I’m talking about film festivals. Almost all film fests have a short film section, playing shorts in front of some features and multiple 90-minute programs of shorts. If you make a good short it’s possible to play literally 100 cities with it. Here is some strategy to go into the festival world with.

First thing is first – find another film that’s just like yours. I know, nothing else is like it, but find something similar in style and atmosphere, if not a similar story or form. Which festivals did that film play? Look for features too. It’s safe to assume that the festival programmers would like your work too.

For a short to play in front of a feature, it will need to be on the shorter side, often 10 minutes or less. But fests play a lot of 70 and 80-minute features and programmers love to get more talent in the mix and want to play a short in front of them. Something that isn’t exactly the same but compliments the show.

And think sideways – a fest that shows weird sci-fi films may also be into a stylish doc about Tesla.

Many festivals have a focus, and that’s the best way to spend your submission fee budget. There are tons of niche fests with a specific focus: documentaries, animation, experimental, genre, and some only show short films. Whatever you made, there is probably a fest that only wants that type of film, even shorts about mountain climbing.

Festival logistics help make decisions. Festivals have budgets for travel and rooms, but it often covers the features only. Don’t get sad, just see which fests do have stipends for shorts to help out, or prize money if that interests you. With CineVegas, any filmmaker with a short just had to get themselves to Vegas and we’d provide a room for 4 nights (gambling not included).

And don’t forget friends and family. You got parents in the US? There is probably a festival in their town and you know they’ll bring you home and feed you. Look cool in front of the parents that might have paid for the film too.

Side note: why try to go to the festivals? Besides the best reason – to see your film on a big screen with big sound and an audience – you will meet future collaborators. Just the people inside your shorts program will be great and most likely at the same stage of filmmaking you are: hungry. You’ll run into cast and crew, and if lucky a producer who wants to help on the next one.

Plus the motivation you’ll find at a festival to make more work is impossible to describe. You think you re the only one struggling, and then you meet others in the same boat and realize you’ve all made something that is worth sharing with others. This is how “waves” start.

Last but not least, try for the large film festivals. This may seem like the most important thing to go for first but not necessarily. Check their submission rules. If they require a world premiere, which is rare for shorts but it happens, then you would have to submit there first and see what happens. For many fests we just want to show the best shorts we can find and its ok to play another fest first as a short.  In fact, every festival finds a great film at another fest. It doesn’t matter who finds it first, just that the film gets one or more champions.

The biggest thing is to keep trying. If you made a film and it doesn’t get into one of the big festivals, it’s not personal (I’ve been right there too).  It can be frustrating waiting for the first show but it doesn’t mean you are a bad filmmaker, its just that every festival has its own taste and even then they can’t fit every good film made into the screen space we have. Keep making films and keep trying.

Want to learn more about the world of short filmmaking? Check out Sundance ShortsLabs on July 14th in NY and Aug. 11th in LA.These full-day workshops for shorts filmmakers offer firsthand insight and access into story development, production, and exhibition of narrative short-form storytelling.Hear directly from festival programmers and short filmmakers about their work.

 Click here for more information about NY: http://www.sundance.org/programs/shortslab-nyc/. And here for LA: http://www.sundance.org/programs/shortslab-la/.

Uptown/Detroit Independent Film Festival — Winner, Best Michigan Documentary

Detroit was undoubtedly ground-zero for the film, as the story focused on the auto industry and its workforce.  My team and I spent countless hours at the Wayne State University labor library and other historical archives around the state of Michigan. Relationships with local researchers led to an introduction to one of the directors of the MotorCities National Heritage Area, an affiliate of the National Park Service dedicated to preserving the automotive and labor heritage of the state. The mutual benefits were obvious, as the film was unearthing a vast amount of Michigan history keen to MotorCities and we were certainly excited to link up with any statewide network. But, I’d never heard of a “national heritage area” before so, it warranted further investigating.  A National Heritage Area is “a region that has been recognized by the U.S. Congress for its combination of natural, cultural, historic, and recreational resources that have shaped a cohesive, nationally distinctive landscape.”

