{"id":11313,"date":"2018-06-20T13:59:49","date_gmt":"2018-06-20T11:59:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ismaelmartin.com\/distributing-without-paying-submission-fees-possible-but-not-advisable\/"},"modified":"2018-06-20T13:59:49","modified_gmt":"2018-06-20T11:59:49","slug":"distributing-without-paying-submission-fees-possible-but-not-advisable","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ismaelmartin.com\/en\/distributing-without-paying-submission-fees-possible-but-not-advisable\/","title":{"rendered":"Distributing without paying submission fees: Possible, but not advisable"},"content":{"rendered":"

Submission fees continue to rise<\/strong>, both in our country and across Europe\u2014a slow but steady trend, with no turning back.<\/p>\n

In recent months, I have come across some new developments around this process.<\/p>\n

A review of the submission-fee situation<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The Gij\u00f3n Festival<\/a> opened its call for entries a few days ago with a \u20ac10 fee for short films; until now, the fee was only for international short films. Huesca<\/a>, meanwhile, is another major Spanish festival that has adopted submission fees, but only \u20ac2, evolving from the \u20ac1 it charged in the first year. <\/p>\n

In the case of the Soria Short Film Festival<\/a>, this year it has continued to charge a \u20ac5 fee for its second and final deadline<\/em> in June, while the first remains free in April.<\/p>\n

At European level<\/strong>, it has been significant that a platform such as shortfimdepot<\/a>, which until now had stayed away from fees and did not accept paid festivals, has changed its policy and now does accept them, managing payments directly through the platform.<\/p>\n

This change has had positive effects, such as the addition to this platform of the Tampere Film Festival<\/a>, which has been charging fees for some years now and opened its call this very week. It is good news that it has finally ended its exclusivity with Reelport<\/a>. <\/p>\n

Crisis, overcrowding, digitalisation, and the arrival of paid submission platforms<\/strong> are some of the causes behind the emergence of submission fees at European festivals of any size\u2014a very common practice at festivals in the United States. <\/p>\n

Based on calculations from my own database of around 3,500 festivals worldwide, approximately 50%\u2014around 1,700\u2014charge some kind of fee. These figures are very relative, but they do give us an idea of the current situation and what the future holds.<\/p>\n

While in the United States fees help finance festivals, in Europe\u2014and in Spain in particular\u2014it is not so clear. The main reason still seems to be controlling the flow of submissions to avoid overcrowding<\/strong>. <\/p>\n

Do we need to include fees in our distribution strategy?<\/strong><\/h2>\n

The main problem we have as distributors and producers is that submission fees are here to stay<\/strong>. Once a festival decides to introduce them, it is very difficult for it to remove them. I do not yet know of a single case. <\/p>\n

Therefore, it is a concept we must keep very much in mind, both in our budget<\/a> and in our work processes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

This is one of the key aspects of fees: it has changed our work as distributors a great deal<\/strong>. Now we also have to manage payments, negotiate discounts, review festival prices, etc.\u2014processes that a few years ago we practically did not do. Now, festivals have a price, and that conditions all our work. <\/p>\n

Despite all this, I still come across cases of distributors, producers, and directors who are not willing to pay submission fees<\/strong>\u2014a possible option, since there are many free festivals, but certainly not advisable.<\/p>\n

Bear in mind that you will be leaving out the most important festivals, both for feature films and short films. In fact, a large part of the most prestigious short film festivals in Europe are already charging fees, except for very specific cases such as Clermont-Ferrand<\/a> or Winterthur<\/a>. <\/p>\n

In addition to the festivals you may miss, I also believe it is important to create a working system around fees<\/strong>. It took us several years to adapt our processes to negotiating and paying fees, as well as improving the database.<\/p>\n

How to work with submission fees<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Whether you are about to start distributing your film or you are already in the middle of its festival run, here are some considerations you may want to keep in mind<\/a> for your process of<\/strong> working with submission fees<\/strong>: <\/p>\n

#1 Review festivals carefully<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The first step would be to get to know the festivals where you are going to submit your film well<\/strong> and whether paying the fee is really worth it. In recent years, pseudo-festivals<\/a> and fake festivals<\/a> that charge fees have proliferated, so you need to look at them very carefully and not pay blindly. <\/p>\n

#2 Take advantage of early deadlines<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

Now you need to keep tighter control of deadlines and due dates<\/strong> so your distribution costs do not spiral. Always try to submit as early as possible.<\/p>\n

#3 Negotiate fees<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Once you are clear about the festivals, write to them and try to negotiate. Many festivals offer discounts, and you can even get payment exceptions\u2014in English, a waiver<\/em>.<\/p>\n

There is a very curious detail to bear in mind. Although it may seem otherwise, in Europe it is more difficult to negotiate fees<\/strong>: they are smaller and festivals are not very used to working with them. In the United States, on the other hand, it is somewhat easier, as they have been working with them for many years and are more used to talking about money. Although there is also a tendency to give fewer discounts and waivers.<\/em> <\/p>\n

#4 Keep spending under control<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Once you have paid, keep track of expenses in the same Excel spreadsheet where you list the festivals. Since fees are micro-payments<\/em>, in day-to-day terms it may seem like you are not spending much money<\/strong>, but when you have been distributing for a long time and paying fees, you may be in for a surprise. <\/p>\n

One of the problems with fees is that they do not have a very clear limit<\/strong>. You can spend all the money you have\u2014and much more. There are hundreds of festivals, but be careful: not all of them are worth it. <\/p>\n

In summary<\/strong><\/h2>\n

If your distribution strategy includes festivals with fees, go ahead. Personally, I try not to submit to festivals without having negotiated a discount first<\/strong>, and in very few cases do I submit at the regular<\/em> or late deadline<\/em> rate. <\/p>\n

Analyse your distribution strategy carefully: whether a festival does or does not have a submission fee should not be the only reason to rule it out.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Submission fees continue to rise, both in our country and across Europe\u2014a slow but steady trend, with no turning back. In recent months, I have come across some new developments around this process. A review of the submission-fee situation The Gij\u00f3n Festival opened its call for entries a few days ago with … Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":11314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[250],"tags":[279],"class_list":["post-11313","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-festival-strategy","tag-submission-fees"],"yoast_head":"\nDistributing without paying submission fees: Possible, but not advisable - Ismael Martin<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Submission fees continue to rise, both in our country and across Europe\u2014a slow but steady trend with no turning back.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ismaelmartin.com\/en\/distributing-without-paying-submission-fees-possible-but-not-advisable\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Distributing without paying submission fees: Possible, but not advisable - 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