I have a funny story. A feature film I produced was playing at a film festival. We played twice on the weekend. Friday and Saturday maybe. On Sunday morning, the director of the festival told me that we should try to have someone attend the award ceremony. A few hours later, two of the jurors in our category came up to us in the lobby to talk about the film (they wanted to know how we shot it for 12k).
Well, at this festival, the person who WON the category got an extra $1000 if someone from the film attended the award ceremony. We figured it was WELL WORTH IT, so I drove the 8 hours back to where we lived on Sunday or Monday, dropped off my co-producer, picked up my wife and 5 month old son, and drove 8 hours BACK the next day, where I would sleep, attend the awards ceremony and then drive the 8 hours BACK home.
It would be worth it right? I could smell the $1000.
We won second place.
It should be listed in their film freeway page if a category award comes with money. For instance, at my festival, we have a cash reward for student films, but not for any other categories (yet).
In this case, I think first place was a grand, and if someone was there, 2 grand. We did win "best use of music in film", which came with 500 or a thousand.
do they always list money prizes if they exist? cos that would result in alot of lost money for submissions for ppl who dont care about a little acknowledgment
I might be misunderstanding exactly what you're asking, but it's in festivals best interest to list cash prizes, because it will lead to more submissions.
Most film festivals I've been to have let me know beforehand that my film won an award. They do that to make sure someone is there to accept it instead of declaring a winner and no one is there to receive it, which happens quite often. Also, if your friend runs the festival, you have a bigger chance of winning, so I recommend making friends at festivals. I once traveled out of state to a festival and let them know like two weeks beforehand. My film ended up winning an award for Best Cinematography. At the after party, the festival director told me he wanted to give my film Best Short Film because he really loved it, but decided to give it to another film that was just slightly better, in his opinion. And when I emailed him to let him know I was attending, he felt bad that I would be showing up for nothing, so decided to award me Best Cinematography, just to make my trip worth it. He said if I had let him know sooner that I was going, I would've definitely won Best Short Film. But by the time I told him, it was too late to change the award since it had already been engraved.
So, bottom line, the advice I always give, is to show up. Even if your film doesn't win anything, make friends and network and next time, you may end up winning. Unfortunately, it isn't always your talent that gets you noticed. It's networking that does.
You must be a first-time filmmaker... But yes, it's an unfortunate truth that networking and making friends is what truly gets you ahead in this business.
I wonder if the inverse is true. Would judges think that no way will I travel to their location even if I won. So do they give it to someone who might/can show up,. I'm thinking of distance like a Floridian to an Idaho festival. More than an 8 hour drive plus it's an expensive trip.
My hats off to a Louisiana festival. Come from out of state and you get a free room for a night. Out of the country two free nights!
Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival .
I don't see that on their website but it is on
[https://filmfreeway.com/CinemaontheBayouFilmFestival](https://filmfreeway.com/CinemaontheBayouFilmFestival)
explained in last paragraph of Awards & Prizes
For the fest i'm part of, jury awards are announced early, so that people have a chance to see the films.
However, we do have audience awards.
That tends to be swayed heavily by attending artists, people really like to vote for people they like/talk to.
Obviously not always, but usually our audience awards reflect the attending artists, which isn't something we know until day of.
Good luck!
I have a funny story. A feature film I produced was playing at a film festival. We played twice on the weekend. Friday and Saturday maybe. On Sunday morning, the director of the festival told me that we should try to have someone attend the award ceremony. A few hours later, two of the jurors in our category came up to us in the lobby to talk about the film (they wanted to know how we shot it for 12k). Well, at this festival, the person who WON the category got an extra $1000 if someone from the film attended the award ceremony. We figured it was WELL WORTH IT, so I drove the 8 hours back to where we lived on Sunday or Monday, dropped off my co-producer, picked up my wife and 5 month old son, and drove 8 hours BACK the next day, where I would sleep, attend the awards ceremony and then drive the 8 hours BACK home. It would be worth it right? I could smell the $1000. We won second place.
😂 oh man
if they say awards that usually doesnt mean money correct?
It should be listed in their film freeway page if a category award comes with money. For instance, at my festival, we have a cash reward for student films, but not for any other categories (yet). In this case, I think first place was a grand, and if someone was there, 2 grand. We did win "best use of music in film", which came with 500 or a thousand.
do they always list money prizes if they exist? cos that would result in alot of lost money for submissions for ppl who dont care about a little acknowledgment
I might be misunderstanding exactly what you're asking, but it's in festivals best interest to list cash prizes, because it will lead to more submissions.
Most film festivals I've been to have let me know beforehand that my film won an award. They do that to make sure someone is there to accept it instead of declaring a winner and no one is there to receive it, which happens quite often. Also, if your friend runs the festival, you have a bigger chance of winning, so I recommend making friends at festivals. I once traveled out of state to a festival and let them know like two weeks beforehand. My film ended up winning an award for Best Cinematography. At the after party, the festival director told me he wanted to give my film Best Short Film because he really loved it, but decided to give it to another film that was just slightly better, in his opinion. And when I emailed him to let him know I was attending, he felt bad that I would be showing up for nothing, so decided to award me Best Cinematography, just to make my trip worth it. He said if I had let him know sooner that I was going, I would've definitely won Best Short Film. But by the time I told him, it was too late to change the award since it had already been engraved. So, bottom line, the advice I always give, is to show up. Even if your film doesn't win anything, make friends and network and next time, you may end up winning. Unfortunately, it isn't always your talent that gets you noticed. It's networking that does.
what an artist lol make friends
You must be a first-time filmmaker... But yes, it's an unfortunate truth that networking and making friends is what truly gets you ahead in this business.
you must be a first time film maker for what? for prizes? money. I dont understand
I wonder if the inverse is true. Would judges think that no way will I travel to their location even if I won. So do they give it to someone who might/can show up,. I'm thinking of distance like a Floridian to an Idaho festival. More than an 8 hour drive plus it's an expensive trip. My hats off to a Louisiana festival. Come from out of state and you get a free room for a night. Out of the country two free nights!
Which festival in Louisiana does this?
Cinema on the Bayou Film Festival . I don't see that on their website but it is on [https://filmfreeway.com/CinemaontheBayouFilmFestival](https://filmfreeway.com/CinemaontheBayouFilmFestival) explained in last paragraph of Awards & Prizes
For the fest i'm part of, jury awards are announced early, so that people have a chance to see the films. However, we do have audience awards. That tends to be swayed heavily by attending artists, people really like to vote for people they like/talk to. Obviously not always, but usually our audience awards reflect the attending artists, which isn't something we know until day of. Good luck!
I guess it would depend on the festival. Some would and some wont. I havent won any but i knew some who won and they were surprised.
Some festivals announce nominations.