Forget Cannes: Smaller Film Festivals are the Way to Go

If you're a filmmaker, and you want to share your film with the world, screening at any film festival is a great thing. Sundance is great. Cannes is great. SXSW is great. You've probably heard of the biggies out there.

And they say that entering a major big film festival as a filmmaker is like the lottery: you can't screen there if you don't enter.

But I'll be honest. Some of the best film festivals out there are the smaller ones. Submit to them. And when you get accepted, do everything you can to attend. For one thing, these smaller film festivals have a great local indie film community, and it's a great place to have indie film lovers see your film as an audience where they would otherwise never get to see it. And for another thing, if you can make the festival, the place treats you like royalty. It's a rock star life. I'm not kidding.

I'm not telling you to not submit to Sundance or Cannes or the other big name film festivals out there. But the smaller film festivals, in my opinion, are the way to go.

Don't Go to Film School - Make Your Movie

Take it from someone who makes no budget films. And has had their films screen at over 300 film festivals around the world.

You don't have to go to film school to make a movie.

You don't have to go to film school to distribute and share your movie with the world.

Anyone can make a movie. With no money. And screen it around the world on movie screens.

There's a big film festival world out there. And they're hungry for new movies.

It never ceases to amaze me when I'm at a film festival with one of my films, I watch other films there, and there's an endless line of film credits. It's obvious that these filmmakers spent a lot of money, and had a nice sized budget to make their movie. But the films that are talked about the most at film festivals, and generate the most buzz, are the personal films. The films that only that person can make. The films that people are afraid to make or have no idea where to start.

It's a job. But you can make a movie and share it on the film festival circuit, with a great festival run without any or little money. I'm living proof.

The Short Film Route to Success

There was a great news story from the Times of India today titled "Take the Short Film Route to Success". Some good info in here that you may want to check out:

http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-04-28/news-interviews/31451280_1_short-films-feature-film-post-production-costs

If you are making a short film, you can be successful as a filmmaker, and have a worldwide audience. It's a job. But it is possible.

Short Film Markets

If you have a short film, and aren't sure where to start showing it on the film festival circuit, there's a lot of options for you.

To start with, you have over 5,000 film festivals to choose from. If you don't have anyone helping you market your film, you can start on your own. It's tough. And it's a job. But you can do it. Just start submitting to film festivals you think are a fit for your film.

There is another option for you. If you're not sure and have no idea at all where to start with your film, a Short Film Market is a good alternative. There's a handful of good short film markets around the world. What these markets do is take hundreds, sometimes thousands, of short films from around the world each year, and for about one week, have all the short films available for industry people to watch. You never know. A programmer for a festival may see your short there, and invite you to screen your short film at their festival. A distributor may see your short film and want to distribute it globally. You have a lot of options. If you're someone who has just finished making a short film, and don't know where to start showing your film, a short film market could be a great alternative for you.

If you are looking for help with getting your film out to the world, I can help you as well. That's what I do. Let me know. I'm here to help you.

The Best Film Festivals

There's a lot of great film festivals out there in this world. Your job, as a filmmaker, is to find the best ones for your movie. With over 5000 film festivals globally, that can be quite a task.

As a filmmaker, my films have screened at over 300 film festivals worldwide. There's some great ones out there....and not so great. But regardless how good the festival is, you have to take that with a grain of salt, and have the attitude that the festival is an audience for your film. So play your film at any festival it can screen at. And build your audience.

Based on my experience, I've had great experiences with film festivals. There's different festivals for different films. My films are very alternative, underground and independent. So they appeal to all types of film festivals. Based on my experience, these are my favorites:

Slamdance Film Festival
Cucalorus
Florida Film Festival

If you get a film in Slamdance, you become family. It's like the mob. Once you're in, you're family for life. Slamdance rocks. The Park City madness during Sundance in January....that experience is like no other. And I much prefer Slamdance to Sundance.

Cucalorus, simply put, is the bomb. The coolest film festival I've ever been to. Hands down. A 4 day party. If you screen at this festival, you are spoiled for life.

The Florida Film Festival has a great bunch of people. The Enzian Theater is a great, awesome screening space. And Orlando is a great city to be in during the festival. These people know how to put on one hell of a festival.

There's a lot of other great ones out there. It's your job to find the ones that best fit your film.

The Short Film Festival Market

Do you have a short film that you want to share with the world? Want to have it play film festivals around the world?

There is an audience out there for your short film.

If you're new to the film festival world, you need help. There's hundreds, even thousands, of film festivals globally that screen short films. Which is the best for your short film? Let me help you.

Email me at dixiefilms@gmail.com