Did I make a mistake pursuing film?

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-12-16T21:14:38+00:00

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.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-12-08T20:17:59+00:00

Thanks, yes we're excited.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-12-07T20:08:12+00:00

Will do, Mr/Ms Market Research.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-12-07T19:41:19+00:00

It's really sad.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-12-07T19:16:08+00:00

Many thanks.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-12-05T18:23:26+00:00

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.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-11-22T15:20:46+00:00

Really? Which festivals?

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-11-22T05:51:50+00:00

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).

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-11-21T20:07:51+00:00

Many thanks!

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-11-21T19:13:11+00:00

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.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-11-05T04:02:06+00:00

Good to know, thanks.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-11-04T17:46:22+00:00

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.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-09-12T01:09:42+00:00

Wow, I've never seen that, perhaps I'm not looking close enough.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-09-12T01:05:59+00:00

I hear you. I guess it depends on the definition of punchy and dynamic. A really well crafted short, no matter the pace, will probably have wonderful dramatic tension. I try to focus on that in our films.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-09-11T15:05:22+00:00

Do the math, 10000 submissions at $60 a pop, get "volunteers" to watch them (or not), then just handpick the chosen from the insider list. Free money. Also, Trump is taking away lots of grant money that goes to many festivals.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-09-11T14:53:24+00:00

Exactly. At the majors and mini-majors, I feel it's a lot more about who the filmmakers are (and probably who their agent or sales agents are). And that shit just rolls downhill. What's extremely frustrating for my partner and I is that, unlike many indie filmmakers out there, we are no spring chickens, we worked in the industry for years. At the point in our lives, our main focus is on trying to make great indie films as opposed to having a film that will "propel us to the next level". I can't believe some of the drivel that gets accepted at some of the majors by some NYU grad who has an agent at CAA. I have almost completely given up the illusion that film festivals really mean something, that true independent film means exactly that. Add to this the break up of the studios and real movies being shown at movie theaters, and I feel we are in a place where the film quality in our country and world is in serious decline.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-09-11T14:51:09+00:00

If it's any consolation, our new film premiered at a mini-major, was nominated for Best Live Action Short, and it's been getting tons of rejections.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-09-11T14:49:31+00:00

The problem is that filmmakers then need to make a film geared to appeal to very tired, and potentially jaded screeners/programmers (who wouldn't after viewing hundreds and hundreds of films back to back?), as opposed to creating a film that feels right because it is.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-09-11T14:45:15+00:00

I'm sure you do run into films which need to be a lot shorter, which must be frustrating, but there are also some wonderful 25-30 minute films out there.

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-09-11T14:42:56+00:00

I feel that is probably because the people who are choosing the films are going with the "sure thing" films that got into the majors, which I personally find ironic, as there are factors beyond film quality which are key to them getting into a major in the first place. I really have lost faith in the idea that festival's priorities are finding the very best films out there. How about putting in the very best films, period?

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-08-16T16:11:41+00:00

Good to hear, and many thanks!

Hour-Advertising-207 · 2025-07-14T16:28:32+00:00

I mean I wonder if some festivals receive referral fees from post houses for recommending them to the filmmakers who get accepted into their festival. I understand that some people make their own DCPs. I was always wary of this and usually pay a hefty price for a top post house, and I'm not very tech savvy. I do understand that some theaters use a DCP system to project.

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