Last Saturday I was teaching a class in the Distribution Master’s Program we have at ECAM. Among several topics we covered were submission platforms and the facilities currently available for festival distribution, and how, sometimes, these facilities can also cause some problems. This case probably sounds familiar: there are some directors who … Read more
We have been working for several months on the preparation of the First Professional Forum of Short Film Week, which now includes the Short Film Distribution Meeting, celebrating its third edition this year. The Professional Forum consists of several activities that will take place on Friday, April 28 and Saturday, April 29. … Read more
News of cinema closures is becoming increasingly common in our country; we are watching, resignedly, the gradual disappearance of commercial cinemas from city centres. Not long ago, the historic Palafox cinema in Madrid closed, and these days in Reus, Tarragona—a city of more than 100,000 inhabitants—the Palace has closed, the only cinema … Read more
At the beginning of this year, 2017, we learned about the first casualty in the overcrowded submission-platform market. As of February 1, Uptofest has ceased operations. According to the platform, it has merged with Festhome, where the festivals that previously belonged to Uptofest are now open. This platform has been the first … Read more
For festival distribution, it is essential to burn in subtitles and have your film’s videos in several languages. In a previous post I explained how to do it using HandBrake, which is one of the best programs available for video conversions and is also free. The most commonly used file type for … Read more
These days I’ve been reviewing the most prominent documentary short films so far this year. Documentary shorts are gaining increasing importance, and every year we are surprised by high-quality works. Furthermore, we recently learned of an important development. The prestigious IDFA, the Amsterdam Documentary Festival, has created a competitive section for documentary … Read more
Next Monday, March 20, short film registration closes at the Cannes Market: the Short Film Corner. So, it is a good time to review the post I published last year about this market and the comments that were made. If you have already registered or are considering doing so, it would be … Read more
It is increasingly difficult to find festivals without submission fees, where it is not necessary to make a prior payment to participate (entry fee). European festivals (and Spanish ones as well) are adopting these fees year after year. There are other festivals that, although they do not have fees, use a submission … Read more
There are very few film screenplay competitions. I mean only screenplays and not projects; for the latter, there is already a production company, budget, shooting schedule, and an estimated technical crew. In some festivals, there are indeed awards for projects, such as Medina del Campo, Gijón, Cinema Jove, Abycine, etc., and there … Read more
Last week, the Medina del Campo and Málaga festivals were presented in Madrid, taking place this March. Both are essential for discovering new short film production in our country, alongside the Sitges, Seminci, and Gijón festivals, which take place at the end of the year, and which I discussed in December’s post … Read more