Distribution: It Could Happen - Festivals (page 2)

Local programmers pride themselves on bringing something new and fresh to their audiences, and they like to write "premiere" next to an entry's title in the program. But, if your piece has been widely available through the World Wide Web, festival directors can't do that. However, many festivals are more lenient when it comes to short subject films, and there are many who won't insist on the first-time rule. As well, there are plenty of exclusively short film fests out there looking for your "previously enjoyed" masterpiece. Read the rules to see where you fit.

Excellence is what will get your submission past festival gatekeepers and into the hearts of audiences and jurors. An informal e-mail survey of festival pros all concurred that what programmers and screeners are generally looking for is "quality storytelling, quality performances and intriguing and slightly unconventional docs."

If you want to get plugged into the film festival scene and plan for your first submission, visit online festival forums and discussion groups. You should also check out the festival "idiot guides" and other how-to books available on bookstore and library shelves.

Check out Videomaker's Festival Roundup, The Festival Circuit: 8 Film & Video Festivals to learn about many upcoming festivals, and visit our community sharing page at www.videomaker.com/festival to find a festival that fits for you.

Happy browsing. May all your submissions be worthy. May all your audiences be delighted. And may you hoist a statuette or two.

Peter Biesterfeld is a documentary maker, incurable doc watcher, screen production educator and writer..

As soon as a festival announces its selections, the media will want details about the films on the schedule. If yours is one of the lucky ones, you will want to leave a stack of press kits for festival staffers to hand out. To create a pre-screening buzz with your press kit, here's what you might put inside the package:

• Quality 8x10 production stills
• Camera-ready word marks and promotional graphics
• Writer and director bios
• Separate actors' bios for all the principals (with photos)
• Crew credits
• Movie synopsis and logline (one-pager)
• Contact information and links to Web site
• Samples of early reviews
• Quotations from the script
• Posters
• Postcards
• Music soundtracks
• DVD trailer
• Post-production blurbs ("What a wonderful picture it was to work on...")
• Peer quotes (Michael Moore: "This has to be the most important doc of the year.")
• CD of all of the above - Electronic Press Kit (EPK) can be made available online
• Clever pocketable trinket (helps with title recognition)

Tip: Consider a tasteful mix of the above. Postcard-sized items work best.

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