The submission fees are slowly being implemented in all types of festivals. More and more festivals are incorporating fees into the submission process.
This process entails a radical shift in the entire festival distribution process. Now, it is necessary to manage payments, negotiate discounts, and gain a better understanding of each festival’s editorial guidelines.
It also entails greater responsibility for the festivals themselves, as they must now screen all submitted films; there are no excuses. If there is a payment, the least that can be demanded is that they have a programming team adapted to the volume of submissions they receive, and that this team is fairly compensated for their work.
Furthermore, one of the characteristics of this surge is that they are not limited to major or A-list festivals.
Festivals of all sizes have submission fees, ranging from just one euro, charged this year by Fancine de Málaga, to €70 for the Zabaltegui section of Donosti or €75 for the official short film section of the Berlinale.
Therefore, it is no longer possible to distribute without paying fees at some point. Although as a director or distribution company, you may be able to obtain waivers (payment exemptions), they are increasingly difficult to get, and you cannot base your entire distribution strategy on them.
Do you disagree with the submission fees charged by festivals?
Well, I would also prefer that they didn’t exist and that it was possible to submit to all festivals for free, but the circuit no longer works that way. Festivals have evolved and are not going to go back. The sooner you learn to work with fees, the better.
Therefore, it is good to review the main strategies and their keys, many of which I have published in various posts over the years. Here they are:
#1 Submit during the early deadlines
The first and most important are the early deadlines. Most festivals, especially in the United States, have different prices depending on the submission date. Prices can double from the early to the late deadline. Additionally, some festivals have a first free deadline and the rest are paid.
Before submitting during a late deadline, it might be more convenient to wait a few months and submit during the early deadline of the next edition; you can save a lot and will have more chances of being selected.
#2 Plan your calendar
This leads us to plan our festival calendar very carefully. Dedicating a little time to proper organization can result in significant savings.
Creating a preliminary budget and knowing well where your film might fit can help you a lot, especially in an increasingly saturated market where festivals receive thousands of submissions each year.
#3 Take advantage of discounts and promotions
You can also take advantage of discounts and promotions. Some festivals offer discounts based on submission dates.
For example, the Aesthetica Festival usually runs a promotional discount campaign when submissions open, and on the filmfreeway.com submission platform, there is a section for special festival discounts.
Most discounts and promotions are primarily offered in countries with a long tradition of charging fees. In Spain, and other countries where submission fees are more recent, it is difficult to find these promotions and discounts, also due to lower fee prices.
#4 Alumni
In line with these discounts and promotions, many festivals, especially in the United States, offer waivers and discounts for alumni, which are directors who have previously had a film selected at the festival.
Some directors sometimes overlook this option, which is especially important, as most festivals like to follow the careers of selected and especially award-winning directors.
This means you can view the expense of fees not as an expense, but as a medium- and long-term investment. If you pay fees now at certain festivals, you may get discounts or waivers for your next short film or even your debut feature.
#5 The type of film
Some festivals have different prices depending on the type of film.
For example, at the Tribeca Festival, the student short film section is cheaper than the official section, and in Atlanta, music videos are free during the first three deadlines. Therefore, as I mentioned before, good planning is essential, and you can save a lot of money on fees.
There are also cases of festivals that only have fees for foreign films and not for national ones, as is the case with the Mexican festival of Guanajuato.
#6 Contact the festivals
Whenever possible, it is advisable to contact the festivals and negotiate the fees. You can request discounts and negotiate some of the fees, but be careful, you cannot forget that most festivals are financed through these fees.
In any case, if you decide to do so, there are a couple of important considerations you might keep in mind:
- Send a personalized email very early (during the early deadline).
- Clearly explain in that email the reasons for requesting this fee exemption (e.g., student short films, low-budget films, having been selected at major festivals, etc.).
Control and optimize your budget
I hope these six keys help you make the most of your distribution budget, organize festival payments, and manage the entire process.
If you have already exhausted your budget for fees, you have two very important options for finding free festivals: the blog No entry film festivals, dedicated to festivals without submission fees, and on filmfreeway.com you can filter for festivals without fees.
How do you organize yourself to pay submission fees? Do you consider them in your distribution strategy?
(Post first published on March 6, 2019)