Pretty much. I received a "finalist" notification and thought that meant I was in and a finalist for an award or something. But no, my film didn't even get into the festival. So it's certainly misleading. Don't assume anything until you get the acceptance email.
It's kinda dumb, really.
Hi, all! Long time forum member here. I'm a filmmaker like you all and after years of touring the festival circuit I've decide to make my own fest!
I had a sci-fi film out a couple years back and was somewhat surprised to find a lack of sci-fi only festivals. Thus, FantaSci was born. Blah blah...
I know this forum says "(FESTIVALS NO ADVERTISING HERE)," so where can a new fest announcement be made? I'm a filmmaker here and I've started a new fest. Don't want to break any rules, just like to spread the word.
How about making a trailer with that info at the end and putting that online with an extra bit of text saying "now playing in theaters" or something like that? The best of both worlds.
You have it completely wrong. Let me try and lay out the timeline to help you understand.
I entered their festival via FilmFreeway on 1/29/15.
On 6/15/15 my film was accepted into their festival, which was to be held in August of 2015 in Beverly Hills, CA.
I purchased airfare and booked a...
I'm pretty sure it was accepted. I saw on their FB page after the fact that we won Best Trailer. I doubt they would give out that award to a film that wasn't accepted.