There are 49 such areas across the country and many have established grant programs to support local interpretive projects (including films!)  Outside of my Detroit legacy, the family has roots in West Virginia, leading me to approach the Wheeling National Heritage Area as well.  Since the documentary at least briefly covers those early years, we were at first eligible for a modest Mini-Grant ($1K), which soon grew to a larger Partnership Grant ($6K) after the Board screened our rough cut.  For those producing a film on any aspect of American history or culture, I highly recommend exploring an applicable Heritage Area.  There’s no guarantee of funding availability but, making contact could lead to benefits in other areas. When we reached completion of Brothers On The Line and the film was accepted into the Uptown/Detroit Independent Film Festival as our World Premiere, The MotorCities National Heritage Area launched a campaign of blogs and Facebook messages in advance of our screening dates. TV and radio interviews followed, boosting attendance at this up-and-coming festival and prompting organizers to add a second showing of the film. The free and far-reaching promotion proved to be just as valuable as the earlier grant awards.

Tales From Planet Earth Film Festival – Madison, WI

Aside from historical societies, a number of advocacy groups also played a role in my film’s progression. The Reuther brothers were not just workers’ rights activists; their commitment spanned a broad range of social movements: civil rights, community organizing, voter registration, national healthcare, anti-war, the environment, etc. Unable to cover all of these issues in the eventual 80-minute film, I nonetheless made the effort to reach out to any group who might have a special connection to the material, no matter how slim. During the process, I began an email exchange with The Nelson Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.  I was researching the UAW’s environmental activism and The Nelson Institute has one of the leading programs in that field, named after the late Senator Gaylord Nelson, founder of Earth Day. (The UAW was a financial contributor to the first Earth Day in 1970.)  While my communication did not result in funding, the staff at the institute were particularly intrigued by my film for its progressive message and offered to consider it for their annual Tales From Planet Earth Film Festival.  Acceptance into that festival was providential, not just because they provide a screening fee AND honorarium (very rare these days) but, primarily for its location.  If Detroit is the root of our story, then Madison, WI represents the current heartbeat of labor activism.  It was the home of last year’s Madison Uprising in which embattled public sector union members took to the streets after Governor Scott Walker slashed their pensions and benefits.  I couldn’t have asked for a better stage from which to link current affairs to our historical documentary. Brothers On The Line drew a full-house crowd at the festival and was immediately embraced by the South Central Federation of Labor, which set-up their own special screening the following night.  In stretching the boundaries of my “cause” film and throwing the fundraising net a little wider, I was fortunate to catch an ally that paid off with patience. What at first appeared to be a disappointing dead-end in regard to financial support, transformed into the ultimate contact list for today’s frontline activists, all eagerly anticipating our home video release.

Washington DC International Film Festival – Nominee, Justice Matters Award

The final resource worth mentioning here did not come from earlier legwork but, actually arose directly from a festival acceptance. If given the opportunity, I knew the documentary would play well in the DC area, as there are a plethora of activist groups to attract and it happens to be my hometown. American Rights at Work and The International Labor Rights Forum, two Capitol Hill based advocacy organizations whose missions support workers’ rights, were great partners in our completion efforts.  However, upon selection into the Washington DC International Film Festival (a.k.a. FilmFestDC), one of the most promising associations was with Teaching For Change, a non-profit organization promoting social and economic justice in the classroom.  In coordination with FilmFestDC programmers, Teaching For Change selects one documentary from the annual festival slate that has potential in the educational market and invites the filmmaker to participate in preview screenings at area high-schools.� Brothers On The Line was chosen and two classroom visits scheduled.  The junior and senior-year students watched the full film prior to my arrival and I came in for a follow-up discussion.  We had an in-depth chat on U.S. history and film technique in both settings; each class with their own unique commentary.  One of my goals for the film is that it would have a long educational shelf-life and this “test-screening” was priceless. The students’ honest observations caused me to view the film in a new light and will aide in the preparation to promote to a younger audience. In discussing their favorite scenes, we also touched on what they might cut out, which could be helpful if I ever need to bring the film under an hour for TV. (Note: be prepared when asking that, as the answers could be brutal!)  Even if not initiated by FilmFestDC, introducing yourself to Teaching for Change is a must when it comes to social justice meets educational filmmaking.

