Why the fuck do I need to fill out 20 different documents for every gig I take? It's so silly and obnoxious. Getting spammed with Start + bullshit is making me want to quit this industry.

Basically, I want to be the kid in the Fablemans and mess around with trying to make some films. I do want to use film, so i am not interested in a digital camera that looks like film.

Having a hard time figuring out what to search for and where.

Thanks for all your help!

​

EDIT: thanks everyone. Seems like trying to actually use film will be super hard and expensive and I would be a moron to do it.

I’m interested in directing but I don’t know where to start but I’ll give you my situation

• Little to no money

-Only have an iPhone -Nobody near me has an interest -Student who lives at home

With these very limiting resources I was wondering what the best way to learn directing is and how I should go about it. I see alot of people saying it’s good to make music videos, well this Is helpful I’ve got a few original ideas in mind. I also see that most people post their stuff on yt so is it a good idea to make a separate yt channel just for this? Any help or ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Doing some research to see if there is an example of a film being funded mostly/purely from churches (if a faith-based film) and/or non-profits. Thanks!

I finished my short in October last year. Today I got my first official selection out of 26 submissions (with 20 others still open).

It's this festival:

https://www.beyondtheshort.com/short-film

https://www.instagram.com/beyondtheshort/

Seems quite cool and has a good following, but I didn't realise that they host your film on their site if accepted... I should have done more research!

Considering that my film isn't in any other festivals yet, do you think this would jeopardise my chances of getting in elsewhere? I know a lot of festivals get funny about premieres/exclusivity and I want to keep my options open. However it does come with a laurel, so that could have the opposite effect of making my film more attractive...

Keen to hear what you think!

Hi, I'd appreciate any advice on this. I'm looking a options for a moving wide shot for a 3 person sitdown conversation. It would be a light camera sony fx3/a7iii on a wide lens 28mm. I want the camera to move back and forth through a half hour interview. What are your suggestions for this on a £500 max budget? The floor is wooden and quite smooth so was considering a tripod on a dolly (not sure if adding my dji rs3 pro on top would help too?) and placing a mat on the ground to keep it smooth. Smallrig have one I'm looking at but the wheels seem quite hard so worried about vibration. Or would a motorised slider work? Something like a 120cm one that can loop back and forth? This would obviously be handy as I wouldn't need an operator....but worried that's not much travel distance. I'm finding it hard to find lists or reliable reviews on either types of equipment. Any thoughts?

So there’s this scene that I want to shoot for film for my college’s film club. It involves some kind of smoke/haze effect in an office space. I’m gonna ask some of my professors if I can use their office, but there’s some risks I want to clear up with atmosphere aerosol first.

My biggest concern is accidentally setting off the fire alarm. I looked up their FAQ and they said “it will not set off a smoke alarm unless it is sprayed directly on a smoke alarm or it is highly concentrated near one”. My big concern is the last part. I don’t know what they define as being near as “highly concentrated near one”. My plan was to spray it over a desk at about eye level, and idk if that would mean there’s a risk of setting off the smoke alarm.

The other concern I have is with clean up. Obviously I want to be respectful to their space and clean up anything that gets dirty. How do you guys normally clean up atmosphere aerosol?

I'm trying to figure out camera and audio package that will enable me to be a one-man film crew for creating short films and such. The audio recording turns out to be more complicated than the visual part and after some failed attempts I'm wondering if the following will work:

• Each actor will have a lav (Giant Squid Omni) running to a Zoom H1 recording locally but the line-out will go into a wireless uhf microphone transmitter (I'm looking at the LK-7 on aliexpress).
• The receiver will plug into an audio interface (I've got a Behringer UM2) along with the camera line-out which itself is recording a camera mounted boom mic.
• The UM2 has a direct monitoring option so I can monitor through headphones while shooting but everything is still recording locally on different tracks where the boom will be recorded with the image so I can use that audio as an anchor to sync the other two (using Davinci Resolve's sync audio feature).

The reason for this setup is that with the cheap wireless transmitters I can afford the quality of the audio would be degraded considerably but not so with local recording while I can then still monitor all the audio sources at the same time while I'm shooting.

Would this even work? Can microphone transmitters even take line level audio? Are there simpler / cheaper solutions? I'm quite inexperienced when it comes to field recording. I feel like I'm unnecessarily reinventing the wheel at this point.

