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Everything You Need To Know Before Making Your Next Short Film

In this article, I’m going to lay out the entire short film playbook—festival strategies, maximizing your festival experience, cost-cutting on submissions, marketing ideas, and how to execute your distribution and release.

Look—short films are basically a rite of passage. Anyone who has ever picked up a camera has at some point been told to make one. And since they’re considerably less resource-intensive than making a feature—most filmmakers stumble into short films by default.

Christopher Nolan did it. Martin Scorsese did it. Why would you not do it?

You absolutely do not need to make a short film. The end. Mic drop. End of the article.

All kidding aside—if you’re going to make a short film, or if you’ve already made one, this article is going to save you a lot of money, time and headaches.

 

BUT WHO ARE YOU?

 

That’s a really fair question. Who am I to tell you what to do with your next short film?

I’ve produced 13 films—only 3 were actually any good. I’ve been a programmer and festival director for the Pendance Film Festival for 4 years—never went to film school—studied statistics and philosophy, and worked at a hedge fund for 3 years instead.

None of this gives me the insight to write this article—but I’m curious and I ask thousands of questions. I’ve had opportunities over the past 6 years to speak with programmers and festival directors from some of the best film festivals in the world.

Through our festival, we’ve dealt with the top agents and distributors—interacted with the very best young filmmakers working today—and you had better believe I brought my pen and notepad to ask hundreds of questions each time.

The first step to learning anything is admitting your blindspots—I had hundreds of them, and probably still do.

 

FESTIVAL SCHOOL

 

Running Pendance was akin to attending a high end film school. Becoming a festival director made me a wiser filmmaker, but it is my curiosity and propensity to remain curious that helped me write this playbook—to any of those people I pestered for insight who might be reading this—I’m sorry I was so annoying!

There IS a playbook—a set of ideas, rules, theories—that no one tells you about until you get in the right room with the right people. Some of us don’t get into that room until we’re already 10 years into our careers—and most others will quit long before ever getting there.

If you’re a filmmaker—I respect you. It’s a brave career choice and anyone who even thinks about doing it has my admiration. But how many people have to make the same 100 mistakes—waste the same $30,000—before we extend help?

Before we started Pendance in 2017, I had zero depth perception when it came to filmmaking. I assumed the difference between my short films and the best short films being produced was at best negligible. And each time I received a rejection from TIFF or Sundance, my heart would sink into the floorboards and I’d eat ice cream for a week. The films they selected looked just like mine. I didn’t get it.

Pendance 2019, Toronto, Canada.

In August, 2017, my friend Andjelika Javorina and I launched the Pendance film festival with the help of four other Toronto artists.  She was a composer and I was a screenwriter. Pen-dance—get it? And it was this film festival that allowed us to understand that we were wrong—our work was crap.

We were making  mediocre films that had no business going to top-end film festivalsso we stopped submitting for 3 years until we learned how to make better films.

Here’s a free tip—you need to watch other quality short films. It provides some context for your own work. They’re not mini-featuresthey’re an art form with their own set of specific rules and guidelines.

During the first two years at Pendance, we received 657 short film submissions. What did we learn from watching 657 shorts? Get really honest about your own work and what you’re trying to achieve.

• No more blindly spending $4000 on festival submissions.

• No more laurel-hunting via haphazard submission sprees.

• No more giving shorts away to streaming sites that at best get the same circulation as my personal Facebook page.

I started working on this article 3 years ago. And as much as I’m writing it for youI’m writing it for my former self. It’s a long-overdue letter full of better ideas and things worth knowing—a series of connected and disconnected things I wish I knew in 2015—but I’m happy to know today.

 

THE 99% RULE

 

You’ve probably heard of the 80-20 rule or the 90-10 rule—but filmmaking is a 99-1 business. You will derive 99% of your value from 1% of the potential opportunities at your disposal.

You need to seek feedback—sorry—you need to seek honest feedback from someone capable of giving credible feedback on your film. That’s the 99-1 rule. Whether you’re looking for someone to give you notes on your latest script or your new short film—99% of people will be either unwilling or unable to give you credible insight.

Pro Tip: Find 4-6 people  who make films and create a group where the sole focus is to provide brutally honest feedback on each other’s work.

Your mom probably isn’t trained to give you professional notes. She gave birth to you and she might even love you, but she cannot provide the type of feedback you need on your work. Sorry mom. Your lead actor and your sound designer are probably not much better. 

Before festival submissions—arrange a small watch party with some modestly intelligent friends and fellow filmmakers who had nothing to do with your film and just listen. Do they laugh at the funny parts? Do they look engaged? Do tense moments feel tense? Urge them to share their brutally honest opinions afterwards. 

Pro Tip: A lot of people attend festivals to watch their own films—BAD IDEA. Attend festivals to watch other people’s films. When your film comes on, step out to the side and make sure everyone sees you leave—then, periodically look at the audience and scan their faces for real-time feedback. 

 

YOUR SCOPE

 

The first step is also the hardest. Before anything is submitted, sold, or pitched, get a very clear idea of what you’re doing.

• Is your short film over 30 minutes?

• Does it contain excessive swearing and/or nudity?

• Are the sound design and colour a notch—or 3 notches below perfect?

• Did you use a single LED panel to light your entire film?

• Does your film take place in a forest? Your apartment?

• Did you use unlicensed music because it sounds cool?

If you answered “yes” to two or more of these questions, it might be wise to opt out of festival submissions—or—limit yourself to only the smallest and most local ones.

Pro Tip: If you want to make a big splash on the festival circuit, and insist on making a drama, make it a phenomenal one. If you’re not capable of making a great film, don’t make a drama—make a horror film. Or make a a documentary. Whatever you make—be original.

Honestlydon’t lock yourself into having to submit to festivals to please your cast and crew either. Film festivals are just one of many tools at your disposal—if you just finish the film within a year and send a link, everyone’s happy.

But I get it—laurels, parties, red carpets—if you’re still considering submitting to festivals in the next 12 months, this is the part of the article you absolutely need to read.

 

SHORT PLAYBOOK

EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE MAKING YOUR NEXT SHORT FILM

 

We’re here—you have a short film and you’ve determined that it belongs somewhere out there. Now it’s time to clearly identify what you’re looking for and what you’d like to get out of the experience.

Do you want to get distribution for another film?

Do you want to sell this film?

Do you want to get producers and agents interested in your work?

Do you want to have your 8 minute film financed to become a 96 minute feature?

OR do you just want to have fun, meet other filmmakers and learn?

Curfew became Before I Disappear. Whiplash, Thunder Road and The Last Black Man In San Francisco started as short films. In 2019, we had 2 short films; Piggy and Baghead which were picked up to be adapted into features—happens all the time. Whatever your goal—write it down.

Pro Tip: Be realistic. Some films have a market—others don’t. Selling your film at the Orlando Film Festival isn’t just difficult—it’s virtually impossible.

Whatever you want—there’s a festival best suited for it. You’ll have to do your research. Reach out to filmmakers who did what you’re trying to do and just ask for some pointers—a particular bar where all the distributors hang out, someone to look out for, an event which always features a few reputable agents.

 

YOUR TOP 5

 

Are you starting at TIFF? Or Venice? If you have a good film, you’ll want to start out at a festival that has good press contacts—and a good established reputation among the industry.

Identify 5 festivals you’d really love to start your festival run at, and focus all of your energy into getting into at least one of them.

Pro Tip: Did you know that programmers scout and attend top-end festivals and will often invite the films they like to submit to their festivals?