Brothers On The Line was produced before crowd-sourcing really took off so, we relied heavily on nurturing personal relationships. Some offered a modest yet immediate boost; while others revealed their worth in the final hour. But, what I didn’t realize at the time is that all alliances made during production were actually shaping our film festival run.  From New York (Workers Unite Film Festival – Best Documentary Feature) to California (Mendocino Film Festival – Audience Choice Award), our non-traditional circuit has been deeply gratifying as the enthusiasm of our supporters is the driving force behind our success.

From the 2011 Independent Filmmaker Conference.

We could speak forever (realistically a half hour) about the joys of Independent Filmmaking. They are vast, colorful, and Dwayne ‘The Rock” Johnson inevitably ALWAYS come up! Check out our Quick Chat re: the Fest and Indie Cinema with LES Judge Susan Sarandon:

Learn more about LES Film Festival here: lesfilmfestival.com

Additional IFP alumni screening at the festival: Spotlight on Documentaries alumni Annie Eastman’s Bay of All Saints, Jay Bulger’s Beware of Mr. Baker, and Caveh Zahedi’s The Sheikh and I in Documentary Competition; Katie Dellamaggiore’s Brooklyn Castle, Rebecca Richman Cohen’s Code of the West, Ashley Sabin and David Redmon’s Girl Model, Ben Shapiro’s Gregory Crewdson: Brief Encounters, and Kristy Guevara-Flanagan’s Wonder Women! The Untold Story of American Superheroes in Documentary Spotlight; and Mark Kendall’s La Camioneta: The Journey of One American School Bus (also fiscally sponsored by IFP) and Kahlil Hudson and Tyler Hughen’s Low & Clear in Emerging Visions. Also screening at the festival are Todd Rohal’s Nature Calls (No Borders) in Narrative Spotlight and Adam Leon’s Gimme the Loot (IFP/Film Society of Lincoln Center’s Emerging Visions) in Narrative Competition.

Also at SXSW, IFP’s Rose Vincelli is a part of the “Mentors: Artist Development” session at 11am on Saturday, March 10. She is also moderating IFP’s panel, “Tough Love: Why You’re Still Not Festival Ready” with hybrid distribution guru Jon Reiss and IFP Labs alumnus Tim Sutton, director of Pavilion. “Tough Love” is at 3:30p March 10. If you’re at SXSW, come say hi & glean from our knowledge! Follow IFP on Twitter @ifpfilm for updates from some of the 17 IFP alumni fest premieres and other news from the fest.

Congratulations to everyone – we’ll see you in Austin!

Better than my own scattered memories, for my Sundance diary, I wanted to round up some good writing that might help to establish a lateral picture of this year from many different critical points of view.

The shadow outline of Quvenzhané Wallis on the front page of the arts section of The New York Times was almost a shock to see—BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD felt too intense, too personally magical, for it to be real that anyone outside of the Eccles at its morning premiere would know that this film even existed. It took me a second to digest that BEASTS was the central title in Manohla Dargis’ Sundance wrap-up, and also in her opinion, “the best film to play at Sundance in two decades.”

Manohla’s take on the film summarizes the visceral glory and excitement of experiencing BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD for the first time at Sundance. It is so rare that a film seems to be introducing a new language onto the screen, so fresh and inspiring that it leaves most at a loss for description. BEASTS dominated the atmosphere of the festival, leaving little room for the same level of excitement elsewhere.

Similar to Manohla’s Sundance wrap-up, James Rocchi’s brief history of Sundance-past gets at what felt special in 2012. Rocchi documents the ennui of mini-majors in the mid-2000s followed by an ambivalent and uneven climate post-financial crisis, and believes that this is the year that the festival’s relevance in handling the cultural zeitgeist through independent film reasserted itself.

However, for many festival attendees, last year’s festival was the one that seemed like a return to form, when the festival presented many low-budget outside-the-box gems like TAKE SHELTER, THE CATECHISM CATACLYSM, TERRI and THE OREGONIAN. Mike S. Ryan at Hammer To Nail champions the independent spirit of the 2011 lineup to cast a critical eye at this year’s festival, but still found some shining talent in the new independent auteurs of 2012, particularly COMPLIANCE and THE COMEDY (which he produced).

Tom Hall’s reports for Filmmaker are insightful Sundance diaries. His “Sex, Drugs And Falling Apart” alludes to the festival’s external influences: the mountains, the feeling of remoteness and insularity of snow and ice, offer a backdrop for movie watching that can intensify our experiences as movie goers—as Tom says, “the perfect weather for introspection.”

