Getting my short film "out there"..?
 

Hi,

Im an amatuer/student film maker and Ive just made my first short film - approx 15mins. Im wanting to get it out there a bit for people to see, and maybe enter it in some competitions. I put a lot of effort into it, and I feel that its come out pretty well...but its just an amatuer/student film and it certainly doesnt have professional production quality - it was shot on a gs400 with some work lights, and fairly amatuer acting. But for what it is I think people may like it, so I wanted to know where and how can I get it out to the public?
Does anyone know of any internet places?
And Id also be interested in film festivals which cater for films of my production quality - btw, I live in Australia.
Finally, if I am to send it to some website or film festival, how do I ensure its copyright?

Any suggestions at all about how to get my film "out there" would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot, :)

Josef Heks

G'day Josef,

I think you should enter it into competitions. Redgum Australia (the website escapes me) holds competitions and news of how you can release your work.

I dont know a lot about "getting it out there," but I do know how you can protect your work. Protect the script.

Make sure you join the Australian Writers guild. They offer a Script registration for about 50 dollars a script that would last you 10 years. I'm not sure if you have to be a member or not, but its not very expensive to become one. Once you copywrited the script, credit your work on the film. Basically, if someone rips off your idea, reffer to your registered script, and reffer to the film made from that script. It should make any legal complications fall away.

If you didnt use a script, I suggest looking for the Australian film bodies that do. At this moment in time, I never had the need to use them, so I cant point you in the right direction. Often, the easiest way is to consult a legal person about it, but it might cost.

As for getting it out there... Well, the best thing to do is join your local video clubs. (Info can be found on the Australian Video Camera Magazine, and on thier website www.videocamera.com.au and forum www.videocamera.com.au/bbs

if you are in university, join the uni film groups, if not, then you have to ask around in the places I mentioned above if you are looking for local help. As far as that, I emplore you to register your script if you have one. goo luck

great advice thank you! Ill check those sites

I checked google and I cant find ANYTHING about the "redgum australia" you mentioned. Are you sure that is the correct name?

Sorry for that, I did my own fiddling and found an old link I used to use. Which is why I forgot the address. Its actually called Redgum television. here's the link. http://www.redgumtv.com.au/

Its actually a company that does doco comps, and is a company itself. I'm not sure how much it can help you, but I only mentioned Redgum because it was the only festival I knew of off hand. Other than that, theres the all godlike Tropfest.

I hope it helps. And I hope it all works out.

Post your video on here, you'll get a lot of good criticism

josef:

here's a thread you should check out on entering film festivals:

http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/showthrea...film+festivals

also check out http://www.withoutabox.com

also, consider the web. it's a very powerful delivery system.

i put up occasional general interest subjects on ourmedia.org--advantages are it is free and for non-web guru types. there's a function which shows you how many downloads have occurred, so while you don't get much immediate feedback like you do with a film festival, it's kind of cool to know that several hundred people (or however many) are taking the time to look at your stuff. (plus, feedback can cut both ways, eh??)

and consider that you would have to put your video in several film festivals (at a cost of $20-$50 per entry) to get several hundred people to watch what you've made. free distribution to several hundred people is pretty appealing when you consider the expense of festivals.

film festivals are more prestigious, perhaps, and interactive, and maybe they offer a superior forum for helping you to self-evaluate. plus, they're big fun... but if your primary commitment is to having your work "out there," putting a bit on the web is a good option. you may not want to post your BEST stuff (i don't, and i don't recommend doing so, if you want to retain creative control), but a few short pieces illustrating your work are fun to make available to the broadest possible audience.

the most-downloaded piece on my ourmedia page has had 775 views, as of today. that's pretty "out there" for a one-minute trailer. and far more views than my higher-quality film fest- or DVD-distributed stuff....

plus, you can shamelessly plug your material whenever the opportunity arises. observe!

my free, non-commercial media is available at:

http://www.ourmedia.org/user/25351

putting it on the 'net is the way to do it, there are a bunch of free video uploading sites out there these days... just put your url in the corner, in order to fully credit the source.

link back to it on various forums and the usenet(google groups)... if it's viral enuf, it'll get a ton of exposure.