For a filmmaker trying their hand at the festival circuit for the first time, the experience can be an intimidating and disheartening one. Finding the right submission strategy and doing your research can minimize wasted
time and energy but keeping a positive attitude after numerous rejections
can be difficult. Even more difficult may be in believing that getting accepted to a festival is based on the merits of your film and not on an
insider’s connection.
As difficult as it is to believe, I can assure you that there is fairness in the world of filmmaking. Your film will be watched, it will be judged based
on its merits and it will be done fairly. At least it will be if you submit your film to the Slamdance Film Festival.
“Every film gets two views,” according to Andrea Clark, Slamdance Events Producer and Feature Programmer. At the time of this interview, Andrea was in the final stages of viewing screeners. She estimates that she was watching five films per night in order to cover her portion of the 800+ features submitted to the festival. Andrea and roughly a dozen other programmers cycle through the library of submissions with the objective of each screener being viewed by at least two programmers.
Each project is rated on a scale of one to ten with ten being the highest
rating, albeit rarely awarded. After two viewings, if the film has averaged
a score of 6 or less, it is dropped from consideration.
The question that faces every festival hopeful is “When faced with that many screeners, does each programmer watch the entire film?” According to Clark, “If you’ve invested 40-45 minutes and [the film is] killing you, chances are whatever genius is there in the last half isn’t going to save it and it’s not going to be programmable.” However, the age-old advice of “submit early” certainly does apply. “Programmers are under much more time pressure at the end of the process than later,” Clark said. Do you want a harried, burnt out, irritable programmer viewing your project or a calm, serene and benevolent one? The answer is: get your project in as early as you can.
One surprising revelation was that submitting an incomplete film might not hurt your chances of being accepted. “Rough drafts are not a detraction,” Clark remarked. Festival programmers understand that most films are in the process of being completed and a good film that is missing some elements is not a problem. It’s only a problem if the film isn’t good.
So what is “good”? Clark emphasized that the process is a very subjective one, which can work in the favor of filmmakers. There are changes to the programming staff every year and it isn’t uncommon to program a film that has been submitted before and rejected.
The entire group of programmers selects the five documentary and 15-18 feature spots in two consecutive weeks of discussions. Programmers are encouraged to bring a list of their top five films into final discussions. If one of the projects on their list had already been cut they can bring it back into the discussion. The programmers usually have 50 films on the table that most of the programmers have viewed. One person may champion your project in the final discussions but in order to be selected for a screening, it comes down to a jury decision.
Although rumors may abound about other top ten festivals being influenced by agents, reps, studios and inside connections, it simply has nothing to do with Slamdance’s selection process. “Slamdance programmers relish the opportunity to judge something on merit and not ass-kissing,” Clark laughed. “Programmers are very unassuming, and are not industry insiders,” she added. For the most part they are alumni filmmakers themselves and, in many cases, come from the same background as the artists applying to participate in the festival. The reps and agents will always be there and they will always try to get in, Clark said, but they are treated like everyone else. If a programmer is in a position to rate a screener submitted by a friend, they excuse themselves from the task.
Clark emphasized that the selection process was a subjective one and
encouraged filmmakers not to take it personally. There are nearly a
thousand submissions for a handful of spots so the competition is stiff. If
at first you don’t succeed, try again next year.
Sincere thanks to Andrea Clark for her invaluable input to this article.