Filmmaker Talk

Festival Strategy: How to Splice the Format to a Festival

For many independent producers, festival strategy is the cornerstone of any plan to distribute their completed film. Unfortunately, many novice producers go to production without thinking about more than the deadlines of the festivals they wish to enter. In truth, planning your festival strategy in advance is essential before moving to post production. Your strategy can even have some significant influences on your pre-production and production.

When planning your pre-production, many producers look forward to distribution when trying to decide on the format they will be shooting on. If they can afford it, 35mm is the format of choice since that is what is shown in most major movie theatres and at the large festivals. The image quality will be impeccable and it is easier to work with but the costs of stock and equipment are higher as well. An intangible that can be quite tangible is that you will also be taken more seriously if you shoot on 35mm.

However, there are alternatives. Super16 is a good choice even though no major festival will project it. Shooting Super16 as a source gives you close to the same aspect ratio as a 35mm frame (16x9) for the same cost for stock and processing as 16mm. This makes a blow up to 35mm less expensive and with less degradation of the image (more on this later).

Shooting on 16mm is not a very good choice if you intend on showing your piece at a film festival. There are certainly many festivals where you can show your work that was originated on 16mm and then transferred to video. The reason for this is that 16mm has a more square aspect ratio (roughly 4x3) which is quite like a television screen or computer monitor. Blow-ups are possible but not nearly as clean as Super16.

High Definition (HD) or another high-resolution video format is another option. The quality will be very impressive for video festivals and Internet distribution. There is also opportunity to transfer the video footage to film to be shown at a bona-fide film festival. Tape-to-film transfers are becoming commonplace and many post production houses are offering the service.

The cold, hard truth is that mini-DV is not suitable for tape-to-film transfer and therefore is not acceptable if you wish to show at a mainstream film festival. The two main reasons for this are aspect ratio and image quality.

Most mini-DV cameras record an image in a 4x3 aspect ratio, much like your television screen. This is not the same size as a film frame (16x9) so it will not fill the movie screen. There are lens adapters on the market, but they achieve 16x9 by bending the image, not recording a true 16x9 frame. There are higher-end video cameras (DVCpro) that will record 16x9 but there are no true 16x9 mini-DV cameras on the market in the US.

Although mini-DV represents a leap forward in video technology, it is still consumer grade video. Tape-to-film transfer houses rate mini-DV as the lowest quality image when transferred from video to film.

There are certainly notable exceptions with The Blair Witch Project, Michael Moore’s The Big One and Wim Wender’s The Buena Vista Social Club being a few. However, these are the exception rather than the rule. Your work would have to be exceptional to overcome the handicap of poor image quality. This handicap is the last thing you need when you only have one shot at impressing a festival audience.

The most important thing to remember when preparing your piece for the festival is that it will be seen by festival workers on VHS. That is correct! You do not need ten release prints by festival deadline. As a matter of fact, I would not recommend striking any prints unless you already have a distributor and they are paying for it. Creating answer prints, mixing down the soundtrack and burning the optical stripe can be very expensive. If you shot on video and plan on transferring to film, the costs will be astronomical. A low cost transfer can run in the neighborhood of $60 US per second.

Your best route is to transfer your footage to the highest quality video format you can afford and create a cut on a non-linear editing system. Although you shouldn’t use too many complex animations or effects for your video cut, don’t be too concerned if you have the time or money to create a film print by the festival deadline. As long as you have high quality VHS dubs to submit, you will have met your goals.

Keep your source materials in a safe, climate controlled place and keep careful records (EDL and cut lists) of your work. If your film is accepted to a major festival, you can make a decision about whether you want to create a film print or not. Getting extra funding will not be difficult if you’ve been accepted to a top ten festival.

If you don’t receive the interest you were looking for, you haven’t sunk thousands of dollars into a film print whose only value will be sentimental. Also, by saving this money it puts you in a better position to recoup your investment on your project by selling it to a Internet, cable or television distributor at a video-oriented festival.

Once you have your VHS dubs completed, it is time to select the festivals you wish to enter. The first priority should be the major festivals like Sundance, Telluride, Cannes and Toronto. You’ll never know how successful you could have been. At the same time, don’t spend too much time daydreaming about your victory speech. Being accepted to these festivals doesn’t guarantee anything.

A good second option would be to apply to specialty festivals that are appropriate for your piece. As with college scholarships, there is at least one out there for you if you look long enough. Ethnic festivals are popular, especially Jewish, Latino and Native American. There are many festival databases online, a few hours «legwork» on the web should yield (literally) thousands of results.

Another good bet is to try festivals close to home. Many times, festival organizers will have special categories or offer first consideration to filmmakers in that region. It will also give you the opportunity to make connections with local filmmakers who see your work.

Finally, apply to festivals you like. Taking your project to a festival can be the most rewarding (and harrowing) experience you’ll have as a filmmaker. This is your opportunity to enjoy the fruits of your labor and share it with the only critic you should pay attention to, the audience. Find a festival you like that offers full or partial reimbursement for traveling expenses and try your luck.

Glen Berry