Well articulated. Dominic
On Wed, May 28, 2014 at 5:35 PM, chris bravo <iamdir...@gmail.com> wrote: > This is an interesting topic, maybe a few points to add, maybe not totally > thought out, but I am currently doing festivals with a film so I have been > spending a lot of time thinking about these issues, particularly as they > pertain to documentary festivals. > > - Yes, I wish festivals didn't charge fees, it definitely feels very > scammy, especially in the Without-a-Box era which is a debilitating > humiliation festivals are perpetrating on filmmakers. But backrooming fee > waivers is at the heart of the problem, right? I mean that's a serious > structural inequality because who is going to have leverage in that system? > A young person from a fly-over film school with an off kilter movie? And > the (in my opinion) disturbingly conservative/repetitive/samey programming > happening in american festivals I think bears this out. Professional > programmers who spend all year schmoozing and glad handing (AND GETTING > PAID) is not a system that works very well, and its not a system that > filmmakers can access by sending plucky emails to programming directors. I > feel that the "only fools pay entrance fees" is a bit blaming the victim. > (You didn't say exactly that, but I have heard it). There is no real > alternative. > > - I think the good news is that, while festivals have bent over backwards > to ingratiate themselves to economic forces (True/False, Rooftop Films, Hot > Docs), they have rendered themselves almost completely useless at actually > helping filmmakers find an audience for their work. They are so completely > focused on a pseudo "entrepreneurial" eco-system of media making and > distribution that that nobody pays attention to them but themselves. EG: > These "partnerships" that festivals are promoting with bizarre, off-brand, > online streaming sites is sad to see. It seems to me, from my observation, > that even though it SEEMS that festivals are indispensably important for > filmmakers, in actuality they have never been more superfluous. Whatever > the audience for your film, festivals (generally speaking) are not really > going to help you build it. There are way better ways to engage communities > of people and get your work in front of them. > > > On Tue, May 27, 2014 at 4:01 PM, Medford Reinhardt < > medfordreinha...@gmail.com> wrote: > >> This article by Sean Farnel is relevant to what you're saying: >> http://povmagazine.com/articles/view/towards-a-filmmaker-bill-of-rights-for-festivals >> >> A few more thoughts: >> >> 1) This is just in my opinion of course, but you shouldn't ever pay a >> festival entry fee. Send an email directly to the programer with a write-up >> or a link to part of or the entirety of the film. Ask if they're >> interested. If they're not, you've saved money, and if they are interested, >> you will almost never be asked (in my experience) to supply that entry fee. >> The dirty little secret of most film festivals is that a HUGE amount of >> what is shown comes from solicitation and from private correspondences. >> Only a small percentage of submissions are actually accepted. I have had >> many conversations with programmers that have corroborated this. >> >> 2) A film festival often cannot logistically expand its dates. Finding >> the space and infrastructure to screen films often occurs the year prior to >> the festival, and predicting the number of entries is of course impossible >> at that time. Still, I understand your frustration. But any festival that >> receives entries that are comparable to the number of slots they have is >> just not getting enough entires. >> >> 3) Let festivals know when they are being shitty. I suspect filmmakers >> are often timid and afraid to confront these kind of behaviours for fear of >> being cast in a negative light, but I suspect that most festivals would >> take it very seriously. >> >> 4) Something very important to remember. Amazing films get rejected from >> festivals all the time, for a wide variety of reasons: too much >> representation from one country, having too many films that work in the >> same style, a film that can't be placed into any of the existing shorts >> programs. There are many reasons and every year, programmers often will >> pass along films to other festivals because of this. A rejection from a >> festival is not a judgment of quality. If the programmers are worth a damn, >> it can have many other meanings around it. >> >> >> Medford >> >> _______________________________________________ >> FrameWorks mailing list >> FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com >> https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks >> >> > > _______________________________________________ > FrameWorks mailing list > FrameWorks@jonasmekasfilms.com > https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks > >
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