Are Film Festivals a Scam or Worth the Investment? Beware the fake festivals.

You just finished your fantastic film and are excited to share it with the world. So you hit up FilmFreeway and are greeted by thousands upon thousands of festivals to submit to. Unfortunately, a majority of these film festivals are scams hoping to make some dough from your dream at your own expense. Creating an illusion that they will help you out or provide feedback. Filmmakers are asked to pay hundreds of dollars for submission fees and if they make it into the festival, they’ll receive a special prize. The prize being a PDF-file with a laurel which you can use for distribution of your film, which is in reality, pretty pointless due to the amount of laurels they hand out nowadays. (What is this, the Serial Killer Games?)

The amount of film festivals to enter is an endless amount.

The big promise film festivals make to you if you pay them a submission fee, then they will watch your film. Which sounds great to film makers who are excited to share their film and get some eyes on it. But sadly, this is where the illusion ends. After talking to some people who work at a film festival, I learned they do not watch all of the movies all the way through. Sometimes, only lasting a minute or so into the movie. They get hundreds of films submitted and you think they have enough time to watch 900 movies in two months. They'll make the argument that if a movie does not grab them from the first minute, it won't grab the audience's attention either. But if someone is paying a good amount of money, the least they could do is watch the whole thing. The film might be a slow burn or get better after the first minute. The point of film festivals is about discovering up and coming talent right?

Then comes the part where you get a stock response email saying you didn't make it into the festival, offering ZERO feedback. If you are paying over $100 to submit your film, you think the least they could do after watching it is provide the filmmaker with a bit of feedback they could use to improve their craft.  The idea of film festivals is sound and looks good on paper. But as you can see, how can they provide feedback if they don't even experience your movie? In the virtual film festival Sophie and the Serial Killers was in called Shockfest, the founder of the festival had a video where he was "The filmmaker who sells the most tickets will get the Audience's Award, which you can use to sell your movie, so have your mom buy a ticket, your friends need to buy a ticket, your dog needs a ticket, and of course, you gotta buy a ticket to!". But then you realize, you would just be doing a bunch of free marketing and selling tickets which you don't get a cut of. When your film gets viewed, you're also not making any money.  All this work is just for laurels which will make your film look legit. (It might make more sense just to get your film up on Amazon Prime and direct people there as at least then you'll get a cut)

Yeah, I’m totally watching your film that you submitted.

The sad part is many filmmakers have no idea they’re being lied to, and worst yet, some Film Festivals are downright out to make a quick profit. Some festivals don't even take place at all. They just pretend they did an event or they'll have the saddest five person event. These films aren’t being watched by a professional jury and at completely random, some of the filmmakers get sent a prize. Some scammers will try to create a film festival based on a popular one, such as Cannes or Sundance, to trick you into thinking you are submitting for these big festivals. They will make something like Cannes by the sea or something and act like the real thing. It doesn't take a genius to recreate some nice looking laurels they can hand out. 

I didn’t know if you knew, but Sophie and the Serial Killers is a pretty big deal, just check out these laurels.

What's the point of film festivals then? Why would filmmakers think of investing into film festivals? Well, there are some positives to the scene worth seeking out for some. One perk is attending legit and good film festivals are incredibly useful for spreading the word and learning from your community in real life. Meeting other filmmakers passionate about the craft and pitching ideas can happen at film festivals. One piece of advice I can give you is AVOID VIRTUAL FESTIVALS. I did one with Sophie and the Serial Killers and it turned out to be a waste of time since they accepted like, 1000 films on their website. So no one was going to find it unless they were looking for it already, and I'm 99% sure that is where someone pirated the movie from. The point is, the main advantage of a film festival is that it's an in person event for networking. So if it's not in person, then it just doesn't make sense.  Plus you get to travel and see new places, which is a nice bonus. 

Of course, having laurels from a highbrow festival like Sundance or Cannes would be a great marketing tool to have. But having laurels from the right festivals could aid your marketing efforts if used correctly. Another advantage is running into the press and getting a piece written about your film or an interview.  Getting accepted into a festival does not mean success falls into your lap, you'll still have to put in some work and effort to get the most out of it. 

Having a audience and see them react to your film can be a grand time.

So, when deciding on where to submit your film and your hard earned money, filmmakers have to do their research and make sure to avoid these film festival rip offs. When a festival has too many prizes and categories, you should be wary, as fake Film Festivals love to lure in filmmakers with laurels. If you want to be completely sure a film festival in another country is real or not, try calling the embassy of the country where the festival takes place and ask if the festival is legit or not. I know doing research is not the most exciting thing in the world, but it's a must for any film festival plan and strategy for your movie. 

Why isn't Filmfreeway more pro-active in combating scams and cons? Right now, they have too much power as a platform and have no real competition in the market. They own a monopoly and there are no clear indications that they’re willing to be giving that up. Plus they get a cut anytime a filmmaker makes a submission. Why spend the effort and money cutting down the fake festivals when they are fattening up your bottom line? It's capitalism baby. So until FilmyFreeway gets some competition, I don't see the number of fake scam festivals going down anytime soon.  Stay safe out there filmmakers!