Dynamics of World Cinema

Film Festival Submission: Case Study

In June 2011 an experiment documenting the cost, time commitment and overall efficiency of submitting a short film to two film festivals that utilise different means of accepting unsolicited entries was carried out. The goal of this experiment was to collect data so as to better understand how digital technologies have affected the ‘traditional' submission process undertaken by independent filmmakers when supplying unsolicited films to film festivals.

For those readers unfamiliar with the traditional method of entering a film into a film festival the first course of action sees event organisers announcing a call for entries. Through this call for entries the terms and conditions of film submissions are typically identified.  For example, the duration,  timeliness of the production and, in certain circumstances, the rules regarding the inclusion of a special item like those required by the Australian-based Tropfest (http://www.tropfest.com/) are clearly communicated [1].

It is common for each film festival to produce its own individual submission form. The result of this is that filmmakers are required to complete a number of different submission documents as they enter into various film festivals.  Similarly, screeners submitted to individual festivals are often destroyed.  So, filmmakers must have a ready supply of films they are able to send to each individual film festival. Interestingly, the key and often-tricky aspect of the traditional submission process is the actual delivery of the screener to the film festival. For example, when VHS dominated, the tapes had to be protected by bubble wrap as the standard, fibre-filled envelope often used to post valuable items was known to ruin the tapes. This situation changed with the rise of DVDs but nonetheless those submitting films still face numerous challenges ranging from confiscation by customs officials to lost or damaged mail.

In 2000 a revolutionary new method of submitting unsolicited entries to film festivals was developed by Withoutabox (WoB).  The company's founders identified the traditional method of film submission as being inefficient and largely redundant [2]. As a result they created a universal submission form that allowed filmmakers and film festival organisers to utilise a single electronic submission document, thus, effectively streamlining the submission process.  The advancements did not stop there, however; in keeping with the streamlining theme, WoB recently introduced an online screener option that allows participants to submit films electronically to film festivals. The process involves uploading a film to the Independent Movie Database (IMDb) website and is a viable alternative to the traditional method of physically posting screeners.  As explained by IMDb such a method is convenient, secure, high-quality, green conscious and risk-free [3].

The services offered by WoB represent a new and potentially more efficient method for submitting independent films to film festivals. However, to-date, no studies have been carried out to offer such evidence; hence, the rationale for conducting this experiment. The following chart compares the monetary costs and time commitments incurred as the investigator submitted the same short film into two film festivals that utilise different means of submission acquisition. Festival A is a mid-sized, regional film festival that utilises the traditional method of unsolicited film submission, so the investigator was required to complete a unique submission document and then physically post a screener to the film festival [4]. Festival B, also a mid-sized, regional event, is part of the Withoutabox film festival community and therefore uses the new method of film submission through the universal submission form and on-line screener delivery.

Data

Festival A

Festival B

Conclusion

The utilisation of digital technologies when entering unsolicited films into film festivals represents an economical and time efficient means of submission when compared to the more traditional method of sending a film via the post. While further data collection is required this experiment provides a basic starting point in which the advantages of a digitally-based, alternative distribution network can be identified. The services offered by Withoutabox do seem to streamline the submission process and ultimately enable filmmakers greater ease and opportunity when submitting their films to festivals.

References

Fischer, Alex (forthcoming) "‘The Fully Clickable Submission': How Withoutabox Captured the Hearts and Minds of Film Festivals Everywhere", in Dina Iordanova and Stuart Cunningham (eds), Digital Disruption: Cinema Moves On-line. St Andrews: St Andrews University Press.

Internet Movie Database (2011) "IMDb Homepage". On-line. Available HTTP: http://www.imdb.com/ (21 July, 2011).

Notes

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[1] The Tropfest Signature Item (TSI) of 2012 is a light bulb.

[1] For a detailed history of WoB see Fischer (forthcoming).

[1] IMDb notes that ‘more than a million DVDs are submitted to festivals every year. By participating in Secure Online Screeners, you're giving the planet a needed break.' (IMDb 2011).

[1] Note that this experiment is part of a larger, forthcoming project so the names of the festivals involved have been removed.