Do We Make Film Festivals Work Better For Everyone, Or Do We Let Them Die Off When They Don't?
Easy Answer, Right? Nine Operational Improvements For Existing Fests To Move Into The Next Era
A friend of mine suggested I list out all the aspects of the FKATheFilmBiz that I found something wrong with, write a post about why each was not all it could be, and then write another post suggesting some fixes. That’s what he felt would make HFF even better.
“Isn’t that what I am already doing?” I asked. He wants a greater clarity of purpose. Perhaps he thought such a list would be short. The problem is my list includes everything. And then goes beyond that. My list of all that need fixing includes everything of everything — not just the cinema industry.
It is not a bad thing to have an abundance of things one wants to fix. It tickles the phenomenon of constant change. We need to stimulate revision and growth of everything. Even when we get it wrong. It’s fun. Unfortunately, we have a tendency to linger too long and keep doing things the old way even though all the surrounding aspects have changed. Movement may slide us further into the ditch, but it is better than staying in the mud.
Both our culture and industry gets too set in their ways. Particularly when they are considered “good enough”. Non-profits are the most guilty of this stagnation; their boards hold grade-school crushes on whatever legacy event they first got recognized for. They throw all their resources behind that, even when the fruit it bears is born stale. We’ve never learned how to keep our cultural practices fresh and instead run programs and practices into the ground.
For instance, I dig film festivals. All sorts. All over. And a lot. Film festivals truly work wonders for me. Give me five films a day and I am a happy clam. But festivals haven’t changed much in the thirty years I have been attending. That lack of evolution brings with it a decline in utility and satisfaction. Sure fests serve a purpose, but they haven’t been changing with the times.
All things have to get better or they will be replaced. Audiences move on. Sponsors move on. Funders move on. Filmmakers and distributors move on. Things can never really be “good enough” unless they have evolutionary practices built into them. Our industry can’t afford to have more companies like Participant close, or festivals like Human Rights Watch Film Festival shutter.
As Anthony Kaufman pointed out in a recent missive, most festival’s new strategies are really revenue-based or sponsor-driven. You can chalk this up to necessity — but to me, we all need to look under the covers. In America, we’ve forgotten how to value culture and sometimes even to appreciate it. I mean it’s understandable, right? Culture is only the thing that unites us and allows the best aspects of our nature to shine — so why should we care much about it? Sigh… The practical resignation of “they need to make money” blocks us from strategizing on how to get to the utopia we deserve. Everything need not be based on revenue — and we should stop lying that it does.
Maybe we just need to elect Ted Gioia president and have him enact his 30 Ways To Revitalize Arts And Culture.
Yes, systemic solutions are needed, but even Rome wasn’t burnt in a diay. Maybe as things continue to crumble, we can figure out how to put more icing on the cake. Band-Aids, maybe, but also if we can just make our love spark anew, we’d double down and prioritize a few more of the things that truly matter.
So what would be your Top Five operational improvements when it comes to Film Festivals? Okay, these aren’t really my Top TOP Five. And they are not even five for you; I have nine for you now. But these are just some of #OpImps for TheFilmFestEcosystem that are currently top of mind for me. Let me know what you’ve got too. Maybe I can share even more. Thanks.
Nine Ways To Revitalize Film Festivals & Re-Orient Them To Today’s Situation
1. Require All Undistributed Films To Present Multiple Distribution Plans In Order To Play The “Top” 15 Festivals
Seriously. Festivals have been leading the little film lambs to slaughter for decades. Okay, that’s a bit harsh, but it is everyone’s best interest that filmmakers be better prepared, and we don’t require it because too many folks are making money off of their lack of preparation. But that is the old way and we are wiser now and it is in everyone’s long-term interest to make sure the filmmakers know what is best for them and their film.
As it currently stands, the festivals set all filmmakers up by not requiring filmmakers to know what they are in for when they get in. Agents and lawyers are motivated by the fee structure to get a deal done — even when it may not be in the film’s best interest at the time. The distributors want these newbies at the best price. Everyone is complicit even if such evil is not their intent. All it takes to stop such practices is to stop. Or require better practices. That’s where I put my vote.
If you don’t have distribution in place before any and all of your festivals, you should fund someone to design three strategies around your priorities. These strategies should extend both to distribution and marketing. Some such strategists already exist, but yeah we need more too. Others will become available when we embrace the tapestry of side-hustles I’ve advocated for earlier. This won’t become the province of only the privileged, if the philanthropists and support organizations can also quickly step in and push for this. It won’t happen overnight, but festivals are the gateway where the demand can be made.
As I spread this over both festival and distribution strategy, I gave you two points in one!
2. Same As Above — But Also For Film Festival Strategies
Short of requiring film festivals to ONLY show undistributed films, festivals should insist participating films know their next series of moves. One way you can see how the American festivals and sales agents neglect the full needs of the filmmakers, is how they actively ignore the need for filmmakers to think beyond their launch. Everything on these shores adopts a wait-and-see policy. Most international sales agents, particularly in the non-fiction realm, have a festival strategist on their team. No American talent agency or sales company has the same. The Film Cooperative offers such services, but the list ends there. One way to counteract our current culture of abundance and distraction is to slow everything down. If you ask me, all indie film — both fiction and non-fiction — needs to adopt a long and slow approach. Festival play for such films should be a year long activity, covering 25 or more festivals. If you haven’t planned that from the start, you are now doing it wrong. If the launch festival (as well as your sales agent) allows you to screen without already sorting that out, they are complicit it what very likely will be your demise.
3. End The Festival Hierarchy
We have put all our eggs in one basket. Or rather three. And we’ve done it twice over. Whether it is looking at global film festivals or those in the United States, we’ve invested in the power of three and that will be our downfall if we don’t change things around something fast. Okay, first this is not a truly global perspective, but a very western European centric perspective. Although Cannes, Berlin, and Venice all program films out of Asia, including on some rare occasions out of South East Asia too, they rely predominately on European and western programming – but that’s not my issue here. My issue is the same thing we do in the States, which is to build a pyramid where there are three festivals on top. In the States, it is only a question of perception, as really on Sundance matters, and even then that’s debatable. My issue is that three festivals can not hold all the wonderful films that are available to screen at any given moment, let alone provide the proper context and launch that is needed. There is no reason why we couldn’t have 15 or more festivals across the land and year that provide all that and more. Why don’t we? How could we? We could if our industry – the media and the distributors – chose to do so. EZ PZ. If the trades chose to cover regional film festivals, those same festivals would attract more films and more sponsors. If the distributors chose to supply a few hot titles to those regional festivals they would attract larger audiences. What happens if you are attracting more films, more sponsors, and more audience? You grow. You thrive. You become more sustainable.
4. Unite A Handful Of Festivals Into Something Even More Prestigious Than Any One Could Be On Their Own (And Promote Festival Unity In The Process)
Okay, you what my favorite festival is right? If you guessed October, then you guessed right. I told you this before though so that’s almost cheating... But what’s different about me raising it again this time? Well,
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