The good news is that the number of film festivals has drastically increased. There is practically one for every type of film and luckily many festivals offer discounted rates and special prizes for student films. First, you should honestly evaluate your film and figure out where it belongs or if it is good enough to belong anywhere. Remember, your reputation is at stake. Do you really want your 1st class project immortalized in the festival catalogue sitting on some executive's desk with a big X marked through your name?

Success at film festivals starts in pre-production, by carefully defining things like target audience, running time, completion format, and even the title. Avoid using the words "The" or "A" in your film title, as it is easy to get them lost in a list of festival films.

The internet is your best source to research entry information and festival rules. Checking the previous year's program on their website may give you a sense of the quality and type of films chosen. However it doesn't guarantee what the programmer's taste will be the year you are applying or more importantly the taste of the random volunteer screeners whose initial judgment can eliminate your film from the final decision process. Try to find out what the programmers are looking for either directly or indirectly through someone else affiliated with the festival. Obviously you don't want to send a half-hour long, R-rated, digital thriller to a family-oriented festival that showcases 5-minute, super-8 comedies. Apart from the many specialty festivals out there, sometimes a festival may have a temporary theme or sidebar which will present a unique opportunity to position your film.

If you think your film has a chance for one of the large prominent festivals (whether by the quality of your film or through a personal connection), then you will want to monitor your premiere status. They may not want you to have an official publicized screening in the region where that festival takes place. Internet and television broadcasts could also disqualify your film. But if a lucrative distribution deal comes along that might affect your future chances at a festival, take the deal while you can and consider your film a success.

Don't forget to apply to the smaller festivals. They are more approachable, personable, and you will have more access to the industry that does attend. Your own local festival has more of an incentive to program your film, knowing that you might show up to the screening, and local journalists may be more apt to write an article about your film.

Some festivals will even guarantee that your film will be screened if you pay an exhorbitant entry fee to them, but that type of illegitimate competition is not respected by the industry. You can search for warnings about fraudulent festivals on various internet bulletin boards. Frequently your best source of information is from other filmmakers who have successfully navigated the film festival circuit.

Once you decide which festivals you want to apply to, make yourself a 12-month festival calendar and note the entry deadlines and festival dates so you can keep up with your submissions.

Schmoozing Festivals

The bad news is that the number of films being made and submitted to festivals has also drastically increased. So unless your film has already won a plethora of prestigious awards, it is really up to you to figure out how to make your film stand out from the pile of submissions.

The number one way to do this is to get someone influential (like a producer's rep, an entertainment attorney, a studio president, or the programmer's girlfriend) to recommend your film. If you can't afford that, make a connection with the programmer yourself, but try not to stalk them. Go to any of their events or cocktail receptions leading up to the actual festival. Invite them to your advance screenings or direct them to any positive press about your film. But do not contact the programmers in the last hectic weeks leading up to the festival.

If you can't make a personal contact at the festival then at least make a good first impression. Be sure to read all the rules carefully and provide all the materials that a festival requires. When filling out a hard-copy application, it is best to type it or print very legibly in all CAPS, especially for foreign festivals where sloppy handwriting only aggravates the problem of having to interpret another language. If you can coordinate the colossal task of making a film, you can certainly fill out an application correctly. You can also join an online festival submission service that will automatically fill out the entry forms for you and provide electronic press kits of your film to the festivals.

Unless the festival requires a full press kit at the time of submission, a basic one-sheet of information should suffice. It doesn't have to be fancy but it should look professional and contain all the facts that programmers want to know. There should be a page that lists the technical information like film format and running time, three versions of your synopsis (25 words, 50 words, and for longer films, 100 - 250 words), a crew and cast list including the character names, and a short bio on the director and any other cast or crew member whose accomplishments would boost the profile of the project. Include a header or footer on every page with your contact information in case the pages get separated.

To get the programmers and media even more excited about your film, supply a variety of photo stills from your film in three different sizes available for different print layout needs: portrait, landscape, and square. Choose photos with strong images and little background clutter. In this age of digital photography, there is no excuse not to take as many photos as you can during your shoot. Remember to shoot the stills at the highest possible resolution, leaving yourself the option of shrinking the file size down later.

For the non-English speaking festivals, you will need to provide a dialogue list. This is your post-production script or an accurate rendering of each line of dialogue that remains in your film.

In lieu of a press kit, you may opt to design a website where you store all of the press information, images, and media that the festival might require. Instead of sending the programmers a big bulky folder that doesn't fit into their filing cabinet, you can simply send them a business card with your U.R.L. printed on it.

Most festivals now prefer DVD as the submission format. If you can't afford to have your DVD's professionally duplicated (glass mastered) and you are burning your own DVD-R copies, then make sure you have tested it on a standard DVD player. Some festivals won't take the time to contact you if your DVD does not work. You may want to send a VHS backup along the DVD. Festivals generally appreciate receiving more than one copy of a film submission because they can have more than one committee member look at your film at the same time. In fact, you may even increase your odds of finding an advocate for your film on the festival's programming committee if you send more than one copy of your film submission.

When sending a VHS tape, make sure that it is a clean copy and not a grainy 2nd generation dub. Remember to label your tape in three places: on the front of the VHS tape, on the spine of the tape, and on the spine of the cover as well. Each label should contain the same four elements of information: Title of the film, director of the film, running time, and contact information. Remember to remove the record tab from your tape and send your tape in a padded-envelope so it doesn't end up broken in the mail. If you are not having your DVD's professionally printed then use a Sharpie marker to write all of the information on it. Do not place a sticker label on the DVD as it may get caught in the DVD player.

Always submit by the early entry deadline. Not only is it less expensive but the programmers tend to take those films more seriously. Usually the festival has half of the schedule programmed by the late deadline and are only looking for a few short films to plug up the gaps in the schedule.

Do not send a rough cut, even if the festival says they accept them. If you have one chance to make a good impression, why not put your best film forward? Rumours of a bad film spread through the programming community very quickly.

But just following the rules is not enough to make a festival want your film, you will have to sell them on your film. Tell them you are really hoping to attend the screening with your whole cast and crew. Tell them that your film is less than a year old. Tell them you'll strike a print just for them. Just make sure you can back up these facts before you sign on the dotted line.

Using Festivals

Once you are accepted into a festival, you should try to obtain press coverage. Keep the press office updated with your contact information and let them know you are available for interviews. Supply them with plenty of press kits (including color photo stills for magazines, black and white photo stills for newspapers, and discs with digital images at 300 dpi for websites.)

Design a postcard of your film that you can distribute before and during the festival and then recycle at future festivals. Leave space on the back of the card to stick a label that lists the current screenings. You can also mail the postcards to press, industry members, and other festival programmers.

When you are at the festival, carry an iPod with your short film or trailer loaded onto it and some noise-cancelling headphones to ensure that the viewer can hear your film over the outside noise.

It is helpful to research the festivals beforehand so you know how they will best benefit you and your project. Some things to consider are the prior year's attendance records, press coverage, industry presence, filmmaker success stories, competitions and awards offered. If you have a short film, check www.oscars.org to see which festivals are Academy-accredited and can qualify your film for Oscar nomination consideration if you win a prize there.

If you don't get press, an award, or a business deal at the festival, then at least try to get an invitation to screen your film at another festival where you might have better luck.

Derek Horne has programmed for several film festivals from Newport, R.I. to Newport Beach, CA. He worked in the Filmmaker Services department of the Sundance Film Festival for six years and currently promotes the student films at Chapman University's School of Film and Television. He is the co-founder and editor-in-chief of the Student Spotlight magazine on the Kodak Education website.