Hello! I'm currently working on a documentary about goth culture and one of the segments is about how goths are often stereotyped, I found this great 'training' video called "Law Enforcement Guide to Satanic Cults" which is hilarious for all of the wrong reasons. Would this fall under the Fair Use property in any fashion?

Here's the video if anybody's curious: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfkLxurd1ME

Earlier this year I worked as a production assistant on a smaller independent film production and I never signed an NDA. Lately I’ve been trying to find more work as a PA and I’ve listed the project on my resume. However, having just thought about it, I wanted to ask if it’s ethical to put the name of the project since I didn’t sign an NDA?

For context: the project already has an IMDB page with the full cast and the actors have posted pictures of the film online. And in my resume I only state what I did as a PA (pretty basic stuff) and don’t divulge any plot details. I haven’t been contacted by the production regarding this, but I wouldn’t want to get in trouble should my resume reach them. So is it cool if I leave it on my resume since I never signed an NDA?

Hi everyone, i’m a second year film student atm and currently i’m editing an assignment, that we filmed with a 2009 cam my dad had found in the closet. It looks fine for the most part, but whenever there’s black in the scene these little vertical blue lines appear, and i’m a bit worried.

For context, our short is mostly a girl going through a hallucination-filled mental spiral, and my teammate said the lines would add to that feel of “something is wrong” but i’m overthinking this and i fear it won’t come across as that and just look bad.

So i ask directly to anyone out there who might know more than me, in this case, is the camera quality an issue i should try to fix or should i leave it raw so it looks "off"? I can provide pics in the comments if needed and sorry if the post is a little jank, english isn’t my first language ❤️❤️❤️

Is there any sense in making a short that is 25-30 minutes? Or is it best left to develop as a feature?

How much scope would you say there is in getting it in the festival circuit?

Most advice says keep it in the 15 minute window to have it reach programmers more effectively.

Wondered what people’s experiences have been.

I am a film composer looking for indie filmmakers to work with. I believe sound is more than half of the experience in a film and I specialise in creating interesting textures & soundscapes to immerse the viewer in the story. Here is a snippet of my recent work where I have used knives to create a rhythm section. If you're a filmmaker looking for a composer, please reach out.

https://reddit.com/link/1bwkriw/video/w3y2o5v7hosc1/player

Connect with me on Insta:
https://www.instagram.com/anurajdadhich/

I’m sure there are few of you from India! I’m actively looking for opportunities in film and production line in Mumbai or in any Part of India Please Help ! I’m eager to work have decent experience completed my Under Grad in BBA in Media Did 2 Full length feature films But can’t find anyone to hook to through something!

I'm producing a SAG Ultra Low Budget Film and we were interested in testing the waters out on a name talent for a supporting role.

The actor would be needed for two days and we would guarantee first class travel, 4 night stay at a 4 star hotel, private transportation, and $300 per diem.

I'm curious about what would be a good starting offer that wouldn't get immediately thrown in the trash by their agent? Here are a few example names:

Seann William Scott , Allen Covert, Jason Biggs, Rob Riggle,
Tom Green

Would it be something like $20,000?

Most film festivals are staffed with volunteers and don't have the time to provide feedback. And festival campaign costs are already expensive, so spending more to hear negative news and details may not sound like a good deal.

Aside from the fact that we'd all like feedback for free, what if a festival offered a service that if you were NOT selected, you received a write up with details on why. Not just "your film was too long", but thoughtful feedback about how/why it scored in areas like writing, directing, cinematography, directing and the story itself. And some recommendations.

So let's say a legit, in person festival where the selections are shown in theaters charges $40 for entry. Would you pay another $15 for the service? More, less? Or no interest?

Maybe I'm doing something wrong but I sometimes feel like film networking is all fake and fronting.

Like here is usually what happens: I go to these film networking events and get the vibe of people, I talk about cinema and some of my projects and people get interested and be like "Hey I wouldn't mind working with you", you connect through instagram and whatsapp and what else, you say hey it was nice meeting you lets go and talk about things.

And then...nothing. Crickets. You are basically ghosted, and no one ever thinks about messaging again.

