How To Submit A Film Using Filmfreeway
- login or sign up to www.filmfreeway.com
- click “My Projects” tab
- click “Add A Project” button
- Choose project type: Film/video – Script – Music/songwriting – Photography
- Type in the film’s title
- Fill in as much further information as possible
- Save Project
- Upload or Link to your film
- Click Save
- Add posters, trailer and other info
- Click Browse Festivals tab
- Choose festival and click “Submit Now” button
The project type and film title all the required information needed. Everything below is optional, but I suggest providing the festival with as much information as possible.
Text
Quite often people submit films with very little background information. But it’s more likely to warm the festival to your submission if they can read something about your film. It also indicates you care about your film and is a clue to the amount of effort and thought gone into it.
Having said that, you can also go too far here, as well.
Some people include very lengthy synopsis, director’s notes and biography. I would suggest keeping these items to about 50-250 words, because with so many films to watch seeing a huge block of text to read can put you off reading it.
If you can reduce everything to the most important and relevant information, your text will be easier to read and have more impact on the reader.
A short, snappy synopsis which gives the reader a sense of what your film is about and entices them to watch is better than a full page of text.
Runtime
Inputting the correct runtime to your film can be really important. When you come to submit your film, Filmfreeway will tell you which festivals accept your film based on length. So putting the correct time will speed up the process of finding suitable festivals to submit to.
Uploading Your Film
Filmfreeway say they accept all major video formats in full quality HD up to 10 GB. Films are transcoded for playback compatibility and performance, so they recommend you use settings close to their output settings:
Maximum video bitrate: 2200 Kbps, H.264, mp4
Audio: 128 Kbps, AAC, 2 channel stereo
Aspect ratio preserved; maximum video height of 720 pixels
You can also link from YouTube or Vimeo.
Bear in mind, some festivals stipulate that to qualify your film must not be currently publicly viewable. Therefore, using a YouTube link or a non-private Vimeo link will disqualify your film from those festivals.
After you have added a copy of your film and clicked save, you are taken to the film’s page on Filmfreeway. This is essentially how you film will appear to film festivals. At this stage you can add further text and graphic.
This is where you have the opportunity to further beef up your film’s submission package.
Trailer
A trailer is a useful addition to your submission package, especially if you are submitting a longer film. However, a film under 5 minutes probably doesn’t need a trailer
Graphics
A well designed poster really helps sell your film, just like a well written short synopsis. A strong visual image can quickly communicate the content and quality of the project.
Any behind the scenes photos are great too. Again, this helps people get a sense of who you are and the scale of your project.
It’s human nature to feel closer to people once we know them better. So revealing a bit about yourself and your team will only help get your film selected in the end.
That’s not to say that great text and graphics will get your film selected. Essentially, your film does 90% of the work there. How well the festival organisers know you might add 5% and good text and graphics another 5%.
How we do it
In my experience of running a festival, we select a “long list” first. This will be more films than we are eventually going to send to our jurors, so we have to decide which of these films we will pass on.
So, this is the stage at which your text and graphics can help you have a little extra edge. If a festival really can’t decide between 2 films, perhaps the one with the cooler poster and punchy synopsis will have an advantage.
Finding festivals to submit to
Once your film is set up and ready to submit, simply click the “browse festivals” tab. Filmfreeway now presents you with a list of potential festivals to submit to.
You can use the filters on the left side of the page to remove festivals not appropriate to your film.
Once you have found the right festival for your film, click the “Submit Now” button. Make sure that your film qualifies for the festival and festival category before submitting.
On the occasions we have allowed free submission to our festival, we’ve found that filmmakers become less rigorous when checking submission rules. For example, we’re a festival that only accepts films shot on mobile devices (mostly smartphones but also action cameras like GoPro).
Believe me, we check every submission carefully. If we suspect it’s not shot on a smartphone or action camera, it won’t be selected unless you can prove otherwise. For example, we’ve had submissions which contain behind the scenes photos of the camera crew proudly showing off their Arri Alexa.
Free film submissions
Submitting to festivals which offer free submission can seem like a great deal. But bear in mind those festivals will find themselves swamped with a greater number of submissions, reducing your odds of selection. Those festivals will also receive a far greater number of non-qualifying films.
From the filmmaker’s perspective it can seem like you have nothing to lose. So why not submit a non-qualifying film or your roughly edited home video of your cat sleeping? One good reason not to: that free festival will pretty soon be adding a fee for submissions.
Submissions Fees
Submission fees can be a contentious issue. I was a filmmaker before I was a festival director so I had the opinion submission should be free. Our experience of receiving non-qualifying or very poor quality films led me to quickly change my mind!
Well, it’s always good to try to see things from another person’s perspective. In my case, it was pretty educational.
On the other hand, some festivals appear to charge fees disproportionate to the value they are offering the filmmaker. Should you pay $100 or more to a relatively small film festival to watch your film? Only you can decide that, but here’s some things to bear in mind.
How long has the festival been running?
If this is their first year and their asking a seemingly large fee for submission, I would seriously think twice about submitting to that festival.
Remember, it’s pretty easy to set up as a festival on Filmfreeway. All you really need is an official website. So be careful you are submitting to a genuine film festival run by people who are passionate about film.
Check the reviews
Filmfreeway has a 5 star rating system with review, a bit like shopping sites like Amazon. Of course, like on Amazon those reviews and ratings are vulnerable to manipulation. But if you see people complaining then take that as a warning.
One complaint you might see popping up is that of lack of communication. This is a sure sign that the festival is not too engaged in helping filmmakers, or is perhaps not the best organised.
How much authority does the festival have in the industry?
The most highly respected festivals within the industry are some of the hardest to get selected for. They have generally been running a long time. I would say it takes at least 20 years for a festival to have some clout within the film biz.
That said, some festivals are very proactive at running industry meetups, forums, masterclasses and so on. If a festival is somewhat new but you can see industry folk visit and give talks, that’s a good sign the festival is serious about helping filmmakers.
Some festivals work very hard for their selected films and filmmakers. Others don’t. Obviously, if you’re going to pay a significant submission fee, a festival that puts in the work is a better bet than those looking to take your money and run.
Good luck!
The Mobile Motion Film Festival is regularly in the top 100 rated festivals on Filmfreeway. We are accepting submissions until November 30th.
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