Getting into Sundance or TIFF isn’t just valuable because they’re amazing festivals— it also guarantees favourable odds at 1000’s of other festivals—you’re basically getting stamped for an amazing festival run.

 

SUBMIT EARLIER

 

You need to note deadlines—you know this! Early deadline fees are between 200-300% (sometimes more) lower than late deadline fees. Submitting late doesn’t mean you won’t get in—but there are almost zero advantages to doing so.

Do you really want to be the fourth film a programmer watches that year about a woman facing a bed bug infestation?

Once you have your first 5 festivals picked out, you absolutely need to map out 2 dates—the opening call for submissions, and the earliest submission deadline.

Let’s say I just finished my short film. I want to premiere at TIFF, but I’ll be fine with starting at any of these 5 festivals.These are the earliest submission deadlines for my 5 options.

Toronto International Film Festival – March 26, 2021

Fantasia Film Festival – February 28, 2021

Calgary International Film Festival – February 26, 2021

Vancouver International Film Festival – April 23, 2021

Austin Film Festival – March 26, 2021

 

Pro Tip: Once you’ve made your submission, kindly reach out to the head shorts programmer and introduce yourself via email, and in less than a paragraph notify them that you’ve made a submission to the festival and include your tracking number. This will increase the odds that a programmer watches your film or checks it out before a screener does.

This means that I need my final deliverables in by February 26th for Calgary, and I won’t submit to any festival that takes place before these events—clearing up any premiere conflicts in advance. You’ll also need to colour-code your calendar to map out the distinct festival runs based on where you’re starting out.

Pro Tip: Do not hound programmers or festival staff via social media—it’s weird and absolutely doesn’t work in your favour.

 

COLOUR-CODE IT

 

Sundance Film Festival, Park City, Utah.

Let’s assume you do get into TIFF. Congrats! Now what? It’s August 12th and you’re excited. You blast it out on social media. Everyone goes crazy. Your ex is calling. Everyone’s sharing it—next thing you know you’re two days away from the festival and you’ve done absolutely nothing for a month.

This is why you need a colour-coded calendar. Label each starting point a different colour, and then map out a festival path.

Within moments of receiving a TIFF acceptance you should be emailing programmers at virtually every other half decent autumn festival asking for a waiver or discount.

You should also be emailing the other 4 festivals on your list to let them know that your film will be having its premiere at TIFF ahead of their festivals. This is sometimes a little wink wink nudge nudge to give your project a second look if it has already been passed up. Other times—it’s just so they know.

Pro Tip: I’ve heard some very smart people suggest that asking for waivers is a bad idea and pisses people off—I disagree. Festival submissions are really expensive, and most larger festivals are more than capable of giving out a few waivers each year without incurring a big hit.

How does this look in practice? If TIFF is represented by the colour orange, then any festival you’d like to screen at—not in your top 5—that happens more than 3 weeks after TIFF should also be coloured in orange—this is your TIFF path. Getting into the Austin Film Festival is going to unlock different doors than getting into TIFF. The point is—have a game plan and logical steps pre-planned so you’re not scrambling on the day of.

Fun Fact: Most people suggest submitting to Sundance first—and this is likely why Sundance receives 9000+ short film submissions each year.

With most top end festivals—you’re going to want to pay very close attention to premieres. While a lot of top-end festivals will say they don’t have premiere requirements for shorts, there is certainly a premium placed on films making World and International Premieres.

Pro Tip: Canadian films would be wise to start in the summer from TIFF to Sundance, and American films would be wise to start in the fall/winter and go from Sundance to TIFF. Clermont-Ferrand—Melbourne—TIFF is probably one of my favourite pathways.

Conversely, some festivals do have premiere requirements for short films—State/Province premiere, International Premiere, World Premiere (rare). There’s absolutely no point in submitting to 4 festivals in Florida if all of them require Florida Premieres—pick the best one or the one that happens soonest and wait to hear back from them. Festival runs can range from 6 months to 18 months and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to this.

Pro Tip: I highly discourage submitting works in progress—especially if there’s some major component of your film missing from the edit. Just wait until you’re done and submit the final film.

 

THE HIDDEN COSTS

 

I’ve seen so many filmmakers blow their entire budget on submissions without ever considering travel and lodging. 99% of film festivals aren’t going to cover travel or lodging for short filmmakers. We covered 2 days of hotel stay for short filmmakers last year and were baffled to find out that this was almost unheard of among other festivals.

It’s a scary world and filmmakers are often the ones left holding the bag. If you are paying a sizeable sum submitting to a festival, make sure that if selected, it’s one you can actually attend.

Pro Tip: You can negotiate with festivals. Do so politely and as soon as you’re selected. You can ask for extra passes, extra tickets, some help with the lodging costs and possibly more. Just be aware that most festivals will not cover travel for short filmmakers, and only the best ones will cover a short hotel stay. Beyond that you’re usually on your own.

Festivals are brilliant platforms to learn, connect, grow, and get feedback. You miss so much of that if you don’t attend. I should clarify—good festivals are brilliant platforms. Attending a festival like Melbourne, Cork, Leeds, or Warsaw will absolutely be a worthwhile trip regardless of the expense. As for Joe Schmoe’s International Monthly Festival? You can just put that acceptance letter in the drawer and forget it.

 

GET DISTRIBUTION

 

If you have a really good short film, align yourself with a festival distribution company. They get favourable rates on bulk submissions and can leverage pre-existing relationships to help you get into the best festivals.

I’m not even going to pretend that this is as easy as it sounds—reputable distributors only represent the best shorts by artists that have already established themselves on the festival circuit—but it’s never going to hurt to email some companies and ask if they’d consider taking your film on.

Pro Tip: Almost all reputable distributors attend or scout the top 20 festivals, so getting into one is a good way to get on their radar. You may even meet some in person at these events OR they may approach you about representing your film after your screening.

Check out the distributor’s catalogue and try to imagine how your film fits in. Some distributors specialize by genre or specifically represent women or POC filmmakers.

Pro Tip: If you see hundreds of titles in their catalogue, move on to someone who does a better job curating. We’ve received dozens of requests from festival distributors looking for bulk rates and we almost always pass on the ones who don’t properly curate their catalogue for quality control.

If you’d like some guidance on some of our favourite festival distribution companies, you can check our past selections and find some common trends. Or you can just email us! 

 

THE RIGHT FESTIVAL

 

Aspen Shortsfest, Aspen, USA.

Try to look at past selections to get a sense of the types of projects the festival favours. If 90% of the short films at the festival were from local filmmakers, and you’re not a local filmmaker, don’t submit to that festival. If all of their films were under 15 minutes and your short is 22 minutes, don’t submit to that festival.

 

Also, the biggest film festivals aren’t necessarily the best film festivals for your short film. Film festivals like Aspen Shortsfest, Palm Springs International Shortsfest or Claremont-Ferrand might be far better options to kick-start your festival run.

 

Pro Tip: Don’t blow your entire budget on Sundance, SXSW and TIFF—but if you’ve made a great short submit to a few heavyweights. An Official Selection to Sundance is worth 50 selections at mid-sized regional festivals, and 1000 selections at these obscure monthly ones.

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But there are dozens of festivals out there that can do something meaningful for your career that might be better fits for your project. Consider moving one notch down from mega festivals like Sundance and TIFF to festivals like Austin, Palm Springs, Aspen, Rotterdam, Slamdance or Seattle. You won’t have 600 in attendance, and you probably won’t meet Matt Damon, but it’s absolutely a great experience and one worth celebrating.

