Film festival distribution is a long and sometimes complicated path; the diversity and different requirements of festivals increasingly require designing a festival strategy.
What are the best strategies? How do we approach them?
In principle, I believe we could group them into two main categories: The selective and intensive strategy.
The selective strategy would be more appropriate in the early distribution phases, where we will consider festivals with the most premiere restrictions, especially world, international, or national.
In the intensive strategy, however, these considerations are not taken into account.
The choice of one strategy or another will depend on the type of project and whether it has had any previous premiere. In most cases, a combination of both is usually chosen, with greater or lesser intensity in submissions and festival selection. Always taking into account the time of year when you can begin distribution.
In any case, understanding the differences between one and the other can help you greatly in designing the best strategy for your film, and especially in measuring results effectively.
The Selective Strategy in Film Festival Distribution
This type of strategy primarily considers festivals with world or international premieres, and we could also include national or regional premieres. For example, in this group we could submit to Class A festivals, with world and international premiere requirements and where the film fits best.
These are some of the main characteristics of this type of strategy:
- Few submissions and entries are made and they are very spaced out over time, since the objective is to preserve the premiere and not the quantity of festivals.
- You must be very patient; results may take a long time to arrive. In an exclusive commitment to this type of strategy, a year could pass without results. You must be very aware of this.
- However, if we achieve a selection at an important premiere festival, it greatly helps subsequent distribution. You can save many entry fees thanks to invitations from other festivals.
- It is a very risky strategy; you must be prepared to receive bad news all the time and wait a long time until you have the first selections. You must know your film and its possibilities well.
In any case, there are many types of selective strategies. For example, you can start a selective strategy at the international level while maintaining an intensive strategy in your own country, where you have already premiered.
Here are some posts that can help you design a selective distribution strategy:
- Strategy after the international premiere of a documentary; it involves maintaining a selective strategy for premieres by country.
- Class A Festivals to Start Your Short Film Distribution Strategy
- Class A Festivals to Premiere Your First Feature
- Premiere Strategy at New York Festivals
The Intensive Strategy
At the other extreme would be a distribution strategy with a more intensive character:
- In this case, the international or national premiere no longer matters as much; now the objective is to submit to as many festivals as possible. Increase the chances of being selected, obtaining an award, or having the opportunity to travel. We will have to discard many of the most important festivals that therefore require or value the premiere.
- Due to these submissions, results should arrive sooner; it is not necessary to wait a year to start having the first festival selections.
- We can include festivals of various types and thematic lines; it is about increasing segmentation options.
- We will need to allocate a larger distribution budget, since we will not receive invitations, as in the previous case. Both in platform registrations and fees, expenses increase.
- You must be very careful with fake festivals and pseudo-festivals that I discussed recently.
There are some festivals we could consider for both a selective and intensive strategy, such as the Clermont-Ferrand Festival or the Sundance Festival, which have no premiere requirements of any kind.
Some examples of festivals you can consider when designing an intensive strategy:
- 6 Festivals Without Entry Fees That Close Their Call Soon
- 5 French International Short Film Festivals
- Documentary Festivals: 5 Options for June That Do Not Require a Premiere
How to Choose the Best Strategy
Both strategies can be combined during a film’s distribution process. You can start with a selective strategy in the first months, and depending on the results, pivot toward a less selective strategy, only national premieres by country or regional, or toward a more intensive one.
In choosing one or the other, you can also consider your personal situation as a director and the quality of your film; you may not want to wait for Class A festivals and opt for faster results, in which case it is better to choose an intensive strategy.
However, if after directing several shorts, you have a new one and want to aim for higher-category festivals, you could start with a selective strategy in the first months.
What type of strategies are you implementing in the distribution of your film? Are you satisfied with the results?