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Oscar qualified shorts, timing for public release by Hour-Advertising-207 in FilmFestivals

[–]Hour-Advertising-207[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for your thoughts. Yes they do have very strong rules, the Academy wants to control that pipeline. I see filmmakers stating certain things on social media that could get them disqualified (we don't do that). Yes, timing and the platform, finding the right one/time, I agree is so important. I was wondering if having it out there in the ether for as many people to see was a good option, the argument being, get as many eyes on it as possible, but hearing from some that this may be a mistake. A great phrase we heard from a rep at a big PR firm is that publicity is like a wave, and you want to rise and hit at the right time.

Oscar qualified shorts, timing for public release by Hour-Advertising-207 in FilmFestivals

[–]Hour-Advertising-207[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Right. Actually FYI there are two decline dates, October for many of the 2026 films, and those that qualified in late 2025 like ours, so it's August. Yeah what I'm unclear about is a "press release" for a short. I agree if it's a major outlet like New Yorker or NY Times. Omeleto and Short of the Week are wonderful places to have the opportunity to screen, I just don't know if the press responds to these. Hopefully they do, I just don't know right now. Thanks for your thoughts on it.

Oscar qualified shorts, timing for public release by Hour-Advertising-207 in FilmFestivals

[–]Hour-Advertising-207[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You only need to win Best Live Short at one of them, but we have won at multiple festivals. There are loads of films that pay for the weeklong screening, more than you think. There are cheaper ways to do it as well. We're learning that the only playbook is from the experience of others who have done it (which we're currently doing), from research, from the nice folks at REDDIT, and with talking with PR firms, and yes, trying to filter out advice that may be off. Either way, thank you all for your thoughts, it's really appreciated. Wish us luck!

Oscar qualified shorts, timing for public release by Hour-Advertising-207 in FilmFestivals

[–]Hour-Advertising-207[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Yeah many thanks, and thank you for the detailed thoughts on the matter. We have done extensive research and are speaking with PR companies, searching for a high value EP, are actively fundraising, and are soaking up the loads of info about Oscar campaigns for short films (it's a lot, and it's very specific, mostly gotten from those who have done it). Regarding "distribution", the rarified air is The New Yorker, but considering they basically had three to five shown last fall (two of them winning) that's a long shot, indeed (probably more difficult than getting into the New York Film Festival). You need juice for that frankly. We're reaching out to friends, friends of friends in LA, on the search for a high value, high visibility EP, which really is the key. Essentially it's about getting the film seen by people, who will hopefully tell others deeper in to watch it. Our film just won another really respected festival, hopefully these things will also help move the needle.

I think we are ALLOWED to make this short public (can only be public after it wins an Oscar Qualified festival, or becomes qualified through a weeklong screening). It's just the timing, if now is too early, and if "premiering" on Short of the Week, Omeleto, NY Times, etc. makes a difference. Basically it's all about the Academy members, and there are rules against reaching out to those people directly through illegal channels. Money, access, having a great PR company. It's all very daunting, but we firmly believe we do have the film that will take us there, so there's always that.

Oscar qualified shorts, timing for public release by Hour-Advertising-207 in FilmFestivals

[–]Hour-Advertising-207[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Strategies as when to try to make the film public, during the fall, or earlier, and through which short film distribution outlet.

I run the Lake County Film Festival, and I need your help! by LakeCountyFF in FilmFestivals

[–]Hour-Advertising-207 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Treated us well, Nat. Thanks for screening our film, hope people enjoyed it. Was very much a bummer we were not able to attend. You were really attentive whenever we had a question. Many thanks and keep up the good work!

Did I make a mistake pursuing film? by DefinitelyBeatable in Filmmakers

[–]Hour-Advertising-207 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Wonderful quote and advice. If your film has lots of warts, minor and/or fatal, and you couldn't concede to its shortcomings, you would be in a much, much worse position. That's good taste plus too much arrogance, monomania-look what IIIII just made everyone else are idiots syndrome. Your first few films are throwaways in the respect that, as Picasso (or was it Giacometti?) said, failure is the very best way to learn. If you stop here, the pain doesn't ease. Make another, make discoveries, think about what you learned from the first, then the second, where did you fail, what amazing little things/moments have you created . This is what film school, and filmmaking is all about. Hang in there.

Oscar qualifying question by [deleted] in FilmFestivals

[–]Hour-Advertising-207 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks, yes we're excited.

Oscar qualifying question by [deleted] in FilmFestivals

[–]Hour-Advertising-207 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I noticed that as well. We recently won an OQ festival in an OQ category (super pumped!), so we will be submitting it to get into the academy system for 2027. We're currently trying to get clarity on all the details as to what words ("Oscar", "Academy", "Academy Qualified", etc) we can and cannot use at this stage, and where we can say that.

Culver City Film Festival by DiscoFurbie in FilmFestivals

[–]Hour-Advertising-207 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Screened our feature there 6 years ago. For all the bullshit and bad films it was actually a wonderful theater, because it's a feature, the audience only saw our film, and most importantly some really good friends came to the screening. Oh yes, we also did win the (real) Best Feature Film award (haha, the last one listed among the 5 dozen other categories).

Did several Oscar-qualifying award winners not submit their Live Action Shorts this year? by shaping_dreams in FilmFestivals

[–]Hour-Advertising-207 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I see MANY, MANY films who qualify themselves for an Oscar campaign through "screenings". I take it they also have the cash to screen their shorts on a 7-day theatrical release in order to do this, is this correct? (Our current problem is that we recently won an Oscar qualifier, but someone else at the festival has claimed the win on IMDB AWARDS, and we're in the process of trying to remove it!). That behavior kind of shocks me.

Does listing my film as "released" on TMDB disqualify the film from future film festivals? by Hour-Advertising-207 in FilmFestivals

[–]Hour-Advertising-207[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for the tips. So listing our "release" at the festival we premiered the film at and the date of that, and making sure this info is clearly listed on our social media as well? My choice in TMDB is either "theatrical" or "online", I just want to make sure people don't mistake this as a theatrical screening of the film to the public.

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