 

Pro Tip: Email festivals and ask for submission discounts and waivers. Tell them a bit about your project to pique their interest. Sometimes this works. But don’t be discouraged if it doesn’t.

 

BE YOUR PUBLICIST

 

I’ll be honest—I HATE THIS PART. I hate the idea of having filmmakers to reach out to the press to feature their film or attend their screening. I hate the idea that some filmmakers message us saying that if they’re selected, they’ll sell out a screening for us by leveraging their existing social media presence.

 

But hating reality doesn’t change reality. This is the harsh reality—you need a publicist. If you can’t afford a decent one—become a half-decent one.

 

We’ve worked so hard at Pendance to work for filmmakers—we cut trailers, write articles, do press outreach. We offer platforms for them to teach free-workshops at the festival and sit on panels.

 

But the best outcomes always come from filmmakers who work hard for themselves.

 

We selected Filmmaker A in 2019 and this individual was hyper-prepared. They really understood the game since they were dating a producer who had clearly explained it to them.

 

They asked for our press-list within moments of being selected and emailed hundreds of critics to attend their screening. It worked wonders—the film was covered by 2 major publications—they leveraged the publicity and positive reviews to get into 2-3 other incredible festivals and grabbed themselves a Vimeo Staff Pick. Smart Cookie!

 

We selected Filmmaker B in 2020. They didn’t have as strong a film as Filmmaker A, but they happened to be local to Toronto. They hammered people to come to their screening, they got on social media and made dozens of calls. Their film out-sold Werner Herzog’s Ontario Premiere at Pendance 2020.

 

I wish smaller festivals could do more for individual filmmakers, but they usually can’t. We’ve been able to do as much as we have largely because we have a really talented team full of editors, web designers, and people with strong business backgrounds.

 

If we had to pay for these things, we’d be broke. Festivals have a job to market their event. That event sometimes includes parties, galas, workshops, 70-130 films, and press conferences. As a short filmmaker, you’re not a priority for anyone except yourself. So become your own agent, publicist and hype man.

 

A THEATRICAL RUN

 

Filmmaker Barbara Vekaric, Aleksi, 2020

Beyond the top 20-40 film festivals in the world, those laurels are mostly meaningless. Honestly. Treat most festival submissions as a limited theatrical release commitment. In exchange for your submission fee, this festival is taking care of the exhibition costs associated with your film.

 

The raw deal for most short films is that they don’t generally garner a screening fee. You’ll see almost no money from this ‘limited theatrical run’—regardless of how well or poorly it goes. But you also assume zero costs or risk—that’s the tradeoff.

 

What is the real value of a Sundance selection for a short film? It totally depends on you. You could just not go and blast it on social media—thus limiting the value to virtually nil—OR you can use that one selection to go to Park City, meet incredible people, find gigs, find financing, find an agent, become a filmmaker Sundance repeatedly selects, and contact other festivals to set yourself up for a 150-170 festival run for almost no money—a value of maybe $500,000. Your call.

 

AVOID SCAMS

 

I’ve been told 100 times to NEVER publicly comment on other festivals. As the festival director at Pendance it probably appears tacky and unprofessional. I know a lot of these programmers and artistic directors and it’s a close-knit community—no one’s trying to commit career suicide here.

But I’m a filmmaker too. And that part of me wants to scream “Shut up! Shut up! Shut the f$#k up! They need to know this!”

 

Pro Tip: Google 4-5 of the reviewers. Are they real people? Are they the types of filmmakers you might want to meet? Are they filmmakers at all? All you need to sign up for a FilmFreeway user account is an email. Always remember that when festivals tout their 50 positive reviews as a reason for you to submit.

 

As a filmmaker, I was once told that my film would only be exhibited at a certain European film festival if and only if I paid to publish an advertisement promoting the screening in a magazine which was—wait for it—owned by the very same festival. Ah, first year filmmaking woes.

 

Pro Tip: Most reputable and reasonably established film festivals will actively watch your film in full and may even have 2-3 people do so while taking comprehensive and detailed notes on the film. Have I heard of festivals outsourcing screenings to first year film school students? Sure. But you haven’t heard of those festivals—and that’s probably why. 

 

FilmFreeway has a very low bar for what qualifies as a legitimate event—there’s an ongoing challenge in terms of quality control. I’d love to say you’ll know when you see a scam—but you won’t. So I’ll give you a list of 3 things I really look for.

 

•  Hundreds of positive reviews for a first or second year festival. This screams scam. Festivals that select 300 films after receiving 350 submissions aren’t festivals—they’re pyramid schemes. Speaking from experience, it’s virtually impossible to program that many films while maintaining anything that even resembles quality control.

•  Zero digital footprint. Some festivals aren’t tech-savvy and they’re just really old. They market films exclusively through newspapers and flyers and haven’t even heard of Instagram. These are not scam festivals—they’re dinosaurs. But if a festival started after 2001, and they don’t have a modern-ish website and some sort of ongoing social media presence, this is a major red flag and should be a strong indication to avoid submitting.

•  Too good to be true. “We’re the best festival in New Zealand”. Sure. The best festivals seldom market themselves like used car salesmen. It’s really difficult to ascertain the value of a festival that takes place 2000 km away, but just use your judgment and common sense.

 

WHEN TO WALK AWAY

 

I’ve never met a filmmaker who didn’t—at some point—completely misjudge their own work—for better or worse. You need to track your acceptance rate and know when to stop submitting. I’ve gone through this with 2 of my own films. I didn’t see them clearly at the time and I needlessly wasted $1000’s on submissions.

Pro Tip: If you’re consistently being rejected by more than 80% of the festivals you’re submitting to, there’s something wrong with your film OR what you’re doing.

When you find yourself getting really desperate, walk away. Some films just don’t belong in film festivals—it’s a tough pill to swallow. It doesn’t mean they’re bad per se—just means you need to find another way to get them out into the world.

Pro Tip: Most low to mid-tier regional festivals will accept virtually any short film that is professionally coloured, sound-designed, shot and edited. They’re either unwilling to seek more from their films, or unable to ask for more due to low submission numbers.

Festivals seem quite focused on how the film looks and sounds—audiences on YouTube or Facebook are far more forgiving of technical issues. If you have a great story that evokes strong emotion—and the only real problem is that it sounds and looks amateurish—you’ll have much better luck finding an audience online.

 

YOUR REPUTATION

 

Programmers talk. Things get passed around. It’s only human. If you got drunk at a certain festival in Louisiana and trashed your hotel room—I’ve probably heard of you. E-mail me Jason. You’re a legend and we need to talk.

I’m not suggesting that you suck up to festival staff and act like someone you’re not—but be careful you don’t develop a reputation for making trouble or being difficult to work with.

Pro Tip: Take your Q&A seriously. This is an opportunity to give people the smallest glimpse into who you are, how you think, and what working with you might be like. Don’t blow it with um’s and ah’s or one word answers.

Pendance, 2020, Toronto, Canada.

I want to be careful about how I say the following thing—be careful when posting negative reviews.

I get it. I’ve been there. You have concrete proof that a certain festival rejected your film without even watching it. You want to write the most strongly worded email to them asking for your money back. How dare they take $40 from you and not even watch your film!

You decide to take it one step further and make a big post about it on social media. You’ll find some support in your virtual echo chamber—but for every 7 people you help or warn, you’ll turn 3 people away from ever wanting to work with you again.

