Online Festival Screenings

I just found out that the first feature I've scored is going to be in the Killer Film Fest in MA (I remember them advertising around here, so thanks guys!) This year they're doing theatrical screenings and limited online streaming screenings. It's a kind of neat and novel approach; scheduling blocks of feature + several shorts, the same way they do the more traditional screenings. Advantage: anyone in the world can watch them. Disadvantage, no film on the big screen. http://killerfilmfest.com/online.html is the info they have posted so far.

Has anyone else had experience with this sort of thing? What were the results?

Me, I'm excited. I'm proud of my work on this. The film is weird and low-budgety and I don't imagine it'll win any awards, but if one person sees it and says "hey, cool music", I'll be pleased. If one other says "hey, cool music, I should hire this guy for my film" I will be ecstatic!
 
I just found out that the first feature I've scored is going to be in the Killer Film Fest in MA (I remember them advertising around here, so thanks guys!) This year they're doing theatrical screenings and limited online streaming screenings. It's a kind of neat and novel approach; scheduling blocks of feature + several shorts, the same way they do the more traditional screenings. Advantage: anyone in the world can watch them. Disadvantage, no film on the big screen. http://killerfilmfest.com/online.html is the info they have posted so far.

Has anyone else had experience with this sort of thing? What were the results?

Me, I'm excited. I'm proud of my work on this. The film is weird and low-budgety and I don't imagine it'll win any awards, but if one person sees it and says "hey, cool music", I'll be pleased. If one other says "hey, cool music, I should hire this guy for my film" I will be ecstatic!

Congratulations on your acceptance!

One thing you have to watch out for, is if you have your film available to be screened over the internet that may disqualify you from entering your film into other festivals. (They can't build hype of a film people can download for free and watch before the festival).

Good luck, let us all know when it has been posted or if we can vote for it.
 
As Wideshot said, it's a touchy situation.

For shorts it generally doesn't matter. For a feature, your premiere cherry is the single biggest thing you have to protect. Many festivals won't screen you if it's been screened before publically at all, some won't screen you if it has been shown in the same region of the US or world, and virtually none would screen you if it's available online. For shorts, it generally only matters that it's not posted online. That being said, if it's not realistic that the film would get into a festival with those kind of restrictions, then I wouldn't worry too much about it.
 
Hi, this is Michael Vallier, Director of Killer Film Fest.

I just wanted to comment on this discussion to clarify. Before we decided to go forward with an online festival, we took a lot into consideration. First off we contacted a many indie horror film distributors and received feedback on how an online festival for a feature film and even short films are viewed in their eyes. Then we looked at a many likewise film festivals and wanted to make sure that we do not limit a filmmaker's chances in showing their film in many different venues around the world.

So with our research and feedback, we decided to offer our online festival as a streaming event (no downloads) for 4 days ONLY. It is paid access (but a low price) to differentiate from the "youtube channel" look and feel, and not completely open to the public. This fits in as close as you can get to a theater showing at a festival and the majority of the distribution companies and festivals we contacted felt the same.

As for accepting some films as "Online Only", we have seen in the past, films we liked and would like to accept, just did not fit into our tight 3-day theater schedule. These films have potential to be nominated for some awards and we want to give them a chance in front of our 3rd party judges.

I am glad to see discussions about or festival since we are still young in our third year and I look forward to reading more.

We are always open to answer anyone's questions by phone or e-mail.

Thanks and keep the horror alive.

-Michael Vallier-
 
Hey, Michael

From the trailers at the site - those look like some pretty decent horror features you have going on.
Cooooool & congrats. It looks like a nice show you're organizing. BOL. :)
 
From the trailers at the site - those look like some pretty decent horror features you have going on.

....and mine! ;) Self-depricating humor aside, it does look pretty great, and having the online portion is good to get a little exposure for people who can't make it. Doubly so since the film I worked on is a pretty strange one, so I'm glad you could get it on the program!

Once more, thanks for including us (I did the score for Fetish Dolls Die Laughing), and I'm really excited about the fest. Wish I lived closer so that I could make it to the screenings! Hopefully the online portion goes as well as it has the potential to!
 
and the online schedule has been posted!
http://killerfilmfest.com/online/?page_id=333
We're on October 29th-November 2nd (dia de los muertos!). If I'm understanding it right, it's $12 for access to all the online screenings, as they are available. Not too bad! Once again, I'm excited and curious as to how this will turn out. And if anyone tunes in and wants to vote for "best score"... :)
 
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