Now that my documentary short film Os Marnotos is finished the question becomes: What do I do with it?
All the documentary films I’ve worked on over the past 12 years are available (somewhere) on YouTube (most on my channel, but not all). Some of these films were screened at film festivals. And one, Witness At Tornillo, actually had a minor run in theaters through a DIY distribution company that went belly up before paying what it owed. Witness also won best documentary at the 2020 Kansas City Film Fest International.
Step one for Os Marnotos: Enter some film festivals. The easiest way to do this is through an online entry portal called FilmFreeway (my profile is here). Since I announced completing the film, I have entered 10 festivals using the platform. I have used FilmFreeway in the past with modest success. That means I’ve entered a lot of festivals over the years, got screened in a few, and won something in fewer.
Many legitimate festivals use FilmFreeway to market their festivals to filmmakers. But there are many scams. There are tricks, or strategies, necessary to achieve festival screenings through FilmFreeway, and I do not know them all. I’ve become a tiny bit better at it over the years.
A scam festival is all about churning entry fees and offering very little of value to filmmakers. Some are laurel factories — existing just to hand out laurels that filmmakers can put on film posters and other marketing materials. Some are award factories that give out all kinds of goofy awards beyond what’s standard. Some are designed to be attended only by the filmmakers whose films get screened — with no real public audience. The list is long. And there is money to be made in these scams. I had occasion to help with a film festival a few years ago. The number of eager entries paying a modest entry fee added up to an eye-watering sum of money.
Here are the red flags for me:
- The festival date is just one day.
- No listed venue.
- Too many esoteric awards categories.
- Any festival with “awards” in the title.
- Any festival with no independent website showing a track record and who is involved.
- Any chain festival (one name, many host cities).
- Any unsolicited offer of discount codes (includes ridiculous flattery).
Legitimate festivals get tons of entries through FilmFreeway. There have been accusations in the past (mostly true) of legitimate festivals taking the entry fee and not actually pre-screening the entry.
Of the ten I have entered with Os Marnotos, most are in Portugal and include: Marmostra International Film Festival, Ocean Coast Film Festival, Curtas Vila do Conde – International Film Festival, Festival Impacto, and Porto/Post/Doc.
The whole thing is really kind of a Hail Mary. But you can’t score if you don’t throw that ball down field 🙂