Fun Story: I was once selected to a fairly popular American festival and I was over-the-moon excited about it. I had my bags packed and was ready to fly halfway around the country with my girlfriend at the time.

That’s when they dropped a bombshell—they wouldn’t cover a dime of my lodging expenses, refused to offer my girlfriend a complimentary pass, and were instead asking me to buy 20 tickets to my own screening so that they can donate the tickets to a local film school.

Here’s what I did—I wrote the nastiest email imaginable explaining my frustration—and then I deleted it. I made my donation, didn’t attend, and never submitted again.

Actually—they became a guiding light for me personally on how we would eventually run Pendance. We always offer complimentary tickets and passes to filmmakers, and always offer to cover some part of the travel and lodging expenses for filmmakers. That nasty email is going to make you feel good for 5 minutes—it’s not worth it.

Pro Tip: Don’t leave positive reviews after a negative experience. Unless it was abhorrently bad—don’t leave any reviews and just move on.

If you’ve had a negative experience with a festival, share it with your closest friends and family, a few select industry contacts you absolutely trust, and then just move on with your life.

Alright—this is where I commit my career suicide. It’s widely stated that this theory of favouritism is overblown and that festivals really do give every film the same opportunities—I completely disagree. I totally disagree. And every filmmaker who has cracked the surface of the pearly gates would privately admit the same.

There’s a heavy priority given to alumni, films that have come through reputable pipelines, films with stars or bigger names attached, and films by directors who already have a strong resume—honestly, I’m not even sure why the hell we’re pretending this doesn’t happen—it does.

But festivals are also prone to unearth gems and champion new voices each and every year. While this may sound like I’m contradicting myself—I’m not.

When you submit to a bigger festival, you do so under the impression that you and the other blind submissions will be competing for one of 135 or 150 slots. You’ve made a good film—you know some submissions will probably be wedding videos shot on an iPhone—so you like your odds.

That’s the part I’d like to correct—you’re not fighting for 135-150 slots. At best, you’re fighting for 1 of 10-15 slots—remember that. I know filmmakers who’ve screened at top festivals with absolute gems and then followed that triumph up with a terrible film—it still got in.

The question worth asking of course is at whose expense? Film festivals build relationships with artists, distributors, studios—filmmakers develop a following at that festival. You’re not going to not select a subpar entry from that director for 2 reasons—that director’s subpar film’s still going to outsell your random discovery film—and that director might not bring their next film back if you piss them off.

But you’re not sunk. If you don’t like this system—and I’m certainly not an advocate for it—then use what you can and leverage it to your own advantage. Film festivals are like a family—they promote their own. Hating this isn’t going to get you anywhere. I suggest you instead find a creative way to get into that family.

Pro Tip: Scrub that social media profile. If you’re hoping for a bigger festival to take a chance on selecting you—be sure to polish up your social media footprint and ensure that nothing too embarrassing shows up when someone googles you.

Apply for labs. Get on their radar. Talk to festival programmers. You’re not going to get into that inner circle if no one knows who you are.

 

WHEN IN ROME…

 

There are so many things to do at most decent film festivals. You can become a tourist in a new city and make life-long friendships with other filmmakers. You can chum up to some of the programming staff to learn more about their jobs. You can attend workshops and panels on relevant industry topics. You can attend gatherings and parties around the festival.

Pro Tip: Whenever you attend a festival, always have a project in mind in case someone asks what you’d like to do next. If possible, bring the script itself on a flash drive or a pitch deck. Most good producers are going to be reluctant to accept anything from a filmmaker directly and will ask you to submit through your agent, but you never know what a few martinis might do to people’s inhibitions. On a related note—stay sober. Others won’t. And that’s fine. Use it.

Some festivals create filmmaker-specific activities and retreats like kayaking and hiking. Overall, we’re very pro-festival experience and suggest you try and make some new friends! We’ve heard so many stories about how a film that screened at our festival in 2019 actually started as a conversation between 2-3 people at the Brooklyn Film Festival in 2015, or Telluride in 2017.

 

ALUMNI STATUS

 

Robert Misovic & Tijana Milenkovic, Pendance 2020.

We’ve never selected a film because the filmmaker was known to us or because we’d selected their past work—that’s where our #StoryOverEverything slogan comes from—a promise that films will be judged exclusively by the story on the screen and nothing else.

But this isn’t how the rest of the world works and I’ve needed to learn to come to terms with it. Have you ever had that one friend who always has their Louisiana Premiere at the same festival—year after year? He or she is leveraging their alumni status—and you should do it as well.

Let me be blunt—unknown filmmakers are a risk. And the biggest festivals have a lot to lose by making a mistake. What if you select a person and they turn out to be a Neo-Nazi? What if they come to your festival and trash the hotel room?

What if they get on stage and scream obscenities? What if a selected filmmaker refuses to screen their film at the 11th hour and pulls out—sending you into a tailspin to adjust your already-printed schedule?

There are hundreds of variables involved when you select a filmmaker to be part of your event—and it’s human nature to want to give a slight preference to the safer option.

 

BE A SAFER BET

 

There’s no way to prove to someone that you’re an upstanding human who will bring value to the film festival, but you can absolutely tilt the odds of being perceived as one in your favour by doing a few things.

  • Don’t harass programmers for waivers OR status updates on your project. Emailing once is enough.
  • If you submit on FilmFreeway, keep your project file up to date with past selections
  • Complete your director bio and include education history and a snapshot of past accomplishments (talent labs, film school, a past selection to Cannes, a few personal anecdotes)
  • Post an image of yourself not doing stupid things at other festivals—this helps.
  • Send in a reference letter from someone who has already screened at the festival or a credible programmer who knows you.

 

Final Deadline: February, 24, 2021.

 

GET PEOPLE EXCITED

 

Programmers and screeners aren’t built equal. I’ve had conversations with programmers over at Calgary or at Karlovy Vary that have humbled me deeply—and I’ve had conversations with programmers that leave me wondering how they’re allowed to walk with scissors.

Regardless of who watches your film, bank on 2 things—they’re human, and yours isn’t the only film they’re going to watch that day.

It helps to have a short, well-written (1-2 paragraphs) cover letter, a marketable poster and a few high quality stills.

Pro Tip: Don’t just include 9 behind the scenes photos. Include at least 4-5 excellent still photos from your film—photos that convey tension, drama, production value. Play to your film’s strengths.

If you’re going to include a tonne of behind-the-scenes photos, you had better have one helluva production story. One example was Justin Black and Emily Jenkins’ Terminally in Love where they strapped a special camera rig to the actors’ heads for this amazing POV short film.

That’s really cool and it gets me super excited to see how you made it—but if it’s just you and your buddies holding a boom pole in your apartment as the camera assistant eats a muffin—save it for yourself.

Programmers are humans.

Director statements are so important if your film is even slightly in need of some additional notes and insight. This is a canvas to tell the people watching your film a bit about why you made it and why this story is important for you.

Sometimes, highly intellectual films with too many moving parts actually do go over a screener’s head. Wait. It was a metaphor for classism in modern society!? I thought it was about hating your job!

Don’t assume that people are going to read your film properly. Films are highly subjective. Last year we had TIFF programmer Robyn Citizen leading our 8-person Short Film Jury.

Among the 10 films short-listed for Best Short Film, the film I had ranked 8th won the Grand Prize. Am I stupid? What did I not get about that film? It took a director statement for me to realize there were a few details I’d missed, and after understanding those details it was impossible to watch the film the same way again.

