Festival recommendations from you

Last year was the first time I really tried putting a film into fests. And we got in 16 of them. So I thought it might be a good thread idea to speak about your positive personal fest experiences and which ones you'd recommend other filmmakers try and get into.

Miami Int'l Sci-Fi Film Fest - http://miscifi.com/
Last year was their first year and you really wouldn't know. I've been to other first year fests and often times they start very meager. MiSciFi did not feel like a first year fest at all. I had a lot of fun attending and am lucky to be going back again this year with a new film.

Love Your Shorts - http://www.loveyourshorts.com/
This is right in my backyard (Sanford, FL - outskirts of Orlando) and I've tried to get in for years. I finally made it last year and wow do they treat the filmmakers right. Free drinks (beer/wine, too) and snacks all day. Lots of opportunity to rub elbows with other filmmakers. They even had me speak on a panel. A very fun fest to hang out at.

The 48 Hour Film Project - http://48hourfilm.com/
I know there are other threads about it here, so you all know the concept. And what happens at your local level can be a hit or miss proposition. But it you win your city (like I did last year) and move on to the international Filmapalooza fest, it's tons of fun. Four days of short films and fun. Mark and Liz do it up right. Last year the event was in New Orleans the weekend after Mardi Gras. So I went early and had fun even before the festival. This year it's at Mann's Chinese Theater in Hollywood! Should make for a fun time again.

Florida Film Festival - http://www.floridafilmfestival.com/
Probably Florida's pre-eminent film festival. A week of activities, films, and parties. They, too, know how to treat the filmmaker right. I live in the same city and I only had a short film accepted, but even I was offered two free nights a local hotel, just like all the other filmmakers in attendance (I declined). They always have some Hollywood celebrities in attendance, as well.

I went to other good fests last year, as well, but I'll let others chime in. What fests do you recommend trying to get into based on your experiences?
 
I screened my first feature, Surviving Family, at 19 festivals. There were a lot of good ones but I'm especially partial to the Woods Hole Film Festival on Cape Cod, which is where we premiered. Great community support, lots of good events for filmmakers.
 
I traveled to Philly for A Night of Short Films. It's a quarterly fest you can find on FilmFreeway. Man, they do it up right. It's not a multi-day fest, just a 3+ hour session on a Sunday afternoon (there's an intermission). But it's a lot of fun. It's held at the Trocadero venue and everything looks and sounds great. They shoot interviews with the filmmakers, take tons of pix for their FB page, and have an awards ceremony right after the screenings. Then a rockin' after party at a nearby watering hole. I stayed a block away at a Hilton Garden Inn. It made for a very fun weekend. Oh, and it's only $7 to submit.
 
I loved Tupelo Film Festival (aside from the high amount of Elvis content) when I lived in southern Mississippi. They were really cool and hosted a high school competition as well, which I took part in.

Then for horror specific and higher rated content I loved attending FearFete ( https://www.facebook.com/fearfete ). Alway a bit of great indie horror films and shorts to watch.

This year I'll be attending (and hopefully participating) in FilmSlam at the Enzian as well as the Florida Film Festival. And any other Full Sail affiliated festivals in the area.
 
FilmSlam is good for locals and fairly easy to get into. But FFF is very hard to get into. Since it's an Academy accredited festival the selection committee basically asks themselves with every film "could this win the Oscar?" If you don't feel like you can win an Oscar, then save your money.
 
Another fest I heartily recommend is either the Phoenix Film Festival or the International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival. The second fest is a part of the first. They sure do know how to throw a festival! Lots of parties and panels and screenings. A very fun fest.
 
Wow, Bare Bones is fun! I just got back from Muskogee, OK and it was well worth the trip. I made lots of new filmmaker friends and the hosts, Oscar and Shiron, are top notch people. They do something I wish more fests did - give out lots of awards. I highly recommend them!
 
Another fun one is the 15 Minutes of Fame film festival in Orlando. It's local to me, but I stayed onsite with another filmmaker buddy and watched several of the blocks. Lots of good content from around the world. And the hosts couldn't be friendlier! It's a small fest, but growing, and very filmmaker-friendly. There were even a few filmmakers from outside of the state.
 
Wow. I just got back from the Skyway Film Festival in Bradenton, FL. Holy crap! This is their first year but it feels like a fifth year fest. Top notch, great venue, stocked filmmaker's lounge, parties, free food/booze. I highly recommend submitting to them next year.
 
I must say, I cannot recommend the Galactic Sci-Fi Film Festival. I entered and was accepted a while ago and ramping up to the event day (last weekend) I emailed them a few times about the schedule. To no avail. They never answered me. I noticed that their web site was never updated and I even called the phone number on their web site and it was disconnected.

I contacted FilmFreeway to alert them that it may be a scam festival and they were going to look into it on their end. Then this weekend, during the event, they started being active on FB with pix of filmmakers, parties, and screenings.

So I guess they're legit. Just not very communicative. I cancelled my flight and lost money on one night of non-refundable hotel stay. Plus I'll have to pay a $200 fee to change my airline ticket in the future. Money I'm just out due to them being non-responsive. I guess those are the hazards of film festival life.

Just thought others should know if you plan to submit to them. Either don't plan on going, or ensure they respond to you.
 
Wow, 16! Congratulations! That's tremendous!

Toronto After Dark. There are distributors, producers etc... and there are deals to be done. There was even a film maker a couple of years ago who turned up in the shorts section who got his film made off the back of Toronto After Dark.
 
I'm not sure if you have ever submitted to an online film festival or video contest. Some people have hesitations when it comes to online festivals but if you are looking for a way to showcase your films, especially ones that have already gone through the festival circuit, theaudienceawards.com is a great place to win some extra cash and views for your films. Its worth exploring a bit.
 
My feature was in 5 festivals, most of them in the US, but I was only able to attend 3 of them. Here's a quick breakdown...

My recommendation for friendliest and most hospitable would be the Chicago Reeling International LGBT Festival. Paid for flight and hotel / transportation from the airport, booked me on a radio show, took us out for drinks.

The Toronto LGBT festival also treated us well and played our film in a HUGE theatre, took us to dinner, paid for hotel and flight, but it was a little less personal.

Newport Beach Film Fest played us in a TINY theatre but it was a luxury theatre with comfy seats, so that was nice. Overall they were the biggest festival, so there was nothing personal about it. They paid for $50 of Uber transportation, some free food at the welcome meet and greet. Projectionist messed up my aspect ratio but it was my fault for missing the tech check.
 
Big weekend, my film playing in New Zealand (couldn't attend), the Orlando Film Festival, and the Melbourne Independent Filmmakers Festival (in Florida, not Australia).

I bounced back and forth between Orlando and Melbourne since they're an hour apart. Orlando is a top notch fest, well run, free beer (Stella is a sponsor), parties, and a Q&A after each screening. A very filmmaker friendly festival.

Melbourne is a very friendly fest, as well. Smaller, but more intimate and personal It's run by some very passionate people. I love this fest. And this year they did something unique in that 6 silent films were picked to be scored by the Space Coast Symphony Orchestra. And they played live in time to the films! It was a pretty special occasion.

I highly recommend both fests.
 
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