CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW THE ENTIRE PANEL DISCUSSION ON “MANAGING EXPECTATIONS ON THE FESTIVAL CIRCUIT”.

I went to SXSW this year for the first time to not only learn the lay of the land, but to find out what the benefit of attending a major festival without a film might be. Previously, I had never considered going to a festival I hadn’t been asked to screen a film at, and only recently did I have a slight indication that there could very well be more to the festival experience than nervously awaiting your post-screening Q&A.

So I booked my flight, a hotel room and a rented Chevy Impala and descended upon Austin, Texas. After picking up my film/interactive badge, a couple of illusions I had about the fest were immediately shattered. First, I had no idea how massive it was going to be. And second, the interactive portion of the fest is where I would spend most of my time. I only saw two feature films there, Ry Russo-Young’s YOU WONT MISS ME and Brett Gaylor’s RIP: A REMIX MANIFESTO – both knock-outs.

However, at this point all my expectations were up in the air. I had pre-arranged a few meetings including a chat with Lance Weiler over lunch to catch up on a few things. And throughout the week I had occasion to run into some of the people I had met during POWER TO THE PIXEL in London – like Liz Rosenthal, Scilla Andreen and Slava Rubin.

I was thrilled by the opportunity to meet face to face with familiar acquaintances as well as new ones like Brian Chirls, Roger Erik Tinch of CineVegas, Leora Nevezie of the UK FILM COUNCIL and all the guys from LOST ZOMBIES. But I also made a point of seeking out two filmmakers specifically, HUNTER WEEKS and TODD SKLAR, who I had not yet met in person and who I suspected could clue me in on what the underlying benefit might be of attending festivals and conferences on the scale of SXSW.

Here’s an exclusive NEW BREED mini-doc on what I learned from them.

So, now that I understand the inherent value of seeing these fests as “industry trade shows”, I’m left with this question… where to next? And so I thought I’d put this and other questions to the other NEW BREED filmmakers for that Virtual Panel Discussion I spoke of in the video…

QUESTIONS FOR THE NEW BREED VIRTUAL PANEL

1) How do YOU manage your expectations for the festival circuit and how do festivals fit into your overall strategy for getting your film out into the world.

2) What are the TOP industry festivals, conferences, etc – that are “must-attend” events for the purpose of networking and fostering new relationships and creative partnerships?

Also, this kicks off a NEW BREED virtual panel discussion where each of the filmmakers will weigh in with their insight and ideas on managing expectation on the festival circuit. Feel free to comment in the section below.

CLICK HERE TO FOLLOW THE ENTIRE PANEL DISCUSSION ON “MANAGING EXPECTATIONS ON THE FESTIVAL CIRCUIT”.