This November marks 10 months since we began the distribution process for FilmNow. The main objective is the distribution of short films from film schools; it is a project I was very excited to launch.
At the beginning of this year, while visiting the Israeli film schools’ stand at the Clermont-Ferrand Market, I had a meeting with one of the people in charge at TAU in Tel Aviv. She asked me whether there was a selection of short films from Spanish film schools; my answer was no, but we were already preparing the first FilmNow.
Now that we are in the new call for entries, it is a good time to analyse how these months have unfolded.
What is FilmNow?
It is a distribution catalogue of short films from Spanish film schools and universities. The idea is simple: to create an annual selection that brings together the best short films from film schools in our country. I believe it is important to highlight the work of the schools and film students.
To design the project, we have drawn on our experience in distributing short films from film schools and on similar projects organised in other European countries. A clear example is the German Next Generation, organised by German Films.
The call is aimed mainly at film schools and universities; students are also allowed to submit, provided they include a document certifying that the short film was made as part of their studies. This is the fundamental idea of the project. It is not only about student short films, but about works that form part of their training activity.
How is it managed?
ECAM Distribución handles the distribution, the call for entries and the website, with the support of the communications and marketing department. It has been possible thanks to the changes we have had at the school in recent years, which have made it possible to launch new projects.
FilmNow is organised solely with our own resources. When we considered launching it, we could have opted for the traditional method: prepare the project, write it up, apply for grants from the Ministry of Culture and start looking for funding. That system would have taken a long time and we might never have been able to carry it out.
Instead, we decided to do it the other way around: create a viable project that we could run with the minimal resources we have, and then start looking for funding and support with the project already underway. It has been more complicated, but we can say that FilmNow is now a reality.
How did we do it?
By optimising all processes and working as a team:
- Festival distribution is limited and highly segmented, establishing a very clearly defined strategy for each short film.
- The short films are viewed exclusively online, with no DVD copies.
- We designed the website ourselves, collaborating across the school’s different departments.
- For submission management we use Google Forms. In 2015 we also used submission platforms, but for this new call we are testing using only our form.
- News and press releases are handled by ECAM’s communications department, which is doing a great job of raising awareness of the project.
The first FilmNow catalogue
Last year the jury was made up of Guadalupe Arensburg, Marina Seresesky, Luis Mariano González and Juan Antonio Moreno. In total, 6 short films were selected:
- Dinosaurios by Dani Allué, Universidad Antonio Nebrija
- Fishura by Yago Mateo, UPV/EHU
- Fres-boi by Paloma Canonica and Cristina Vilches, Universidad de Vigo
- Musicidio by Ferriol Tugues, ECIB Barcelona Film School
- Silente by Paco Ruiz, ESCAC
- Take away by Geórg Cantos, ECAM
We designed the catalogue’s distribution for festivals and short film markets in this first stage. In this regard, the project was present as a partner programme at Cannes’ Short Film Corner, where it was viewed by programmers and short film distributors. Being a partner has helped us give the new brand a great deal of visibility.
The result
It has been very positive. The directors’ feedback is excellent, and the short films have been selected at several festivals, both national and international.
At the moment, the total number of selections this year is 112, 68 of which have been outside Spain.
I have prepared this chart where you can see the monthly evolution of the selections:
We can see that the first months are informational screenings to raise awareness of the catalogue.
From June onwards, competitive festival selections begin. In these months of October and November we have achieved an excellent 20 and 23 selections respectively.
Outside our country, we have managed to have the short films screened in 29 different countries; here is another chart where I have organised the selections:
As I said before, one of the most positive aspects has been the directors’ feedback. Many of them have been able to travel to some of the festivals where they have been selected. It is very important to do good distribution for short films from film schools; it is a unique moment in a filmmaker’s career.
These are some photos of Yago Mateo on his trip to Almaty in Kazakhstan, together with a representative from UPV (University of the Basque Country). Fishura won the Grand Jury Prize at the Bastau Film School Festival.
Yago told me it has been an incredible experience. He is now in Germany, where he has been selected in Braunschweig.
We saw each other in Madrid not long ago and he was able to tell me in person about the experience of being part of FilmNow.
I hope we can continue with the project; it is very difficult to sustain. Despite that, we are already working on the second edition, which has the call for entries open until the end of the month.
I believe that collaboration between film schools and universities is essential to support and promote the most important resource we have: our students and young filmmakers.
They are the only guarantee for the survival of our cinema in the future.