I think what’s great about this panel discussion is that we can really see the variety of ways people navigate the festival circuit or choose not to partake in festivals at all. It’s also nice to hear people say things that ring so true! For me, festivals have been a great way to get involved in the independent film community and to meet future collaborators and film friends. I dislike the word “networking” because it sounds creepy right? I try to see every festival as the first day of college, maybe there are a couple people from your high school you know but for the most part you’re just there because you all share a common interest in films and the idea is just to get to know each other and to make friends and show your film.

My first film ORPHANS premiered at SXSW Film Festival and won a jury award there in 2007 which helped get it into many other festivals and have some good press. My second film YOU WONT MISS ME premiered at Sundance Film Festival in 2009 and is currently playing the festival circuit. I would strongly encourage filmmakers to target festivals they think they might be able to get into and to think long and hard about what the ideal festival to premiere your film at is- certain festivals specialize in certain kinds of films at different budget levels. For example, Toronto is a top notch festival but they rarely take super low budget American indie films so maybe it’s not worth the application fee. I would advise really spending a big chunk of time trying to get into the specific festival you think is the best place for your specific film- try to meet the programmer or to meet filmmakers who have been there before, go to the festival the year before you plan to apply. Festivals are great because they are a community but what to expect to get out of them is really a whole other monster.

Seems like several people at the panel here have done a great job of discussing the wonderful and the terrible festival experiences and I can say, I’ve also had my share of amazing festivals (Sarasota definitely being one of the best) and awful festivals (the filmmaker lounge was in a parking lot - never going back again). I think the big expectation that isn’t met is that filmmakers rarely ever sell their films at festivals anymore so the questions really becomes about what happens after the festival to the film. Where does it go? How do people hear about it? How do filmmakers connect to their audience? How do we as filmmakers maintain a sense of optimism and afford creative endeavors in this landscape of homogenized studio films making it to theaters and the art house distributors going bankrupt and not paying for films anymore. The model is broken so how do navigate it or make a new one?

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

RY RUSSO-YOUNG grew up in downtown Manhattan and graduated from Oberlin College in 2003. Her first feature film ORPHANS, received a Special Jury Prize at the 2007 SXSW Film Festival. ORPHANS was released on DVD by Carnivalesque Films and is now available through Netflix and Amazon. In 2007, Russo-Young appeared as Rocco in HANNAH TAKES THE STAIRS, released by IFC Films. She received several grants including a New York State Council of the Arts grant to complete her second feature YOU WONT MISS ME that premiered at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival.