Festival Exhibition Formats

For submission, DVD or online through Without-a-box is great.

For exhibition, every festival wants something different. Many don't even take Blu-Ray. Many are going to digital formats (which is awesome) as opposed/in addition to tape, disc or film. Submit with what you can afford and if accepted, get it to them on the best format they accept that you can.

The reason why man indies avoid Sundance and bigger festivals is a stigma that most likely they won't even watch your film before rejecting it. There's so much competition that without a name or a freaking good movie and a lot of luck there's no way it'll get shown. Entry fees add up, if you're pretty sure someone won't show it it's not worth the $50-150.

Good luck! If it's your first festival experience, a bit of advice: Be patient, give smaller/cheaper festivals a shot in addition a few medium/larger ones you follow and don't let rejection get you down. Nobody makes it into every festival they enter.

A caveat, if you find yourself in need of making a lot of blu-rays but need to fit it in a budget, do it yourself. You can get a burner for $50-60 easy, discs for a few dollars each in low quantities (cheaper if you buy more) and burn away. You can use those goofy paper labels, or a lot of printshops can print on inkjet printable discs if you bring them in. Beats paying a duplication house $10-35 a pop for one offs and low quantity runs.

"Submission" copy DVD. Exhibition copy Blu Ray at a minimum (I get pissed when they only project DVD as the quality difference is pretty huge). Only a very low tier festival projects DVD. Most middle to upper tier festivals will require something like HDCAM at a minimum. HDCAM or other tape HD formats that will cost you $40 to $60 or so per copy.

Over 10,000 films a year get submitted to Sundance. The reason not to enter is because unless you made a really, really, really, really good film you have ZERO chance of getting in. IF you get in to Sundance you spend whatever it takes to get the format they want. Though they do NOT require a film print any more.

Entering film festivals can often be more expensive than the
budget of a short film. When you get accepted the cost can
go up because of the exhibition format. You want your movie
seen in the best way possible and that can be expensive.
HDCAM and DigiBeta are common exhibition format and the
transfer and tape cost can be expensive - but worth it.

Start saving your money now. When you get accepted you
really should be prepared to send them something MUCH
better than DVD despite the cost.

justinisfilming said:

Also, for big festivals such as Sundance, they require you to freaking have your film be shown on film or some other formats that could easily destroy the bank! Is that why a lot of filmmakers don't submit or rarely submit to Sundance?

Click to expand...

Sundance accepts DCP and HDCAM in addition to 35mm.


I just submitted my feature to a few places. Most Submission copies were mailed on DVD, though I sent BluRay Submission copies to a couple of the festivals that accepted them.

If any of these guys accept my film, I'll be sending either .MOV file or BluRay for Exhibition, depending on which is in their list of acceptable exhibition formats.

None of them listed DVD as their exclusive Exhibition format. I would consider DVD for exhibition if you have absolutely no other option (assuming they accept DVD for exhibition.)

Other tips:
- Avoid fancy packaging; Label the DVD with your required info (ie. Tracking #, run-time, NTSC/PAL, title, etc... varies between festivals) using a marker.
- For submission DVDs, these guys want to play the film without having to navigate through a menu.

All the best to you!

directorik said:

HDCAM and DigiBeta are common exhibition format and the
transfer and tape cost can be expensive - but worth it.

Click to expand...

There's an additional consideration which many filmmakers seem unaware of when submitting to Film festivals using these tape formats, the sound format specifications. Typically the specifications require a stereo mix in LtRt format. LtRt format is not a standard stereo 2 channel format, it is a 4 channel audio format. There are likely to be severe consequences if you supply a standard stereo mix when an LtRt mix is specified. The Sundance festival is one of many examples of this LtRt mix requirement for a projection copy submitted on HDCAM.

I've explained more about this issue in this Festival Screening Formats thread.

G