Lessons from the Lab: Advice to Films Heading for Their Festival Premiere
Almost two weeks ago I wrote a piece for those who did not get into the Sundance or Slamdance Film Festivals. Today, I want to write one for those who got in, or will be getting into similar sales oriented prominent festivals in the coming months. First off – congratulations – you got into one of the premiere film festivals in the world for independent film.
This post was inspired by the recent completion of the first year of the newly expanded Independent Filmmaker Labs run by IFP that I helped convert into completion distribution and marketing labs. (I plan to do several of these posts highlighting information that we either learned as a group – or were stressing to the participating filmmakers). To be honest, this advice applies to all filmmakers – whether or not they are going to a premiere festival.
1. Know yourself, know your film. When you are accepted into one of these prestigious festivals you are accosted by many people who want to help you sell your film. You should have a sense of who you are and what your film is in order to evaluate what you are being told by those who want to help you. In order to do this you must: Continue reading →