One oft-overlooked element of festival coverage is the mood of the festival environment, so heavily influenced by off-screen factors such as the Saturday blizzard, which effectively stopped traffic and destroyed well-laid plans on what is typically the festival’s busiest day. Also in the air was the fact that some of the most highly buzzed about films were also those dealing with sobering realities: rape in the military (THE INVISIBLE WAR) and rapidly melting glaciers (CHASING ICE). There are always many difficult films in the documentary competitions, but somehow this year the brokenness of our society and culture really burned.  Surrounding all this was the independent film industry’s own tragic loss, the untimely death of veteran distributor, Bingham Ray, in the middle of the festival.

I don’t know if it was the overriding solemnity, but this year’s Sundance had a sense of palpable earnestness. I heard more conversations dealing with the films than about budgets and sales numbers. It felt grounding—like the industry was there because they believed in all of this, in spite of everything.

And yet Karina Longworth, who always does bring really worthwhile thoughts to elucidate the big picture of Sundance, noticed a continued upsetting festival trend in a conversation published on Indiewire.  Says Karina: “It’s shocking how little debate actually happens about the merits of any individual film at the festival, because too many attendees with a “voice” approach the festival as though it’s a place of right and wrong answers.”

This, to me, is an essential point about major festivals in general: ‘What did you like?’ and ‘What is your favorite?’ are the dominant questions. In our fear not to miss a film, we ask everyone we encounter what they thought of what they just watched. A curious colleague who asks, ‘What did you think?’ usually doesn’t care to stick around to dig in and try to read the film with you. And this atmosphere of heavy consumption defines every Sundance—for many of us, our job is to see as much as possible, and often that means we’re not digesting as well as we should be. Sometimes the less assuming yet very thoughtful film is lost in the mix. (For me, the overlooked victims this year were the weighty and complex THE ATOMIC STATES OF AMERICA and the intensely cinematic FOR ELLEN.)

There was almost too much work to love at this year’s Sundance. I can’t believe how much excellence and artistic ability I experienced at the festival this year, and I missed seeing many films that were highly praised by others. Speaking of earmarks, it will be very difficult for next year’s festival to compete with this year’s anomalous crop of exceptional films.

From the 2011 Independent Filmmaker Conference.

It has been a noticeably quieter festival this year. Streets are not nearly as crowded as in in the past, and it has been much easier to make reservations at restaurants. Some of this is being attributed to the lack of snowfall for skiers, but real skiers usually stay away during Sundance due to the crowds.

Antonio Campos, Pat Kaufman & Brady Corbet

One place that was busier than ever this year was the New York Lounge. Right up until the signs were being taken down last evening, it remained a popular destination for filmmakers and festival goers to meet up for coffee and conversation. Later  in the afternoon, Film Commissioner Pat Kaufman was meeting with Antonio Campos, director of the much talked about “Simon Killer”, and his star, indie darling Brady Corbet.

An exhausted team from NY State that had worked non stop in the upkeep of the lounge celebrated their most successful year yet.

The end of a long day for the film commissioner

Even with less of a crowd on the streets, sales have been brisk, which is great news for filmmakers. IFC Films acquired North American distribution rights to Josh Radnor’s “Liberal Arts”, which co-stars Elizabeth Olsen, Alison Janney and Richard Jenkins. Sony and Samuel Goldwyn Company have partnered to acquire the delightful “Frank and Robot”.

Other festival sales this week have included ” Me at the Zoo”, “Queen of Versailles”, ” Searching for Sugar Man”, ” Black Rock”, “For A Good Time Call…”, “The Words” and “Indie Game: The Movie”.

In all, a very healthy sales environment will keep Sundance as a continuous source of rich content for distributors. A quieter remainder of the week will follow, but hopefully there will be more announcements of deals as the week moves toward the close this weekend.

Celebrating a successful year for the New York Lounge

We had a full house for the panel, with many questions. As John moderated, Pat talked about the process of applying for the credit and some of the necessary requirements to be completed, such as using a qualified stage and what that means. We also commented on doing your own “calculus” for a micro budget film to see if the cost of the stage and all of the paperwork involved would offset what would be a small return.

