This past weekend I was invited to the Elche International Independent Film Festival, where last Friday I gave a presentation on distribution. Among the topics we covered were the festival submission processes, with a special focus on platforms and the different payment models in festivals.
These processes have evolved significantly with the arrival of new technologies: free forms, viewing links with passwords, and submission platforms. While improvements have been made compared to physical submissions, on the other hand, it has become more complicated due to the emergence of new costs and various submission processes that coexist simultaneously.
In this context, I still encounter festival directors who compare platform payments with the classic costs of physical submissions. There are also free festivals that do not have a submission fee but require payment through a platform. I tend to group these cases under the reelport model, as it was the first platform to establish this payment model, which has spread across Europe.
To properly examine these processes and understand their evolution, I have created a series of diagrams that allow us to compare the differences and payment concepts, as well as the festivals’ own management:
#1 Classic Model
This first diagram illustrates the classic submission of a DVD by mail, with a signed form. This diagram shows the cost of the process, as there was no other way to send a video file for playback. The DVD file codec is MPEG2.
Once the form and video arrived at the festival offices, they were reviewed to validate the submission. In festivals without submission fees, the validation process is free:
#2 Current Model, No Cost and No Platforms
Currently, it is possible to carry out this same process without shipping costs, as we are not subject to physical media. The festival can accept submissions via email or an online form.
If the festival has no submission fee, validation remains free:
In this model, there may also be costs, but these are derived from other concepts, such as increasing Vimeo storage space. Expenses are no longer linked to shipping, but to the service offered by the various tools involved in the process.
#3 Festivals with Submission Fees
For festivals that currently charge submission fees but do not use platforms, we can summarize it in this diagram:
In this case, the entire process is free, and the cost is concentrated in the submission validation. This does not occur until payment has been made and confirmed.
#4 Festivals Without Submission Fees That Use a Payment Platform
In the case of festivals that do not have a submission fee but manage the entire process exclusively through a payment platform (reelport model), the process is similar. The video can be uploaded to Vimeo, or directly to the platform:
As with festivals that charge submission fees, in this model, the expense is concentrated in the same phase: The validation process. Therefore, it could be stated that a festival has a submission fee if it exclusively accepts submissions through a payment platform.
Furthermore, we can observe how the platform now controls the entire submission and validation process (no longer the festival), which occurs automatically.
#5 Free Platform
Finally, there is the submission process through a free platform, where submission validation remains free, and therefore there are no submission costs:
It is also interesting to see how in the platform market there are both paid and free options, but there is no different value proposition in the submission itself.
Although some work better than others (the service is indeed different), the submission process (clicking on a festival) is the same.
What do you think about the payment structure of platforms and festivals? Do you think it is fair for free festivals to have submission costs through platforms?