion, sexuality. All of these things have festivals of their own. There are over a dozen festivals now that focus exclusively on the work of women filmmakers. There are few major metro areas left without a gay/lesbian/transgender film festival of their own. African-American festivals abound, sometimes under the code-word "urban." It may seem superficial at first but these are all audiences that hunger to see themselves (and the work of their fellows) on screen.
Your alum status. Festivals love to nurture the careers of filmmakers they "discovered," so be sure to stay in touch with all of the programmers who discovered you. When your film is complete, shoot each on an email and offer to send over a screener. Get that dialogue going and you will likely find yourself with a waived submission fee at the very least.
Your location. It may not help get your film into these festivals, but it's always a smart idea to submit to the festivals within easy driving distance. If you can't make a play for being a local filmmaker, at least you'll be able to attend the festival if you get in.
Places where your friends and family live. Anywhere it will be easier/cheaper for you to stay is a good candidate for festival submissions.
Where would you like to go? Submitting to festivals in towns you've always wanted to visit can increase your incentive to attend those festivals once you get in. Even if the festival experience itself proves lackluster, you will at least have the fun of sightseeing in your chosen destination.
Government assistance programs for which you qualify. Some national and local governments have filmmaking grants that can help you travel to or apply for particular festivals. Get in touch with your local film commission and see which grants are available to you, and what festivals they support.

Armed with this information you should be able to start your festival strategy. There's lots more to be done (you have to actually find those festivals), but this is a good first step.

Photo credits: Christian Razukas and sleepy sparrow.

Pigeon Impossible Podcast #12 - Pimpin' It

2009-05-16T07:51:00.001-07:00

Lucas Martell's podcast is a companion to the launch of his short animated film, Pigeon Impossible. Each episode is entertaining in its own way (check out episode 2, "Writing is Rewriting") and most of them focus on the animation process, but episode 12 speaks directly to the festival circuit. In particular listen to Martell's advice about output formats and why the extra expense of converting your short to 35mm film might give you a leg up on the competition. Now that's what I call a film festival secret.

Web Series: 4 Things to Ask Yourself Before Starting

2009-05-14T21:20:00.001-07:00

From the blog of Felicia Day. Apart from being adorable and talented, Felicia is pretty smart. She's been around the block a few times with the whole "original web series" thing which, at the end of the day, is the same as independent filmmaking. All four of these questions apply just as much to your indie doc feature as they do to her web series about online role-playing gamers.

The internet isn’t TV: It’s 20 million channels rather than 200. If you can’t sit down and easily identify what kind of person will like your show and name 5 places that person might go to on the internet, you will have a hard time getting the word out, no matter how good it is.

Read Web Series: 4 Things to Ask Yourself Before Starting on Felicia Day's blog.

Toronto After Dark film fest submissions deadline approaches

2009-05-13T22:10:00.001-07:00

From Toronto After Dark's press release.

A quick announcement for any horror, sci-fi, action, animation or cult filmmakers out there. This is the final week to submit your short or feature film to the 2009 Toronto After Dark Film Festival. If you're looking to gain added exposure for your genre film it could be well worth your while taking the few minutes to enter.

Toronto After Dark has already established itself as one of North America's leading genre cinema showcases. Over 8,500 fans came out for last year's record-breaking Toronto event and all the films programmed including LET THE RIGHT ONE IN, REPO THE GENETIC OPERA, TOKYO GORE POLICE and I SELL THE DEAD scored extensive media coverage. This year's Toronto After Dark brings its cinematic mayhem for the first time to Summer and runs Aug 14-21, 2009.

To be considered, your film entry details must be completed online by end of day, this Friday May 15. Full details, including a fast and easy to complete online submission form, are available at the official festival website here:

http://www.torontoafterdark.com/