ABSTRACT
This portion of the book turns to options available to filmmakers after their projects have been completed and how they can reach a wider audience. Addressing Why Submit your film to festivals? the current state of the film and animation festival landscape and how it has adapted over the years is discussed, with unique insights from https://animation-festivals.com" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">animation-festivals.com manager Aaron Wood. The process of submitting to festivals and what considerations should be borne in mind are outlined with additional perspectives from festival programmers Chris Robinson (Ottawa International Animation Festival), Nag Vladermersky (London International Animation Festival) and Daniel Šuljić (Animafest Zagreb). Drawing on previous case study Love in the Time of March Madness and the author’s own firsthand experience on the festival circuit, an overview of the role a festival run can play in your film’s profile, the networking opportunities they can present and how best to strategize your approach depending on your circumstances is presented. Rejection: How to Deal puts forward the argument that filmmakers should persevere in the face of initial rejection and that unsuccessful festival submissions are not an indicator of a project’s quality, reinforced by a selection of festival programmers and curators. Film as Discourse presents a unique case study of filmmaker collaboration brought about by the festival experience through Bill Plympton’s Spiral and Steven Woloshen’s Rebuttal.