Pro Tip: Don’t email me to tell me your film was a labor of love, that you self-financed it, or that you didn’t have enough time. Also, get comfortable with rejection. I spoke with someone who won an Oscar with their short and they told me they had over 150 rejections too.

FilmFreeway gives you a profile which takes an hour to fill out properly—and yet over 95% of filmmakers either do it poorly or don’t do it at all. You’re not going to get in to the best film festivals just because you filled out this profile—but this is an advantage you should cease. Film festivals receive 1000’s of submissions—why not give yourself a 1% advantage and stand out?

 

FESTIVAL SCOUTING

 

Every festival and every programmer starts somewhere—learn to spot the good ones. Ask filmmakers you trust who are a bit further ahead in their careers about which festivals they’d recommend.

Maybe 1-2% of first year festivals are legitimately worth submitting to towards the tail-end of your festival run. While it’s possible that the festival itself may take giant leaps in the future, it’s equally possible that a programmer or director from that festival might find themselves on a bigger stage in a few years. Where do you think film festivals like SXSW and Venice find new programmers?

Pro Tip: Oscar-Qualifying Film Festivals are often misunderstood—if you win an award at one of these festivals, you become eligible to submit your film to the Academy for consideration for an Academy Award. Our 2020 selection The Van was just short-listed for an Oscar. But if you don’t get into one of these festivals, all you need to do is hold a brief theatrical run in Los Angeles with paid screenings (2 per day minimum) to become eligible. Check out this awesome article to learn more. 

I’ve personally been offered lead programming jobs at several established European festivals with a bit more clout and prestige than Pendance—and if I ever took the opportunity to move halfway across the world and join them, I’d be bringing my filmmaker Rolodex and list of experiences with me.

 

BRING IT BACK HOME

 

Italian Contemporary Film Festival, Toronto, Canada.

Submit to some local festivals that you have a good chance of getting into—preferably decent ones with a good turnout. Local festivals are a good idea to schedule at the tail-end of your festival run.

You can get your cast and crew out, meet others within your local industry, and even land some meaningful leads for work if your film is decent.

I’ve regularly had my shorts selected to ICFF (Italian Contemporary Film Festival) because they’re a welcoming film festival with great press contacts. Bonus—they always showcase our film at the TIFF Bell Lightbox. It’s not Berlinale—but it’s more than worth the experience. Since they exhibit films across Canada, I usually get to have my Ontario, Quebec and B.C premiere in one go.

 

THE END IS NEAR

 

Actually—the end is not near. A successful festival run is just the beginning of your film’s journey in the digital age—not the end. So many amazing projects fizzle out after their festival run and go die out on a hard drive. In the final section of this article, I want to give you some solid ideas on what to do with your film after you’ve completed your festival run.

 

VIEWS ≠ IMPACT

DISTRIBUTION IN THE DIGITAL AGE

 

I am a big advocate for filmmakers retaining the rights to their work. If you want to give your work for free to a big channel to generate some viewsfineI’m just going to suggest you do it differently. In order to keep this nice and legal, I’ll refrain from citing any specific channels. Here are my top 5 options for what to do with your short film after it’s done.

PACKAGE IT

This is the most sensible option, and one that a lot of people don’t even think exists. If your short is good, you can sell it in a multitude of different ways. You can package it with 3-4 other shorts with similar themes and market it as a feature-length anthology. There are producers and distributors that specialize in this sort of thing. One of my favourite short films from our 2019 festivalRubber Dolphin by Ori Aharonis now part of an LGBTQ anthology called ‘The Israeli Boys’ which is for sale via Vimeo On Demand. 

 

SELL IT

Did you make a festival darling that premiered at Sundance or Cannes? Had a big star or someone involved in the film who has a huge following? Go On-Demand and devote yourself to aggressive cheap marketing to draw in your audience. Create a social media account and get very chatty. Or, you could try and sell it to a streaming service like CRAVE or MUBI—both of which list short films!

Visually Ambitious Short Film? Sell it for stock. Seriously. Part out those brilliant crane and drone shots of the African wilderness and sell it. Don’t even have an ego about this and don’t think twice.  Now is not the time to get snobby and pretentiousthe next person who wants to invest in your film ideas will love that you thought to do this.

A lengthy short documentary? Maybe about someone famous or a current topic of importance? Try to see if a network would consider licensing your film and putting it on television. This is rare but I’ve seen it happen a few times. The deals those filmmakers got were $15,000 and $20,000 CAD respectively.

None of the above? Don’t waste your time. It’s admirable, but the marketing push required to sell an average or below average film to a wide audience isn’t worth it. But don’t be sad, because you might still find success.

 

STAFF PICK

Put your film on Vimeo and enlist the help of services like ‘Short of the Week’, ‘Director’s Notes’ or any number of digital libraries out there that have a following and a platform but allow creators to keep their own film link. Most of these sites will additionally release some sort of article along with your film, including an opportunity for a Q&A or background on the film to engage potential viewers.

Those first 72 hours when you release a film are super important, and you should take every bit of help you can find. Reach out to local film blogs. Reach out to magazines. See who might be willing to cover your release.

Pro Tip: Whenever possible, have something interesting happen within the first 15-20 seconds of your film. Don’t waste those seconds with credits and black screens. People have a very limited attention span.

Include a trailer, a poster, some stills, a bit about yourself and if possible, an electronic press kit. Give them a story. This is the last film so and so ever acted in! It’s the first film ever shot upside down on an iPhone.

Become your own PR department. Of course, the holy grail here after all of this would be the Vimeo Staff Pick—awarded to films that Vimeo wishes to give their stamp of approval in a highly selective and curated list. 8 past selections from Pendance have gone on to be staff-picked and it’s so exciting whenever this happens.

But not all Staff Picks are created equal. Some get 400,000 views, others get 50,000. You’ll still have to do a ton of legwork to make sure your film does well. But regardless of how many views the film generates, being listed as a Vimeo Staff Pick means about as much as any festival selection you’ll ever receive.

WHAT’S THE VIMEO ADVANTAGE?

• Compared to YouTube, Vimeo is relatively niche. Google obviously prioritizes YouTube links, and the site has far more users. But even if it means getting 50% less views, I’d still advocate for a Vimeo Release over a YouTube one.

• Vimeo users are more likely to be other people in the film industry.

• Vimeo registers ‘views’ differently and arguably more accurately than YouTube does.

• Vimeo allows creators to have a ‘hire me’ button below their video so that those looking to hire the filmmaker for an upcoming project can reach out directly.

• Vimeo encourages reflection while YouTube is algorithmically designed to never let you stop streaming.  This means that after a film is over, Vimeo isn’t urging the viewer to check out some related video on someone else’s channel. Instead, viewers are given an option to save the film to a collection, like the video, or follow the creator. You can amass a huge and dedicated following from just 1-2 really good videos on Vimeo. YouTube requires a bit more work and a steady stream of content.

• No ads. This is either a pro or a con depending on how you look at it. But ads are tacky and unless your film is generating 400,000 views, any money you may or may not make on a YouTube video these days from ad revenue is very small.

• Better video quality. Vimeo just has better video quality. I have nothing further to add and it’s not even debatable.

 

SELF-DISTRIBUTE

Okay. No one wants to staff pick your film? It didn’t get a nod from Short of the Week? No problem. Put it on your own YouTube or Vimeo channel and aggressively market it. You might have to spam some Facebook groups. You might need to follow thousands of accounts on Twitter. It’s not fun and it’s not always proven to work, but just keep putting your film in front of people.