I sometimes wonder how films even get made tbh, because it feels like people willingly go out there to connect with people but there is absolutely no effort or follow up.

I’m very very new to film and in my 2nd semester of college, I have access to my professors cameras and programs, but was wondering when should I get my own cameras and program when I would like to film during summer/winter? As well as what type? I don’t have the money for any expensive types or a PC yet so getting a program for my dingy laptop isn’t going to work… my professor has said everyone in the industry uses a Macintosh but I have only used one during class. So what should I get as a novice filmmaker with barely anything? Of course affordable because I am in community college, thanks!

I'm struggling with making a horror short because I can't figure out how to write realistic reactions/dialogue and I'm also struggling with trying to show the background to the myths involved instead of having people just say it. Does anyone have any advice?

Hey everyone. So I've been doing visual research for advertising for a few years now, but mainly sub-contracted by a company. I am now trying to get more external clients because that's where the money is at. However I'm struggling with rates because this is such a niche thing that I don't know what's too much or too low. I know that in US the rates are super high, but for Europe (where I'm based and where most of my clients are from) and UK, I really don't know what the average is.

For context, I have worked with some of the biggest advertising directors out there. I have a lot of experience by now, and because I do a good job I am slowly getting more external clients through recommendations, but I feel my rate is too low, and I want to increase it but I'm not sure what to set it to. The US rate would probably be extortionate compared to average rates over here, so I'm not sure about what to do.

Thanks in advance

Hi, I’m currently doing a project on film success. If anyone has the time, I’m curious. From the perspective of a filmmaker: how do review scores impact you, and Do you prefer to appeal to critics or to audiences? Any responses would be greatly appreciated.

Hello. I got the Canon 5D Mark IV for my birthday a year ago because I’ve been wanting that camera for a while. I didn’t realize it doesn’t shoot full frame 4K and I’m wondering what you would suggest: selling it and getting the canon R5 or Sony A7iii/A7iv or using it.

If recommending changing cameras, which lenses would you recommend pairing with either camera? Can the lenses be used interchangeably between canon and Sony?

Hi everyone! As someone who is also a filmmaker, I know how difficult it can be on the film festival circuit, and I'm here to provide insights on many mistakes we encounter, do my best to help the community, maybe dispell some myths, and hopefully assist you to have better festival runs!

I run AFIN International Film Festival. We've been running for 7 years now, are IMDB-Qualifying, and run live events and awards shows here in Brisbane, usually streaming live on multicam for all internationals and those who cannot make it in person. We pour everything we do back into the festival for everyone involved.

Ask me anything you like, and I'll respond as soon as I am able.

But first, I'm going to give you all a TON of my best tips on mistakes a lot of filmmakers are making on the festival circuit:

1. Having a poor-quality POSTER DESIGN, or even, none at all.

This is especially important when you're paying for marketing to festivals, but it's important at all times. The first visual that the festival director and audience sees is generally the poster. It's even worse if you have no poster at all.

When we receive an email from Film Freeway for "Now Submitting", which you would pay good money for as a filmmaker, we don't usually open entries without posters or images, or ones with very poorly designed ones. It would take an exceptionally compelling logline to entice us to click through.

Like a book cover, it can impact your perception of the quality of a film. Ensure you have a film poster that represents the quality of your film.

Avoiding the risk of upsetting filmmakers, I will choose not to show poor examples of posters we have seen on the festival circuit.

This also extends to Hollywood, but they can usually rely on their IP cannon, star power, or both, so it doesn't majorly impact their ability to succeed.

There are many resources out there on how to design a great cover, solid examples of them, and even artists on Fivver who will do it cheap for you if you have no skills or internal resources to do it.

