Post updated. First published on November 7, 2013.
Submission platforms for short film distribution are based on a very simple, yet highly effective concept: creating a single film entry that can be submitted to multiple festivals simultaneously, without having to create a separate entry for each one.
This way, the filmmaker, producer, or distributor only fills out one entry form, and the festival has all the necessary data perfectly organized. They can send the video through the platform (many of them use Vimeo), manage festival submissions, and process submission fee payments.
The submission platform sector has matured in recent years. An initial phase of accelerated growth, with the emergence of new platforms, has been followed by an adjustment process that has led to the closure of three of them in a very short time.
These closures have strengthened the presence of platforms that have best understood this market, such as Filmfreeway and Festhome, which currently encompass most festivals working with platforms worldwide.
It should be noted that, with some exceptions, platforms include both short film and feature film festivals, so they are not exclusive tools for short film distribution. In any case, their development and growth have been thanks to short films, whose annual production exceeds that of feature films.
In the development of platforms, there is a clear difference between pricing models in the American and European spheres. In the American case, costs are free, compared to the European model, where platforms are paid, which may seem contradictory.
These are the short film distribution platforms currently active:
Filmfreeway
Launched in 2014 in Canada, with a powerful commercial strategy that quickly made it the most popular submission platform on the market. It currently has over 11,000 festivals in its database. It features a carefully designed interface and usability, adapted to new web design trends, and has allowed Vimeo links from the beginning.
Its main characteristic is that it is free for filmmakers; there is no charge for submissions, unlike the European model. Its business model is primarily based on charging a percentage of festival fees and on promotion and marketing tools. For example, it charges festivals for their position on the website and filmmakers for making their project more visible to festivals on the platform.
It has been the big beneficiary of Withoutabox’s closure, as major festivals like Sundance and Tribeca have joined, and it now dominates the Anglo-Saxon market.
Festhome
Originally created in 2013 as a Spanish platform, as its founders are Spanish, although its headquarters were initially in London. It currently has an internationally distributed team and has moved its headquarters to the United States.
Its launch preceded Filmfreeway’s, with slower growth initially, although it is currently the only platform that has managed to compete with it.
It currently features the most prominent Spanish festivals that do not have their own submission form, and it is gaining increasing importance in Latin American festivals.
Despite being headquartered in the United States, it has adopted a payment model more typical of European platforms. Festhome charges filmmakers for submissions, rather than a percentage of festival fees.
The difference between Festhome and other European platforms lies in its subscription model, which allows unlimited submissions for approximately €50 per year. While not free, this model is working very well and is a mandatory subscription for any filmmaker starting to distribute their film.
Shortfilmdepot
Shortfilmdepot is the pioneering platform in Europe alongside the now-defunct Reelport. It was founded in 2005 in France, created by the Clermont-Ferrand Festival. It quickly established itself among the most important short film festivals.
During its first years, it only charged festivals for the submission service. In 2013, it launched the second version of the site, allowing video uploads and eliminating the need to send DVDs. From then on, it began charging filmmakers for submissions at a price ranging from €1.50 to €3.00, depending on the quantity.
In recent years, the number of festivals has increased, but it maintains a stable figure, and above all, continues its specialization in short film festivals.
Filmfestplatform
It is a French platform created by the portal lecourt.com and exclusively dedicated to French festivals. As with Shortfilmdepot, it started as a platform without video uploads, which it has now implemented in its new version. With this change, it now charges around €2.50 for submissions, with quantity bonuses.
It also does not allow Vimeo links, and videos must be uploaded to its own server; this characteristic seems common among French platforms.
It has become the fundamental platform for short film distribution in France.
Movibeta
Movibeta is the pioneering platform in Spain, created in 2009. It started as a service for sending video files for advertising agencies, production companies, etc., but soon adapted to short film distribution in festivals. This has led to several updates since its creation, making it one of the platforms that has undergone the most changes over the years.
It features many Spanish, Italian, and also Latin American festivals, although in recent years it has lost a large percentage of important festivals.
Its pricing model aligns with the European model, with a submission cost starting from €4.84, and the option to purchase bundles that substantially reduce this price.
Clickforfestivals
It was the fourth platform created in Spain (which for some years made us the country with the highest number of platforms), by the distributor Promofest, specialized in short films.
It follows the model we have already seen in previous platforms, but in this case, euros are called ‘clicks’ (ranging between 1.5 and 3 euros depending on the bundles) and each festival submission equals one click.
Although it has many associated festivals, it lacks important ones, and most register on other platforms, which has slowed its growth in recent years.
Filmfestivals4u
Filmfestival4u is a small German platform, created in 2008 by the German Federation of Children and Youth Film Clubs, after Reelport and before the rise of other platforms.
It is exclusively dedicated to festivals for young directors under 27 years old. It has remained practically unchanged since its creation, is free, and currently does not allow video uploads.
Docfilmdepot
This platform was launched in 2016, exclusively dedicated to documentary cinema, created by the Ardèche Images Association, which has been dedicated for 30 years to the promotion and training in documentary cinema in France, and which organizes the États Généraux Du Film Documentaire festival every year in the French town of Lussas.
This is a very interesting project as it represents a significant novelty; it is the first platform to segment by genre. Despite this, the trend of platforms based on segmentation has not had the expected continuity.
For the launch of this project, it collaborated with Shortfilmdepot, from which it takes its name. Its business model is another similarity, as it charges directors and producers an average of €3.50 for submissions (both have the same price). It also does not allow the use of Vimeo links, requiring video uploads to its own server.
Platforms that closed in the last decade
In addition to the platforms that remain active, we should mention those that have disappeared. While the beginning of the last decade saw the birth of most platforms, the second half of the decade witnessed the closure of some of them, such as Withoutabox, Reelport, Uptofest, and FilmFestivalLife.
The first of these was the Spanish platform Uptofest in 2017, which had around 200 active festivals.
The most notable case was the closure of Withoutabox, the pioneering platform worldwide, created in 2000 and acquired by Amazon years later for about three million dollars. Amazon integrated it with IMDb and began selling VOD services and DVD sales directly from the platform.
It was questioned by festivals and filmmakers for the monopoly it exercised in the North American market. Some filmmakers, dissatisfied with how this platform operated, created a Facebook page called Filmmakers and Festivals Against Withoutabox, which garnered over 7,000 followers. Amazon closed it in October 2019.
That same year, Reelport also announced its closure. Curiously, it was the pioneering platform in Europe and the first to create the pay-per-submission model that the rest of the European platforms followed. While Withoutabox featured festivals like Sundance and Tribeca at the time of its closure and generated many headlines, Reelport had already lost its market significance and practically had no important festivals. Its closure had virtually no impact.
After Reelport came the closure of FilmFestivalLife, also German, which was created in 2010. Although for some years it had some important exclusive festivals like DocLisboa, and also attempted a more “social” orientation and aimed to help plan distribution, it never became a real alternative to the major platforms. Its closure, like Reelport’s, also had no impact.