These past months mark one year of festival distribution for the animated short film Made in Spain, by Coke Rioboó, which we have distributed as part of the Madrid en corto 2016 catalog. During this year it has surpassed one hundred selections, reaching 123 to date.
Reviewing the trajectory of short films that have performed well on the festival circuit can be very interesting, especially to have references when we begin working with new short films.
To begin the distribution of Made in Spain, two main considerations must be taken into account: on one hand, it had already premiered nationally at the Madrid Community Short Film Week, and on the other, animation festivals do not have such strict premiere requirements as documentary or fiction. This meant we did not take long to expand the number of festival submissions.
This is the trailer for the short film:
In this graph we can see the excellent start it had in the second half of the year. We made the first submissions at the end of May, but especially in June. During these first months, the work with submissions was very intensive, especially to cover the greatest number of festivals taking place between September and November.
These first submissions yielded results in October, with 15 selections, and especially in November, with 23. This gives us an idea of the time that can pass from when we begin working on distribution until we start seeing results.
After the usual quieter months of December and January, 2017 began strongly, with 17 selections in March. March is becoming increasingly important in the calendar and has become, along with October and November, one of the months with the highest number of festivals.
From this point, the selection numbers gradually decrease until July. The graph also shows confirmed selections for August and September. The figures for May and June are also very good, especially considering that during these months Made in Spain completes one year on the circuit.
In December, the nomination for the Goya Award for Best Animated Short Film was announced. Although it might initially seem that the nomination influences festival selections, I do not believe there is a direct relationship. The positive response from festivals was already coming at a very good pace in previous months.
At the international level, the short film has participated in 32 different countries. France leads with 10 selections, 7 of them in competition. The countries that follow are Italy, the United States, and Germany, each with 6 competitive selections.
In this graph you can see the list of all the countries where it has participated:
Among all the festivals it has participated in, those specialized in animation could be highlighted. These are some of them:
- 3D Wire (Spain)
- Animation Festival of Brazil Anima Mundi (Brazil)
- REX Animation Film Festival Stockholm (Switzerland)
- Animest (Romania)
- Cinanima (Portugal)
- Tofuzi (Georgia)
- Animated Dreams (Estonia)
- Festival Animasivo (Mexico)
- Animac Mostra Animacion de Cataluña (Spain)
- AniFilm (Czech Republic)
- International Festival Animated Constantines Gold (Serbia and Montenegro)
- Seoul Cartoon and Animation Festival SICAF (South Korea)
Often the number of festival participations does not mean that a short film has been successful in the most appropriate niches or segments. In this case, Made in Spain has indeed had a very balanced distribution, with selections at more general festivals, but performing well at festivals specialized in animation.
In total, of the 123 festivals selected, 55 have been in Spain and 68 at international festivals.
I hope this post serves as a reference for preparing the distribution of your short film, whether animated or not. The calendar, timing, and focus on specific segments are common strategies in festival distribution.