Withoutabox is indeed the best place to start. They allow for easy entry, usually at a discounted rate.

The 'biggest' film festival in America? Probalby Sundance. But "Slamdance" which started as a counter-cultural 'anti-slamdance' has it's own weight and credibility now. SXSW is good. Austin Film Festival is good. AFI, Ann Arbor... really - each festival has it's own strengths and weaknesses. You have to decide where you film will shine. What the festival specializes in (as many do just that.) Narrative? Short? Doc? Avante-Garde? Gay/Lesbian/Transgender?

What do you want to achieve from entering? Is the fest juried, or do they screen everything? Is there an 'award'? Is it monetary or is there some sort of distribution posibility attached? Is it associated with a film market? (Films being bought and sold) Will screening there allow your film to be considered for an Academy Award? How about being included in the Internet Movie Database? Is the festival old and established - or brand spanking new.

Only you can decide how to spend your hard earned dollars.

"Choose wisely."

So, how exactly does withoutabox work. Without actually signing up it doesn't give away much information...

I strongly suggest visiting the site and checking it out for yourself. It's very cool.

www.withoutabox.com

heath

Basically, you log in, and create a 'listing' for your film. It's sort of an electronic generic film festival application. Then WaB sends you updates on all the current festivals deadlines. Pick one you want to apply to, and hit 'send'. It's on it's way! They make their money off the festivals. Though they will charge you to host trailers and such, the basic listing service is free. That's all I use.

If you're submitting to tons of fests, like a friend of mine did (over 200 now), sign up for the paid membership because the discounts on admission will pay itself off.

heath

So does the 'generic application' serve as a press pack - what aboout the stills and bits and bobs? Is the film itself uploaded and sent electronically too? OR do you use the listings they supply to send out press packs and DVDs etc...?

Again, check out the site. All the details are there.

heath

Palm Beach International Film Festival (PBIFF)
 

Heath,

Have you ever had a film screen at PBIFF? I was fortunate enough to have my (first) short "Alibi Phone Network" screened at PBIFF/05..

Really enjoyed PBIFF, it was great fun!

-tom

Hey,

I have a relationship at the film fest--my Film Society puts on the Voices of Local Film event, but they have allowed me to show tiny short films out of competition and also talk about the technology. For instance, in 2005, I showed 2 shorts shot on HDV (HD10 and FX1) and did a seminar on HDV.

Congrats on the film!

heath

IFP maybe...
 

Becoming an IFP member may not be a bad idea. They provide you with some additional information about film festivals...

Is there or should we start a list of known 'bad' festivals? There's a list of bad/suspect agents for writer's. Doesn't seem like such a stretch to me for filmmakers to police their own.

you could check magazines: Moviemaker, Screenplay, and others... thay have some information about "good" festivals.

Does anyone know if Wihoutabox has included European film festivals in their database?

Yes.

Go to the website. Spend twenty minutes looking at it. You'll see many European festivals listed.

If anyone in here is going to to be producing a feature film and enter into a film festival. These are the top 24 you need to enter. DO NOT ENTER INTO ANY OTHER FILM FESTIVALS THAT ARE NOT ON THE LIST!! The AE's (Acquisition Executives) will not be at the ones not listed. Plus the AE's are the ones who will buy your film for distribution. Basically, if you enter the other ones not on your list, you're just wasting your time, not to mention the money you spent producing the movie. Without further ado, here is the list. You can thank Dov S-S Simens. Here it is:

1. Sundance
2. Slamdance
3. Palm Springs
4.Berlin
5. Rotterdam
6. Santa Barbara
7. South by Southwest
8. L.A. Independent Film Fest
9. Seattle
10. TriBeCa
11. Cannes
12. Hong Kong
13. Karlovy
14. Edinburg
15. Hollywood Film Festival
16. Montreal
17. Telluride
18. Toronto
19. Vencie
20. Hamptons (The Hamptons I believe.)
21. New York
22. Raindance
23. Tokyo
24. Pusan, Korea

The withoutabox.com site is great as well. The info I just gave comes from Dov S-S Simens book: "From Reel To Deal" Buy this book! It's $20 at Barnes & Nobels and Books-A-Million. You might find it cheaper online...