YouTube videos can continue amassing thousands of views for years after they’re released. I put some of my own short films on YouTube and one in particular, Stain, caught on. Now just 2 months in, it’s averaging about 250 views per day (and building). I get at least one email or message per week from someone who saw the film OR wants to work together.

Pro Tip: YouTube and Vimeo channels should be treated like television channels. They open a world of possibilities to creators to build loyal followings.

It’s by no means the type of short that’s going to roll out the red carpet to Hollywood, and it will never go viral. But it’s nice to know that something you made is finding an audience and allowing you to build a small following.

Our Pensare Films YouTube Channel just crossed 1,540 subscribers and a lot of them are coming in because of a handful of shorts. It is these people who will watch your trailers for upcoming projects and share your films in the future.  If your short film does nothing but find you 10 awesome people who want to work with you, consider it a success.

 

3RD-PARTY CHANNEL 

This seems smart until you think about it. Short term it’s great. Long-term, you’re selling yourself short. It’s a step up from not doing anything with your film, but it’s not a big step. If the channel is huge you might get a few hundred thousand or even a million views. In either case, the channel that uploaded the film generates more subscribers for their channel, more views for their other videos, and pays the filmmaker nothing in return.

Pro Tip: Data is everything. Understanding your audience trends and demographics is invaluable. Speaking from a tech background, you should aim to have every interaction on your own playground. YouTube and Vimeo offer you the right to host videos for free because they realize it’s a small cost to have your content on their site as they gather information about the people who view your film. 

They also keep all that super valuable data about who is watching your film. This is an absolutely terrible model, and the fact that it’s often touted as the best option is absolutely baffling.

Alright. The New Yorker uploaded 2016’s Live Action Oscar Winner ‘Stutterer’ and that actually wasn’t the worst option available. There are exceptions to this model—some pay something, some split ad revenue, some link your channel in their description. But in most cases, these channels use free content to generate maximum value for themselves and minimal value for the original creators.

PARTING NOTES

This was a lengthy article so if you’ve made it to the end, thank you. Honestlyyou’re probably not going to get into Sundance or TIFF or be nominated for an Oscaramong the thousands of short films made each year—only a handful ever are. I don’t say this to discourage you—rather—I’m suggesting you embrace this as a reason to find solid plan B’s and C’s to achieve the results you want.

In this article, I wanted to offer my perspective on what you should and shouldn’t do with your short films moving forward. If you got something useful out of this, please share it with others in the industry! Any tips you think we missed? Get in touch! We share this knowledge because we’re a festival for filmmakers by filmmakers—and we never forget that. 

#tips #filmindustry #filmfestival #movies #filmfestival 

 

Robert Misovic is a Serbian-Canadian writer/director, the founder of the Pensare Films Studio in Toronto, and the festival director for the Pendance Film Festival. If you’d like to stay up to date with Pendance, follow @pendancefilmfestival. If you’d like to keep up with Rob on social media, you can find him on instagram @pensare.films or reach him directly at robert.misovic@pensarefilms.com.

How Students from Uruguay made an Award-Winning Short Film for $2000

Clara Lezama’s short film ‘Emma’ screened at a host of South American festivals, including Festival Internacional de Escuelas de Cine & Festival Piriápolis de Película, winning best Uruguayan Short Film at both. ‘Emma’ came to Pendance for its North American Premiere on December, 15, 2017 and was awarded the Jury Prize for Best Short Film.

After the screening of ‘Emma’, we introduced Clara to the audience and everyone seemed to have one question — “Was that seriously a micro-budget student film written by a 19-year old?” Have you ever heard 420 people audibly gasp in unison? It was chilling. After years of spinning our own theories on how Clara, her cinematographer Karen Antunes, and fellow students from Escuela de Cine del Uruguay managed to pull this off, we decided to just ask her.

If you haven’t seen Emma, you can watch the full film for free on The Pendance Library here.

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CLARA LEZAMA Q&A

Thanks so much for doing this. Firstly, how are you and how is the situation with the COVID-19 pandemic in Uruguay?

The situation here was under control until December when the number of cases started to rise and we reached ‘Level 4’. I work at the cinema and my job was interrupted for six months. Now we’re back –with preventive sanitary measures- but things are very unpredictable (like everywhere I guess).

What advice would you give to any filmmaker who can’t decide whether or not they want to go to film school? Pros? Cons?

I think it depends on the school, its approach, teachers, and what it can offer to you. Personally, I think it was nice to have the guidance of my teachers (most of them actively work in movies). Then I think it’s up to the student to make the best of it.

You wrote ‘Emma’ when you were 19 years old. And yet it feels ‘mature’. It doesn’t suffer from excessive dialogue or rushed pacing. Where did this story come from and how were you (at 19-22) able to tell it?

I think it all came from what was going on in my mind those days. The idea of isolation, mental states and altered reality was very attractive to me. I guess my anxiety was my inspiration. My goal was to create a certain atmosphere and I thought that dialogue wasn’t the way to achieve that. I was interested in letting the audience create its idea of what exactly is happening, I focused on the feeling.

We’ve had a lot of people mention the visual and narrative similarities between ‘Emma’ and Kubrick’s ‘The Shining’ and David Lynch’s ‘Eraserhead’… In that they take place in these immaculate locations, warmly lit, as a paranoid character quietly seems to lose their mind. Was ‘Emma’ visually or narratively inspired by those films, or other films?

Wow, those are big great films. Lynch’s work is very inspirational to me all the time. For ‘Emma’ my primary inspiration was Polanski’s apartment trilogy but of course other films inspired me in other ways like Zulawski’s Possession, Suspiria (Dario Argento), Barton Fink (Cohen Brothers) or 3 Women (Robert Altman).

There’s a very warm colour palette with reds and yellows contrasted by greens and occasional blues. How much attention to detail went into production design and colour theory?

I wanted to create an enclosed, saturated atmosphere with lots of textures. I wanted it to look like the hotel had no time. The story could be happening today or 30 years ago. It was important for me and I always saw the hotel as a character that is alive and not living at the same time. My first idea was more brown with yellow, green and blue but more low-contrasted. When we got our location confirmed things changed a little. I had several references of film frames and paintings that I showed to the production designer and things came intuitively.

If you had to be trapped on an island and could bring only 3 books and 3 films with you, to watch and read for a whole year, what are you bringing?

I can’t answer this!

Given the gender disparity between men and women behind the camera as both directors and cinematographers, how important was it on ‘Emma’ to work with your cinematographer Karen Antunes?

Well, we were like 15 people in my class and more women than men, we worked equally. Karen is a great editor and cinematographer, it was great working with her. I feel the most important thing is to have fluent communication where both understand the particular needs of the narration.

You shot this film on $2000 if I recall correctly?  How were you able to achieve such a result, between the lighting, locations, set design, wardrobe, feeding people, gear, crew?

We shot it at an incredible place that used to be the countryside mansion of a wealthy family and now is the National Anthropology Museum. We had other places in mind but this location was perfect and cost-free because it’s municipal. The director of the place allowed us to shoot for four days, five hours each day and we had to adjust our schedule to that and it was enough to tell the story. That reduced feeding and transportation costs. Most of the set design was already there, we only rented a few things. The crew were my classmates and some people who collaborated as volunteers with us. Most of the gear was from school, we only rented the camera and a few other things.

Q: How did you approach casting your characters? Were they known to you? Did you hold big auditions?

A: We made an open audition in school but it wasn’t very successful for me. I contacted some casting agencies and asked for help from friends from the acting world. I’d seen Chiara and Hugo (man next door) acting in other films so I called them. Then for the extras I called my aunt and my little cousin.