2. MISSING INFORMATION, BTS, Key Art in the project page

Festival Directors, and anyone that you share your project with, will definitely take a look at your project page. Let's break down what matters and why

• Overview - Loglines matter. Don't write a full treatment here or "War and Peace". Keep it short, punchy, and professional. We should be able to tell very quickly what the film is actually about. This can be very difficult to do well, but there's plenty of research out there on how to write a good logline/short overview. Follow best practice.
• Director Biography - Yes, we do want to know a bit about the director, their background, and accolades. Brief with highlights is a good thing.
• Poster - As discussed before, very important to set the stage, and a great poster is one of the many indicators that your project is one of a high quality.
• Trailer - This is critical if your aim is for the film to have a chance to receive a discount invitation, and I will speak more about this in point 3.
• Stills / Production Photos - This is an area often forgotten about. Key art is important, BTS is important. If I see what looks like a focused, professional team, well-crafted sets, people enjoying their time, then this presents your project well. Also include key stills from your film, which festivals can use for marketing.
• Credits - This does matter, but as festival project pages are usually for festival directors to assess, avoid adding every possible role, and stick with main roles, especially those with bigger credits
• Specifications - Important. We do read these, so ensure to complete them
• Screenings / Awards - This is nice to have completed, and it may have a small influence the likelihood of selection if the film has won awards already, or been selected by many festivals, for the film to have extra consideration, if it was close to being selected already.
• Project Links and Articles - Good to have if you can add them. Social Links to the film, or your production company are a must. Any reviews are great, and we do check them out.

1. Not having a TRAILER / TEASER

A cinematic trailer is the heaviest weighting of marketing material for your film. Whether you're wanting film festivals to invite your project, or sending it to prospective sales agents / distributors, the single-most effective tool you can ever use is your trailer.

Having said that, it can also be a big miss if not done well. A trailer which doesn't compel the viewer / festival director, will also be ineffective. So, here are some important notes:

• When considering a film to invite, the rare times we do invite a film, we definitely offer less of a discount if there is no trailer. Inviting a film means that we really want to see it enter into adjudication, and a trailer/teaser is a strong indicator of a film's quality, story line, and level of performances that a festival director can expect
• The best trailers are 90 seconds or less
• Ensure you show at least enough to convey your film in the best light possible

1. Submitting an UNPOLISHED PRODUCT

Quality issues will always hurt your chances at being selected for a festival, let alone any other plans for your film, and there is no bigger reason for a film being non-selected than lacking in quality.

No matter how you market a film, if your product is lacking, your chances of success are heavily impaired.

I will break this down to some of the areas we focus on and why, and this should apply to all festivals. As a filmmaker, there are films which we chose not to submit for a festival run as the end product wasn't where it needed to be, and at that point, you should ask yourself, what can you do to fix it, should you re-shoot?

• Originality / Creativity - This may feel subjective, but ensure that whatever film you're making, find your creative point of difference. What are you bringing to the genre that's new? Why was the film made? Has this story been told many times before?
• Direction - What happens in this story and how has the narrative been interpreted on screen? What have you done as director, to guide the film, vision, storytelling in frame, in performance, and can that be evidently seen to make a mark on the project?
• Writing - Does the story presented meet the definition of drama? Is there a formidable obstacle that the protagonist needs to overcome? If not, and you are breaking the rules of drama, is the story compelling? Does the dialogue drive the story, characterisation, is it interesting for the viewer? Is the story believable? Is the story interesting and translates to great cinema?
• Cinematography - How cinematic is the film? Is attention brought to the camera, and not what is in frame? Are you using your best shots? Do you wish you had time to get best shots, but ran out of it, and perhaps you should re-shoot or allocate more time to polish the product? Has the footage been graded/matched well?
• Performances - How believable are your actors? Do the lines feel in-genuine, forced? How about the action, does it look and feel strong? Have you performed thorough casting to ensure your talent is the best fit for the roles in your film? Was someone completely off their game during shooting? Have you used their best takes?
• Production Design / Costume Design - Have you enlisted great set design? Have you shot a film in the right environment? How strong is the lighting and does it bring you deeper into the narrative? Even if you have low budget, have you gone to extra lengths to make the film feel big budget?
• Pacing - This is incredibly important. How well has the film been cut? Has it not been cut hard enough? Has it been over-cut? Do you have a fight scene that jumps around constantly between all those "important shots", which leaves your viewer disorientated? Have you played this to a test audience? Does the film drag? Does every scene and included shot push the story, characterisation, and narrative?
• Sound/Music - Have you cleaned up sound properly? Mixed sound properly? Brought your talent in for ADR sessions where there's issues? How is your foley for your sound effects? Is it all in sync, does it match? Does the music overpower lines? Is the music/composition appropriate for the scenes at hand?

We also focus on and rate Editing, Music/Score, Structure, VFX, and more.

