The Paths of Selective Distribution

When you start moving a film, whether a short or a feature, questions always arise about which festivals to start with and what paths to take for distribution.

Some time ago I discussed the differences between selective and intensive distribution and how to approach each one. But in the case of starting with selective or less intensive distribution, there would be several options or several paths to begin with.

When you decide to start a selective distribution (and also intensive), you must be clear that you will have to give up some festivals forever.

This renunciation may occur due to premiere requirements, or due to submission fees, which can exceed the budget you have allocated for distribution.

For this, it is advisable to analyze your film carefully to see if it has options at the chosen festivals and review the calendar you have ahead. There are several paths to plan a selective distribution, especially for the first months or the first year of distribution.

In this post I discuss three possible strategic options you can consider, always depending on the film you have at hand and with examples of festivals that are currently open for fiction, experimental, and animation.

Class A Festivals, World and International Premiere

On this path, there are premiere festivals and others that value it. If you choose to start here, you must consider time and costs.

Except for the Cannes Film Festival, the rest of the festivals charge fees. As far as possible, you should be in contact with them to find out whether or not they are interested in your film as soon as possible, so you can modify your strategy toward one path or another.

Here are some examples of festivals that have open calls between February and March that you can consider:

You could also be a bit more selective and do a first run only through Class A festivals, but I really do not recommend it, as a lot of time may pass before you start getting results.

National Premiere Festivals

The second path you can take is much broader, and like the previous one, it is not advisable to do it for a full year.

You can consider it if you are particularly interested in any of these festivals, carefully reviewing the countries where you apply this strategy, as there are festivals that are worthwhile and do not require a premiere in their own country.

Here are other examples of festivals with national premiere requirements that have open calls now:

Festivals That Qualify for the Oscars

Now it is about considering the list of festivals that qualify for the Oscars and filtering the most interesting festivals in this way. This list has grown significantly in recent years and there are more and more festivals.

Keep in mind that it is a very expensive route if you want to go to all of them, as most charge fees. Here are some festivals from the Oscar list that have open calls.

To these festivals you can add Class A festivals, as they all qualify for the Oscars.

You can also combine a qualifying festival strategy with a more intensive one, as many of them do not have premiere requirements.

To devise a strategy for fiction and animation films at this time of year, you must carefully review the calendar and combine these different strategic paths to try all possible options in the distribution of your film.