Whether you have a short film, documentary, or narrative feature, in order to successfully break your film into the festival circuit, you must have a strategy. The general strategy is about the same for everyone. First, this involves getting to know your film. Consider festivals that may be more friendly to a film that fits a particular genre — whether it be gay, lesbian, documentary, digital, underground, animated, ethnic, sci-fi, fantasy, or horror — there are festivals specializing in these types and your film may best fit into one of these. It’s sometimes better to be the toast of a smaller festival than be overlooked at a larger festival.

When it comes to submitting, I highly recommend that you begin by targeting the festivals on my Top Ten list. These are the “A” festivals and are also markets for indie films, heavily attended by acquisitions executives.

Next, you must plan a fallback strategy in case you do not get into any of the Top Ten. This is the category most filmmakers will fall into. There are just not enough slots, no matter how many American Spectrums or Midnight Shows Sundance schedules. Compile a list of “B” festivals — these are the ones you will submit to simultaneously. These might include strong regional festivals like the Hamptons, Austin, Atlanta, CineVegas, New Orleans, San Diego, Woodstock, or the Denver International Film Festival, among many others. (See the listings for other good “B” festivals.) These are all great festivals, don’t get me wrong, but when it comes to getting a distribution deal, statistically speaking, the Top Ten have had more films walk away with distribution than all the “B” festivals combined. But these second tier fests are great for creating buzz, getting the word out, and even getting a deal. Apply to ten or even up to thirty more of these festivals and lobby just as hard for admittance as you do for the Top Ten. Plan your submission schedule around an annual calendar, mapping out the festivals you will play over the course of a year or so. If you get accepted into a “B” level festival but are still waiting to hear from a Top Ten, don’t stress it. That smaller festival will keep the film in mind next year once you’ve made the rounds.

Then, and this is optional, take some chances; apply to some wild festivals for fun and a much deserved vacation. The weird ones and the strange sounding ones located overseas. Foreign festivals can be a blast. You may end up with a free trip to Spain for your film’s European debut, all because you took a chance on a smaller festival.

All told, your plan should include applying to around twenty to forty festivals total. Sure, you could apply to hundreds, but why bother? Once your film gets circulated, it will make it to other festivals because directors of festivals talk to each other. Once your film is in the pipeline, it is in the pipeline. It’s better to focus on lobbying specific film festivals first, rather than to using a scattershot strategy and applying to the more than 1,000 festivals offered in this book. Remember, lobbying festival staff (politely, correctly, in a way that gets their attention and does not annoy) is time better spent than applying randomly. Work smarter, not harder.

Once your film plays one festival, other festivals will extend invites. Some invites will be very direct and others will simply imply that if you send in your tape, it will most likely make it in, and oh, by the way, you don’t have to send in the application fee. Anything to get around paying another forty or fifty bucks.

Even though your strategy will vary whether you are have made a short, documentary, or narrative feature, no matter what kind of film you have made, your list of things to accomplish—depending on how ambitious you are—will generally be the same. The checklist below is a complete rundown of the tasks you need to perform in order to take your film onto the festival circuit. Do not hesitate to delegate many of these tasks to others involved in the production of the film. It is important, however, that those jobs are delegated to those most qualified to see those tasks through to completion by your deadline. I suggest making a copy of this list, breaking down the responsibilities into smaller chores, then assigning deadlines to each task. It does help, however, to work on parts of this list during production, especially when it comes to gathering photos for marketing and getting video that might be used for the EPK and as extras for the DVD release. The same kind of project management that went into the monumental task of making the film should be applied here. And if you can’t do it all, don’t worry. Hardly any filmmaker, or even team of filmmakers, has the time to generate everything on the list — but keep all these items on your list, anyway. It will be up to you to prioritize which items are most important.

THE ULTIMATE FILM FESTIVAL “TO DO” LIST
1. Submit to film festivals. The key here is to have a focused plan of attack when submitting rather than to submit blindly.
• Do not allow deadlines to affect the quality of your film
• Research festivals
• Submit to ten “A” film festivals
• Submit to another ten to thirty “B” film festivals
• Follow up with festivals
• Promote movie online with website
• Get local media to do some press
• Set aside funds for marketing, travel and your festival debut
• Build buzz through all of your efforts above

2. Build the team. Get the best team members possible with a combination of the following:
• Publicist
• Lawyer
• Agent
• Producer’s Rep
• Manager
• Friends (for support and for assisting with tasks)

3. Create marketing materials. Put together a unified and clever campaign with a unique message that clearly demonstrates how the film might be sold to an audience.
• Take production stills during shooting
• Headshots of key cast, crew
• Schedule photoshoot during production, for pictures that might be used on the poster, DVD sleeve, and potentially for magazine covers and press
• Stickers with movie logo
• Press kit (with B&W, color, and digital photos)
• Poster
• Flyers
• Postcards
• Website (with e-mail newsletter to promote site)
• Create a “Press Only” area of your website for photos, press materials
• EPK (electronic press kit)
• CD-ROM/DVD Press Kit
• Promo item(s) (witty, clever, and original, of course)
• Trailer (post it online)
• Invitations/postcards to screening
• Plan a party

4. Don’t forget.... Be organized when it comes to the little details — your festival experience will be incalculably better for it.
• Book travel
• Make restaurant reservations
• Make a schedule of screenings, parties, events
• List your goals and keep them in your wallet

5. During the festival.... Most importantly, make valuable contacts, and, if possible, lots of new friends. (And I mean real friends, not just industry friends, there is a big difference.)
• Invite reviewers, distributors, and VIPs
• If necessary, make tapes available (for key critics who specifically request them)
• Distribute postcards and posters at festival
• Contact local media
• Paper the town with your marketing materials
• Give out promo items
• Promote your screening
• Get reviewed
• Wear something that stands out
• Throw a party
• Attend parties

6. Final thoughts.... The ultimate goal is to secure distribution and to that end, do not forget these important things:
• Make contacts with distributors
• Set up post-festival screenings
• Collect all press clippings and reviews
• Explore attending other festivals
• Have a next project
• Send thank you notes

If you are interested in reading more, click here to purchase the Film Festival Survival Guide by Chris Gore.