Q: What’s the nicest thing anyone has ever said to you about ‘Emma’?

A: I don’t know!

Q: What’s the worst comment you’ve ever received about the film?

A: None!

Filmmaker Clara Lezama (b. 1994)

We asked our Instagram followers if they had questions for you. Here are 6 of those questions.
Audience Question from Alex: Who is this film targeting? Who did you make this film for?

A: For me and whoever is interested.

Audience Question from Ethan: What is the arm injury she has supposed to represent? And what happened to her before? Abuse? Accident?

A: It represents something that hurt (her) from the past.

Audience Question from Cassandra: Hey Clara loved Emma. When is your next film coming out and whats it about?

A: I’m glad you liked it! Soon I hope! I’m working on it.

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Audience Question from Jessica; What’s with all the creepy men?

A: It’s the feeling of being threatened.

Audience Question from Kamelia: Is this film really happening? There’s naturally something surreal happening, a dream, a nightmare, purgatory?

It’s a subjective reality and a high stage of paranoia she needs to confront to get over.

Audience Question from Filipe: Theres a picture on the wall of the bird? You kept showing it, changing under the light. Does this signify time? And how much of your film is about time and waiting if any?

Those birds belong to a silk tapestry that was hanging in the location and I was mesmerized by it. They were facing each other and I felt there was a connection with what was happening. The first idea was to use them for the credits but the editor used them as transitions and I think it came out better. Time is suspended in the film, it passes but not really. She waits for things to change until she realizes she’s the one that must act for that to happen.

NOW STREAMING

8 THINGS WE LEARNED

There’s a lot to learn from Clara’s process behind ‘Emma’, but we did a ton of digging to come up with a few tangible lessons we could offer readers trying to create their own success story with micro-budget short films. Consider them the golden rules to planning your next shoot if money is tight.

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION 

One thing everyone says when they watch ‘Emma’ is that while the cinematography and editing are indeed commendable, it’s the location which adds significantly to the production value and story. As Clara mentioned, they were able to source the location for free. Locations like this do occasionally become available. Far too many filmmakers give up before trying and resort to shooting in their apartment or in a field.

As Tom Hardy’s character says in Inception “You mustn’t be afraid to dream a little bigger darling”. Align yourself with a producer and locations manager who can source good deals for you. You might not find the type of location Clara found for ‘Emma’ for free, but you might find something close to it for almost nothing. It happens all the time. Even here in North America.

DIRECTING WELL MEANS CASTING REALLY WELL

If you’re going to be shooting at a break-neck pace, you absolutely need to put some serious emphasis in how well you cast your principal actors. The actors in ‘Emma’ are highly natural. It is difficult to imagine that this film was shot in roughly 20 hours over 4 days given the complex nature of the set design and lighting setups. If time is of the essence, you need actors who are hyper prepared and ready to adapt on the fly when things aren’t working.

WORK WITH TALENTED PEOPLE YOU TRUST & BE HUMBLE

It’s apparent from knowing Clara for the past few years that she’s an incredibly humble artist. She served on our short film jury in 2020 alongside some incredible people because we really value her opinion and judgment. And it’s remarkable how often it is these types of directors who are willing to align themselves with the best collaborators.

Clara’s cinematographer Karen Antunes is currently an editor in Mexico City. Just a few years removed from her graduation, she’s been working on high profile projects including some high end brand content and the Netflix series ‘Selena’. She’s really talented. It was genuinely shocking to learn that Karen had literally never been a cinematographer before shooting ‘Emma’ and had never done it again since.

What would ‘Emma’ be without Clara’s deeply personal script, Antunes’ sharp creative eye, or Chiara Hourcade’s compelling performance? It would be incomplete. Filmmaking is never a one man or woman show. The best directors get over themselves early on and really understand that.

LIMIT YOUR DIALOGUE 

This should be a general rule of thumb regardless of budget, but you should especially sincerely consider slashing dialogue to a minimum when time and money are tight. Dialogue is not only one of the hardest things for younger screenwriters to get right, it’s also one of the most difficult things to nail on set. One thing we truly loved about ‘Emma’ was that it felt extremely self-contained and focussed. It was deliberate and well-paced, and each line of dialogue felt absolutely essential.

WORK FAST, BUT NEVER RUSH

There’s a line, and it’s a fine one. A lot of films submissions our festival receives each year could have desperately used another shoot day. Which film couldn’t? But when locations are restricted, and the budget constraints are so severe relative to the overall scope of the project, there’s very little wiggle room to lose twenty minutes, much less an hour. To shoot a fourteen minute film which looks as good as ‘Emma’, with a small crew, in roughly 20 hours is almost unfathomable.

This means plan everything when it’s free. Go through all of your blocking rehearsals. Mimic the locations beforehand. Every crew member needs to be prepped and each actor needs to know their lines forward and backwards before arriving to set.

WORK SHORTER DAYS

This might be controversial to all the 14-hour-day-minimum people out there worried about spiking rental and location costs, but when people are working for low-pay or volunteering, working shorter days can go a very long way to earning some much needed good will. The downside of course is rentals. But since most rental houses offer a significantly discounted rate on weekly rentals, consider this the trade-off for a more productive and happy cast and crew.

If everyone knows that they’re in and out in less than 7 or 8 hours (or in the case of Clara’s shoot, 5 hours), there’s an intense focus with which everyone moves. 14 hour days feel long for all 14 hours. People are slow to set up because they’re trying to pace themselves, and they’re generally counting down the minutes by hour 9. People simply aren’t meant to work 14 hours productively.

WRITE SOMETHING PERSONAL 

No. We don’t mean you should write a story about being a struggling screenwriter. But do write from something you can draw on from personal experience. Whether that’s a feeling, a fear, a character, a thought, or an idea. Whatever you’re filming should mean something to you. Far too many people get bogged down into making something that they think is relevant or marketable to others. We sincerely believe that writing a script you care about early in your career will attract better people to your project. It’s absolutely lovely to work with a director who actually cares about their script.

TAKE YOUR SWEET @$# TIME TO GET IT RIGHT

It’s not hard to be short-sighted—it’s almost a default setting in the film industry. Once a project is announced, there’s a ton of momentum to get it done. Any filmmaker who has seen the full process behind making a really great film would tell you that there’s a million mini-steps, re-steps, do-overs, and problems that need to be solved. Clara wrote ‘Emma’ in 2013, shot it in 2015, released it in 2016, made her North American Premiere in late 2017, and had the film released to the world in 2021.

Films can have a really long story. Once released, they can go on to have a life of their own, potentially generating cashflow via VOD, or racking up millions of views on streaming platforms. It’s not uncommon that a film made in 2012 nets someone a job in 2021. It happens all the time. So take your time. Take as long as you need to make the best possible film you can.

Then let it go.

#tips #filmindustry #filmfestival #movies #filmfestival

 

Robert Misovic is a Serbian-Canadian writer and director, the founder of the Pensare Films Studio in Toronto, and the festival director for the Pendance Film Festival. If you’d like to keep up with Rob on social media, you can find him on instagram @pensare.films or reach him directly at robert.misovic@pensarefilms.com 

10 Brilliant Films by Women Now Free to Stream on The Pendance Library

While Hollywood still has a gender disparity problem with women behind the camera, film festivals have usually been marginally better at celebrating female voices. These are some of those voices. Whether it’s Goya-winner Carlota Pereda, Sundance-favourite Eliza Hittman, or a filmmaker you’ve never heard of, this list features some of the best female directors working in the world today. And now you can stream 10 of their films, totally free through the Pendance Library.