5. Not writing a COVER LETTER

You have the opportunity to speak to the festival director and likely, adjudicators/judges who have been granted access to film information. Many filmmakers completely miss this opportunity, which is sad, as it allows the filmmaker to give some extra background and start to build a rapport with the festival before they click PLAY.

• Do write a cover letter, but keep it fairly brief
• Introduce yourself, why the film was made, what sets it apart from other films, and why you think it would be a great fit for the festival you're applying for.

1. Taking NON-SELECTION PERSONALLY

As a filmmaker, I completely understand how much a non-selection can hurt. You've poured your heart and soul into this film, this product, and now, a festival has said that it's "not good enough".

It's tempting to "smash that guitar", grab your keyboard, and tell that festival / festival director what you think. Perhaps, tell them where else it was accepted, and why they've made a mistake.

Don't. Seriously.

This is where I go back to the key word here, Product. As filmmakers, we are artists, but what we present is a product, and that product is created, then consumed by our audience. It's easy to "take rejection" personally, but it damages your reputation, and does absolutely nothing for your film.

• Every festival is different, and there is NO film which doesn't get rejected somewhere.
• Assess your product. If the festival offers feedback, capitalise on that, fast. Perhaps politely ask the festival if they could give any words of feedback for your film, and anything you can do to improve your craft for future submissions. You may get lucky.
• Never seek out festival directors to question them negatively on their decisions. This will never go well or bode well for you or your brand.
• We honestly don't care if you've won at 1,50, or 1000 festivals elsewhere. Yes, any win is fantastic and we're happy for you! But we only care about the product and execution, and how the film (or screenplay) lines up against entries for the year, period.

1. Asking for FEE WAIVERS, and when doing so, doing it the wrong way

Since opening AFIN International on Film Freeway, I have received many hundreds of emails, requesting a fee waiver. Rarely, we will invite a film.

As a filmmaker, I've done this too. Now, I wish I hadn't. I looked at my festival budget and exhausted it, then decided that since I've won awards, I could ask other film festivals to provide waivers. I then proceeded to email over 200 film festivals. I received 3 waivers.

• Ask yourself, how much is your time worth in sending all these emails? For the film festival, they're inundated with requests
• Film Festivals cost money to run, and adjudication takes serious time to be done right. By asking for a full waiver, it is not respecting the work needed by the festival
• If you are going to ask for one, do your research, and provide a compelling reason why your film should be allowed to bypass the entry fee. Running out of budget is not a compelling reason. Winning awards elsewhere is not a compelling reason. Why does your film fit what the festival is looking for?

1. Not doing THE RESEARCH

You need a Film Festival strategy. If you are blindly submitting to arbitrary festivals, frankly.. you're doing it wrong. A festival will have a flavour of films they are after, values that are important to them, and they sometimes make this known on their pages. So, what can you do?

• Read about the festival. Check their about pages and see what they are looking for. Does your film meet what they are after?
• Make sure the festival is LEGIT
• Check what films have previously won awards at that festival
• Check the festival's social media for what films they have selected. Not every festival will advertise these, but if a festival is like ours, we actively promote our submissions and selections online, so we make research crazily easy. Do you see trends in selections? Can you find those film's trailers? What do those trailers tell you about what the festival is looking for in their lineup?
• Read about what the festival offers. Does it feel like a good fit for your film? How do they promote selected films?

1. Build a RAPPORT with the FESTIVAL

This should be obvious, but building rapport and a relationship with the festival and those who run it can only benefit you. This doesn't need a lot of time, and really only some basic courtesy.

• Start by utilising the cover letter, as mentioned in point 5
• If the festival promotes your entry and/or selection on social media, comment, engage, share. Believe me, we certainly do know about it.
• If you are selected, reach out with an email or message to the festival. We really do appreciate it.
• Building a rapport won't influence selection, but it certainly does make your reputation as a filmmaker a stronger one, and you never know what opportunities may come out of it. Even if there aren't, it places you in great stead with the festival team, and it may present you as a great candidate for special opportunities within the festival, or with people they know.

Hey all, I'm trying to shoot my first short film this summer. I've written up my own screenplay and have a editor and actor on hand but am not sure on what the best way to find other talent is. For reference I am based in Massachusetts. Thanks