You’re set to shoot your film. Your script is tight and you’re on schedule. But after budgeting for a sterling camera package, a team of top-notch designers and actors, and a deposit on that essential yet expensive location for your key scene, you forgot to set aside money for a festival run.
Getting a film off the ground is difficult even in the best circumstances and with the largest budget, so it’s natural for a filmmaker of any stage to focus their mental energy on pre- and postproduction and principal photography. Yet for most filmmakers, the process doesn’t end when their film is wrapped. Budgeting for the festival submission system is difficult to do and varies based on your goals and expectations, but with these tips, you’ll be off to a strong start.
Be honest about your film
Are you a first-time filmmaker who shot a seven-minute short on an iPhone with a skeleton crew? Perhaps you’d be content with a selection at a local shorts festival and only need to budget a couple hundred dollars to submit to a few committees. But suppose you’re a mid-career filmmaker who put a lot of time and money into your first feature, hoping it will catapult you to the next level. Where you submit “depends on many factors, but one must consider the budget and scope of the film,” says Daniel Sol, owner of HollyShorts Film Festival in Los Angeles. It’s important to be “honest about what your film is and who it’s for.”
Determining what percentage of your budget is devoted to a festival run requires being self-aware about your resources, in terms of both money and connections. And unless you already have an earnest chance of being seen—either because your film boasts significant star power or because you have a relationship with the selection committee—it’s best not to waste your money at events that are heavily pre-curated.
“I think a lot of filmmakers get too seduced by the fame of glitzy festivals when a festival more tailored to a film’s needs may do,” says Nanor Vosgueritchian, a programmer for the Brooklyn Film Festival and the Arab and Film Media Institute. “At AFMI, there are films which we screen that can spark conversation, where they may get lost at a so-called ‘bigger festival.’ ”
Come up with a master list
Think of your festival selection like a high school senior’s college search. College deans will usually recommend creating a list of about 10 schools that includes one to two “reaches,” five to seven reasonable goals, and two to three “safeties,” or schools at which you’d be a top candidate and can reasonably assume you’d get in. While not a one-to-one comparison, this exercise can help to mentally situate your project within the hierarchy of the festival world.
“I usually tell people to hope for one or two [acceptances] in 10 submissions,” advises Ben Thompson, vice president of shorts programming for the Tribeca Film Festival. “It sounds like a small number. But if you get into ShortShorts in Japan, a real bucket-list festival, and get rejected by the other nine… that’s still a big win.”
Say, for instance, you’re a first-time feature filmmaker with a politically prescient horror genre film. You may name Sundance and the New York Film Festival as reaches, since they’re counted among the world’s finest showcases. But they’re not totally out of reach—while both of those festivals’ submission levels hover around 10,000 films each year, they also have a track record of showing genre projects from similarly unseasoned filmmakers.
The next batch of film festivals you may want to approach could include mid-tier ones like Seattle, Atlanta, Austin, or Miami. With a genre-specific film, you’d also want to consider more niche events like Austin’s Fantastic Fest, NYC’s Brooklyn Horror, or L.A.’s Screamfest. Ultimately, research and timing are crucial; it can be easy to slip into a financial pit by naively submitting to any and all festivals without strategizing your approach.
Budget early and accurately
You may want to think about your festival costs as a percentage of your total budget, rather than as a separate chunk of change. Generally speaking, you will want to consider budgeting around 3–5% of your money for festival submissions, keeping in mind that most film festival submission fees range from $50–$150. If you’re on a strict budget, it’ll be especially important to keep track of things like tiered submission deadlines, as most festivals increase their submission fees as the window closes. Budgeting smartly also means planning for travel costs. If your film gets into festivals in the U.K., Australia, and Los Angeles, you may end up having to budget more for travel purposes—or make the hard decision to miss your premiere.
The more meticulously you plan for this stage of your film’s life, the more well-prepared you’ll be for success, the more festivals you can get into, and the more money you’ll save. Beth Barrett, the artistic director for the Seattle International Film Festival, urges filmmakers to start this process early on. “As part of preproduction, filmmakers should honestly assess the project and what they want to accomplish with it,” she says. Just as a filmmaker budgets for the right crew, they should also “budget for those submission fees,” Barrett adds. “Prioritize the festival you most want to premiere at, and then work through the calendar. This should not be an afterthought, but rather a part of the overall plan.”