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Piggy | Carlota Pereda | Spain

Winner of the Best Short Film Jury Award at Pendance 2019, and the recipient of the Goya Award for Best Short film in 2019, Piggy follows an overweight teen, Sara, as she’s bullied by 3 classmates. One part horror, one part social commentary, all parts great cinema, ‘Piggy’ packs a lot of punch into its 15 minute runtime.

Watch Now

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Emma | Clara Lezama | Uruguay

Winner of the Best Short Film Prize at Pendance 2017, Emma is a Lynchian nightmare in which a young woman must battle forces beyond her control to stay safe from a series of men at a strange hotel. ‘Emma’ uses sharp cinematography and set design to paint a story far larger than its paltry $2000 budget.

Aria | Myrsini Aristidou | Cyprus/France

Myrsini Aristidou’s ‘Aria’ was a hit at Sundance and Venice before rocking audiences at Pendance in 2019 as part of the Deep Impact Shorts Showcase. On the surface, the story is ridiculously simple. A girl named Aria wishes for her dad to give her driving lessons. Instead, he pawns off a Chinese migrant seeking fake papers for her to look after. Aria isn’t a surface film. There are layers to this story that are captured through the lens choices, frantic movement, brilliant editing and compelling performances from all 3 principal actors.

Forever’s Gonna Start Tonight | Eliza Hittman | United States of America

‘Beach Rats’ director Eliza Hittman has gone on to become one of the most prominent female directors in the world. With multiple features sweeping the ranks at Sundance, it’s hard to remember that one of our first introductions to Hittman was in this humanistic short film about a girl going out for a night on the town with her friends, and encountering a strange and ultimately relatable situation.

Watch Now

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Maja | Marijana Jankovic | Serbia

This Tribeca 2019 selection follows a Serbian girl struggling to assimilate in her new Dutch school, battling the constant language barrier and the general awkwardness of being 6-years-old. How does she deal with her isolation from her classmates? She cleans. She cleans the table, mirror, and floors. And no one, including her teachers, can understand why.

Watch Now

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Now Streaming on The Pendance Library

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Brotherhood | Meryam Joobeur | Canada

When his son returns from an extended absence abroad with a new wife, a father becomes increasingly paranoid that his son has become radicalized by Islamic terrorists in Syria. An Oscar-nominated Canadian film, and arguably one of the three best Canadian short films of the last decade, ‘Brotherhood’ is a double entendre, and a massive showcase of filmmaking superpowers for Meryam Joobeur.


Ambi | Marija Apcevska | Macedonia

This deeply humanistic Hollyshorts and Tallgrass Film Festival selection screened at Pendance 2019. It’s a slow-burning story about Sara and her older brother Deno, and the hellish existence they lead taking care of their alcoholic father. Simplicity lies in the smallest of things, and it’s obvious that whatever they lack in parental guidance, Deno and Sara make up for in the bond they share with one another.


Space Girls | Carys Watford | United Kingdom

Originally made as part of the NASA short film challenge, ‘Space Girls’ went on to have a brilliant run on the festival circuit, playing at almost every festival in the continental United States before being picked up by online streaming giant Dust. The appeal is every bit as simple as the story itself. 4 little girls planning a secret mission to outer space. It’s a tightly edited, touching short about childhood dreams, brought to life by an adult who managed to retain all of her childhood wonder.


Under Darkness | Caroline Friend | United States of America

Under Darkness is based on the true story of a Jewish woman who became a photographer to document the horrific atrocities of the Nazi movement and subsequent occupation. Joining with the Soviet resistance, she finds a way to document the present while speaking to future generations. That old statement rings true. Those who don’t remember the past are doomed to repeat it.


Catastrophe | Jamille van Wijngaarden | The Netherlands

Catastrophe is the shortest film in Pendance history. But if you ask the people who watched it 3 years ago, they still remember it. All 2 minutes of it. There’s a reason cats and birds should never be friends.

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4 Tips for Programming Better Film Festivals

When we launched Pendance in 2017, we had one thing going for us—great mentors. As filmmakers ourselves, we’d had so many opportunities to talk to and connect with programmers at film festivals we respected in order to understand the day-to-day grind of putting on a great festival.

And while there’s so much that we’re still learning in our fourth year about the larger elements of festival productions—press, film market, publicity, distributors, etc, we think we know a thing or two about programming great films.


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We see programming holistically as a 4-stage-process; getting submissions, watching submissions, choosing submissions, and finally putting those submissions together in a carefully curated program which maximizes the potential impact and reach of each film. For the sake of keeping this brief, we’ll hone in on one critical stage which we’ve always felt is the most overlooked—watching submissions.

It is becoming increasingly rare that a festival director or programmer watches every film submission. At Pendance, we had over 257 hours worth of submissions last year and it took 4 programmers months of dedicated viewing to get through them twice. We can only imagine how many hours of films larger festivals like TIFF or Sundance receive. It’s not realistic to expect head programmers to watch every film. But whoever is watching these films has a great deal of responsibility.

Whether they’re recent film school graduates or outright random volunteers, here are four things that will help provide more accurate reviewing, and subsequently, better programming. Naturally, anyone being tasked with screening films should have at least an intermediate understanding of film and film theory. Let’s just pretend that one’s a given.

How you Watch

Watch early, watch consistently, watch by genre, and always give a 5 minute break between films. There’s so much psychological research to back this up from studying how people grade tests in college. You’re not you when you’re hungry. You’re also not you when you’ve just had a fight with your partner, are sleep-deprived, or after a long flight. It’s not enough to just watch the films. You have to watch them in the right state of mind.

You’re a part of this film. What happened that day, or five minutes before you sat down impacts how you see the film. The third toxic masculinity film is going to rate differently than the first. So whenever possible, clear your mind and meditate for five minutes before viewing. If you find yourself emotionally impacted, give a longer break before viewing the next submission.

Till the End

Sometimes, it’s obvious that a film is bad. Like really bad. Sound’s off, color’s off, performances are bad. We’ve all seen these. Still, watch it to completion. Because frankly, you don’t have an accurate read two minutes in. And we can prove it.

In 2019, we asked screeners to rate the first 2 minutes of films, and then asked them to rate the full films on a separate viewing. The average deviation between the two scores was 1.3 grade points out of 10. Being 13% inaccurate is probably a bad solution long-term. In fact, one film dropped from a 7.6 to a 3.4, and another rose from 4.5 to 7.9. If it’s a 16 minute film, it’s likely 16 minutes for a reason.
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Address Your Biases

Who you are, your experiences, shape what you see on the screen. Whenever possible, try to pick diverse programming teams and pair programmers and screeners from opposite ends. You can address for gender, socio-economic background, cultural backgrounds, political leanings, and even age.

Can 4 22-year-old Caucasian cis men from Vancouver, who attended the same film school, all voted Liberal, and grew up in the same neighbourhood program a great film festival? Yes.

Will they? Likely not.

Keep an Open Mind

Film is subjective. There’s a way to do things, and then someone changes the way to do things and the way we do things becomes the way we used to do things. So dare to imagine. You’re holding people’s work and if you’re programming at a bigger festival, you may even hold the keys to a big career boost. Don’t waste it by picking the same types of films by the same people over and over because it’s safe.

Following these four tips is not going to help you program a lineup of films that rivals Sundance or Berlinale. But that should never be the goal anyway.

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