A film festival is an opportunity to get your work seen. The bonus is if you make a good connection with someone you will eventually work with, or even more rare — get discovered and go on to make bigger and better projects. Hey it’s happened before. Just ask Robert Rodriguez, Lee Daniels or Darren Aronofsky, who were all discovered through their work submitted to film festivals.
Not all film festivals are created equally. In fact, some types find this the perfect opportunity to take money from you and provide nothing but disappointment and false promises in return.
How can you tell a film festival is not legit?
The Red Flags to Look Out For:
1. Deceptive Festival Name
Scammers will try to piggyback on the caliber of a name like Cannes or Tribeca or other notable film festivals with a name that closely resembles it.
Examples of shady festivals trying to get you to believe they’re big:
- World Cannes Film Festival
- Alaska International Film Festival (trying to sound like the respected Anchorage International Film Festival)
- Emmy Star International Film Festival – Not associated with the actual Emmy’s.
- International Filmmaker Festival of World Cinema (Don’t know what this one’s trying to be but it’s trying real hard.)
If a festival sounds legit, or has a long involved name like the ones above, do a little research and make sure you’re submitting to a real festival.
2. High Submission Fees
These sound-a-like film festivals will often come packaged with high submission costs or unnecessary add-on fees. Scam festivals are obviously in it for the money, and they’re going to milk their filmmaker hopefuls for as much as they can.
Additional fees to look out for include:
- A photo in front of the film festival’s backdrop
- a party or event after the festival
- an award nomination
The above examples should be free. Charging for the opportunity to get a photo or to be nominated is a huge red flag.
3. Lack of Information
Any film festival organizer worth their salt will be eager to tell you about their film festival: who runs it, when the event is, what to expect at the event.
A concerning detail is a lack of details… Can’t find when or where the film festival is? Don’t know if they even have an official screening? Might be time to write that one off as a possible scam.
4. Worthless Awards Mills
A lot of unsavory festivals are nothing more than awards mills — giving out awards or laurels that are meant to make you feel good but are ultimately meaningless.
Awards mills offer rolling or neverending submissions, in order to take advantage of the most people. Legitimate film festivals will typically have a specific deadline once a year. Along with rolling submissions, these festivals will also offer monthly awards.
One telltale sign of an awards mill is a film festival you submit to that you are almost immediately accepted into. Then you’re a semi finalist. Then you’re an official selection. Then you’re an award winner. All within a short span of time. Real film festivals are usually going to take months from early submission time to the event date.
The real Rome Film Fest, or Festa del Cinema di Roma, was established in 2006 and is recognized by FIAPF (International Federation of Film Producers Associations). That means there’s a number of Rome film festivals that aren’t legit trying to profit off that name.
If you find a similar “Rome Film Fest” that states it has multiple categories, guaranteed laurels, monthly online awards and exorbitant passes for purchase… you might want to think twice.
If it’s a monthly, online only festival, and has the title “awards” or “competition” in the title, it’s probably not legit.
5. Amateurish Website and Social Media
Better yet, if that website or their social media appears amateurish, stay wary. A good film festival will be searchable, organized, and have the web presence to prove it.
If they have social media, take a look at their audience. Do they have followers? Do they have thousands of followers? A large following is a better sign, however people are able to buy followers these days, literal bots that do nothing but inflate their numbers. A large bot following would likely equal few interactions like comments and tags.
Are the only people buying a ticket the filmmakers themselves? That’s also a bad sign. You shouldn’t have to purchase a ticket to a festival you’ve been accepted into.
These are just a few of the signs you should check out before you pay to enter any film festivals. Do plenty of research when it’s time to submit your film, and stay safe out there.
Sources:
Film Festival Deep Dive Part Two: Red Flags and Green Flags. : r/FilmFestivals
Bridget LaMonica 