Mike and I touched on when and why a producer may want to finance the credit in order to use the funds for his film, as well as some of the legal requirements needed to do so, such as forming a C-Corp that would be used only for the tax credit, while using an LLC for the actual production account. While there was some lively discussion around this topic, in the end it is the only way a lender can get involved with the financing and be assured repayment.

Steven brought up the topic of Crowd Funding, which started a whole other discussion around all of the work involved in launching the campaign and using all of the social media available to make it successful.

In all, it was a very successful morning, resulting in many business cards being shared and appointments being made to meet in New York in the coming weeks.

The evening was fantastic! We went to the premier of “Two Days In New York”, written, directed and starring French actress Julie Delpy. The comedy was incredibly funny, with solid performances from Ms. Delpy and her leading man, Chris Rock. The scene stealer of the film though, as he was in the prequel “Two Days In Paris”, was Albert Delpy, the star’s real life father playing her fictional one.

Following the film, we were invited to the after party, which was attended by the entire cast, including another scene stealer, Kate Burton. I have long been a fan of Ms. Burton’s work on stage & screen, and was thrilled to have the opportunity to have conversation with her. She seemed genuinely excited to be back at Sundance again, representing both this film and “Liberal Arts”, Josh Radner’s follow up to the Sundance Audience Award winner “HappyThankYouMorePlease”.

Alas, we were much too tired to make it to the party afterward, having been up since 4am NY time. After a good night’s sleep, we will have no excuses!

Friday got down to business at the NY Lounge, as it kicked off the first panel discussion at 11am on distribution trends. Steven Beers of Greenberg Traurig moderated the lively discussion amid panelists Ira Deutchman of Emerging Pictures, Matt Dentler of Cinetec Film Buff, John Reiss (filmmaker & author), Erika Opeka of New Video Digital and Logan Mulvey, founder of Go Digital.

Much of the discussion was around how the filmmaker can best find a distributor, and having a viable product to sell.  “Margin Call” , a Sundance hit last year was used as an example of a film with a low budget that used an interesting roll out on VOD on the same date as it’s theatrical release. Because of the aggressive marketing campaign, the film made a great profit on both platform, earning in excess of it’s $4MM theatrical run on VOD.

If a filmmaker has it, you should spend money on the best publicist you can find, and set up your “digital footprint”  – your film should be easily found in a Google search or on FaceBook. Make sure you make the most of your social network. If your film is being released on Netflix, make sure every one in your social network is adding it to their queue.

The process begins in production. Do not wait until you have finished your film to start thinking about distribution.

Much was also made of the value of a good review, especially by the New York Times. The Times has recently stated that it will review any film that has at least a 7 day run in NY. If you think your film is the real deal, and will be well reviewed, it might be worth figuring out how to have a one week theatrical run, in addition to any digital distribution. That good review is an excellent marketing tool for the distributor.

Lastly, the panelists discussed revenues and box office returns. Both Mr. Deutchman and Mr. Dentler pointed out that the ” steroid era” of independent film has passed. There was a specific point in time that a few filmmakers were able to make a lot of money on a few films. Today, for an indie to make a $1MM is still a lot of money! We should not lose sight of this. Even after the buying frenzy of last year’s Sundance, only “Margin Call” was the real breakout money maker.  Others have done well and made a profit compared to their costs, but there is no blockbuster.

Tonight, I am very much looking forward to the premier of Ira Sachs’s film, “Keep The Lights On”. More on that to come!

Sundance 2012 promises to be a busy one. We are once again a sponsor for the New York Lounge on Main street, where passerby can stop in for free NY bagels and coffee and have a meeting place to plan their day or strategize for their films. Each day, beginning Friday, there is a panel discussion at 11am. HSBC will be hosting one on Monday morning, “The Tax Man Cometh – Financing the NY State Tax Credit”. The lounge also hosts daily musical performances by up & coming singer songwriters at 4pm.

We are most excited to have worked with several of the filmmakers presenting their work at the festival this year, and were able to get tickets to a few of them, including ” Keep The Lights On”, ” Arbitrage” and ” 2 Days in New York”.

We are also looking forward to the NYU Tisch party, dinner with IFP at the beautiful new Montage Hotel, many parties, and most of all catching up with old friends and making new ones.

I’ll keep you posted & will try to get some good photos as well!