Andre, That's not helpful. What are your experiences? What are your suggestions? Sandy
On Wed, Aug 27, 2025 at 11:41 PM Cecilia Araneda <[email protected]> wrote: > When I entered into filmmaking, I used to mail VHS preview copies of my > works to film festivals (including VHS copies of film prints) and then if > selected, I would have to ship out either a BetaSP or print copy of my work > on my own dime. > > I remember in the late aughts sweating as one of my films set for a > prestigious European premiere encountered the issue of all planes being > re-directed due to that European volcano affecting the Atlantic ocean, only > to then ultimately being incorrectly rerouted by FedEx to some tiny island > in the Pacific ocean. I then had to quickly pay for a new Beta SP copy of > my film and have it re-shipped. > > I don’t know that it’s more expensive now in the era where platforms like > Film Freeway tempt film festivals to mine for submissions fees to make up > an important percentage of their revenue streams. Before, I would pay an > exorbitant amount of money to postal services and shippers and to just have > physical preview and screening copies made. And so before, I also had to > budget my submissions because there was just only so much I could spend on > making physical copies and shipping. And when I had to ship a 35 mm short > film internationally - that was certainly exceptionally financially > painful. > > Times have changed, but distributing films continues to be as expensive as > it was in the past. > > There was the belief in the past that moving to mostly digital would make > things cheaper for filmmakers - but global economic and geo-political > factors jump-in in ways many filmmakers cannot anticipate. In this era with > skyrocketing inflation, festivals have to budget for the impact that the > inflation affects everything that makes them sustainable - wages, facility > rentals, equipment, international shipping in the era of outrageous > tariffs, etc. And then whatever is going on in the USA, which is utterly > perplexing to behold from the outside. Even festivals that are > predominantly funded by sources other than submission fees - either by > private foundations or government agencies - are not seeing their grant > funding keep up with inflation. > > If you suspect that your films have not been viewed by a festival, then > you shouldn’t continue submitting to them. Consider submitting to different > festivals if your works are continually not being selected by your usual > go-to’s. Maybe it’s the case that the usual festivals you are submitting to > aren’t necessarily the best fits for your works, and it might be time to > test out different pastures. > > As to your comment: *"it appears that many of the Festivals have just > become pyramid schemes whose only purpose is to pay for administrative > costs and the return to the filmmakers financially is minimal”* — I > wouldn’t so quickly discount what is included in “administrative costs,” > as these include fees and salaries to hard working staff, who are often > working for token wages. I’ve often thought the sector should unionize > somehow, because I know so many cultural workers are not paid remotely > enough - not even living wages. > > And then there are also the costs of facility rental, equipment > management, logistics, and promotion. Festivals need to spend a > proportionally high amount on promotion in comparison to artist run centre > type screenings, as you need to have some kind of audience. And then there > are fees that need to be spent to just be eligible for permanent / > operating grant funding, outside of project fund there and there that is to > random to make a festival work - and this requires a ton of foundational > bookkeeping and financial management work to prove to the private and > public funders that your organization maintain professional financial > management practices and has 3rd party financial oversight (prepping for > audit, and then going through audit). Just keeping receipts and making > payments within a reasonable window of time is a huge administrative > production that is necessary to a film festival organization existing. > > I have seen film organizations run like well-oiled machines due to > exceptional bookkeeping practices; and conversely seen others struggle to > near-death because of a dire lack of attention to administrative work - and > I can assure you the latter absolutely does not benefit any filmmaker > whatsoever. Diminishing the value and impact of administrative work as > somehow being less important labour within arts organization than > filmmaking, is not a great solidarity position. > > Best of luck on placing your works! > > Cecilia Araneda > >> ceciliaaraneda.ca > > > > > On Aug 26, 2025, at 8:27 PM, Sandy McLennan <[email protected]> wrote: > > This is an oft-seen reply: “too many submissions”. What to do? Will > festivals cut off the number? They can’t possibly watch all submissions. > Will a deadline be reliably administered? Here seems like a good forum for > such a discussion, if only from the submitters side (best if festival reps > would comment, too). > > Hats off to Celluloid Now (Chicago), for example, who limit in one manner > by requiring proof that a submitter already has a physical film ready to > screen (although maybe they get “too many” also). I realize this is not a > solution, just an example I happen to know of. > > At the very least, whether you paid (and that certainly adds up, even if > low amounts per) a submission fee or not, we wish for our work to be seen > and considered. Can’t tell if this always happens. > > Sandy > > On Tue, Aug 26, 2025 at 12:34 PM Dominic Angerame < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Over the past three years I have created a large volume of work and have >> been spending a major fortune entering various film festivals around the >> world, both large and small. Unfortunately the rejection notices amount to >> more than 200. What I am told constantly is that the volume of work entered >> had been incredibly large and many films had to be turned down. What I >> figured out is that the average chance of being shown at a film festival is >> about 5%. One major festival I know about had thousands of films entered. >> Yet the amount of films that were shown were less than 1% of the entries. >> With entry fees averaging about $30-$40 per film it appears that many of >> the Festivals have just become pyramid schemes whose only purpose is to pay >> for administrative costs and the return to the filmmakers financially is >> minimal. >> >> I have better chances of winning money on a scratch off lottery ticket >> than to get accepted into a film festival. The only power filmmakers have >> is to boycott those festivals that charge such high entry fees. There is no >> need for them and no pay back for the filmmakers. >> >> Now the only festivals I entered offer no entry fees or those less than >> $15. When asked to enter film festivals charging more than this fee, I send >> the film festival a rejection letter. It may not have much effect however >> it feels great to reject a film festival than receiving a rejection from >> them. >> >> Thanks for reading this. >> >> Dominic >> -- >> Frameworks mailing list >> [email protected] >> https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org >> > -- > Frameworks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org > > > -- > Frameworks mailing list > [email protected] > https://mail.film-gallery.org/mailman/listinfo/frameworks_film-gallery.org >
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