So, last month, I received the following question as a Your Turn:

Hey Bon,

But… go where? Ready to go where? What do I with it when it’s done? I mean, sure there’s YouTube and FunnyOrDie on the Internet. Or there are film festivals, or making my own DVDs to sell… arrggghhh! It’s so overwhelmingly confusing.

Thanks.

And, as I sometimes do, I asked the awesome readers of The Actors Voice to come to the rescue with some great tips about how they’ve handled this whole distribution process of their journey as self-producing actors. As usual, they came through and shared some awesome stuff. Let’s get to it!

Okay, yes, you can get it out there. Even if you just “did it yourself.” There are, literally, thousands of film festivals. And, of course, there is the Internet. We’ll start with the festivals. You should know, going in, that most festivals don’t want your film if it is available on YouTube or FunnyOrDie or other Internet outlets, so if you have a hankering to have it seen “on the big screen” at a festival, you should stay away from any Internet distribution while you try to get your film into some festivals.

But which festivals, you ask? Please don’t go right out and enter your film into Sundance or TriBeCa or SXSW or Cannes. First of all, those festivals are inundated with short films every year (literally thousands) and choose but a handful. To be chosen for one of those festivals your film has to be the “best of the best,” meaning pretty darn near perfect in every respect: cinematography, art direction, writing, direction, acting, editing, poster design, everything. Every detail needs to rank right up there with a studio-produced film. Don’t think that your “great idea but a little rough around the edges” film will get chosen. It won’t. I can’t tell you how many director/producers I know, personally, who have been heartbroken by the rejection slip from Sundance. And, quite frankly, getting selected to screen at Sundance doesn’t guarantee your ticket to stardom. It just means you’ll screen along with many other films (and maybe get lost in the shuffle that is Sundance, if you know what I mean).

So, realistically, if you self-produced a nice little film that you’d like to get into some festivals, you’d do well to start small — some of the lower-tier festivals. These can be found on WithoutABox. I would spend a lot of time doing research on the specific festivals you are interested in — see what types of films they have selected in the past (Do they particularly like horror, perhaps, or comedies, small little character-driven dramas or quirky fare?) and submit accordingly. These submission fees can add up, so choose wisely. And submit on the early-bird timetable (not the late, late, WAB-extended deadlines) because you save money there, too.

Also, a little word to the wise: when you submit earlier in the game the decision-makers are fresher and have more time. Human nature says once they have decided they like your film and have placed your film in the “accepted” pile, it takes something extraordinary to bump it out. If your film comes in later, your film is the one that has to bump another film out. See what I mean? And there are several portals like WAB for foreign film submissions as well: ReelPort and ShortFilmDepot.com are two of them. Many foreign festivals have no submission fees.

Okay, so you don’t want to spend the time or the money to submit to festivals. That’s just not what you’re interested in. You want to make money off of your short film. Sorry. Can’t help you there. Unless you’ve got a really specifically-targeted short film in a very specific genre that has been on the festival circuit and won a bunch of awards I don’t know how you’d do that. Some short films that have proven themselves out there (won awards on the circuit) have found distribution in the foreign markets, where they still buy short films. My friend had an animated short with a Christmas theme that screened at over 100 festivals, worldwide, and won bunches of awards that got picked up for distribution on iTunes. I had another friend with an animated short that was nominated for an Academy Award that also got picked up for distribution on iTunes. I’ve been offered a “discussion” about distribution for my award-winning short that is still on the festival circuit (won 23 awards in nine months). That’s about the extent of it.

Otherwise, if you don’t want to spend the money submitting to festivals I think your only other source of distribution is the Internet. There’s the well-known outlets (YouTube, FunnyOrDie, etc.) and I’m sure there are others. You’d just need to do some research on what those are since I’ve never done any of those with my films. And, of course, there are contests that I seem to hear about all the time. You could always enter your short into one of those contests. That is a whole other topic of discussion.

xoxo

Kathi Carey

Shortly after I created two webseries and several one-offs, I serendipitously ran into the woman who runs the Broad Humor Film Festival (for women writer and/or directors) and she said they accept online content. I submitted an episode from each of my series along with two one-offs and — to my great joy — they were accepted into the festival and screened in their no-budget shorts category.

Have a great week,
Terri J. Freedman

Egads! You’ve produced a great clip, but what to do with it? Frankly, everyone in this town should have that problem.

But, flippancy aside, the answer to that question really depends on what, exactly, you’ve produced.

To make that concept more clear, imagine that you’re a television producer. You’ve just finished a great movie-of-the-week about a middle-aged woman’s simultaneous struggle with breast cancer and empty nest syndrome. Where is it more likely to air? Lifetime or Spike? Obviously, trying to sell Spike on this concept is a waste of time, but Lifetime would probably go for it if the quality is good.

The world of self-produced content is much the same. There are many, many different outlets available, and different types of projects do well in different ones. A clip that burns up FunnyOrDie may vanish without a ripple on YouTube. Something that YouTube users love and take viral might get ignored by the festivals. Something that has festival audiences rolling in the aisles may get nothing but “die” votes back on FunnyOrDie.

What you actually need to do — and I know this is painful — is sit down and take a good, hard look at what you’ve produced and ask yourself what it’s similar to. If it’s really so original that it’s not like anything that’s ever been produced before, then it’s similar to other “experimental” pieces that way. Once you’ve figured out what it’s like, look for places that feature content like that (or where content like that rises to the top of the heap).

Don’t think of it as a search for an outlet for a self-produced video, think of it as marketing a completed short — which happens to be self-produced. Many places that are great outlets for self-produced content in no way specialize in self-produced content. Every outlet is looking for what their audience wants to watch. And, yes, I even know people who have sold self-produced content to television and have gotten theatrical releases for self-produced movies — not because they were lucky but because they correctly identified the market and sold their project appropriately.

If the answer you come back with is that your project belongs in the festivals, a good festival submission service might be your best bet. (WithoutABox is probably the biggest name, but there are others.) If it’s short and engaging to an online audience, one of the websites that features self-submitted content (CollegeHumor, FunnyOrDie, YouTube) is probably your best bet — and most will let you cross-post to all of them. (In that case, remember to budget time to do the social networking to get it on people’s radar.) If it’s something that you’re going to turn into an engaging and regular series, streaming it as a video podcast to iTunes is easy and free.

Just as you would spend time assessing yourself as an actor and looking at what shows, CDs, directors, etc., are most likely to hire you, you need to do the same with your project. The answer may be, “Well, it goes on my reel.” And that’s a fine answer, if that’s where it will serve you best.

Kyle Keller

What are the available outlets for self-produced content, once you’ve gone to all of that work?

My two cents,
John David Whalen

I produced a couple of short films for the Project Greenlight competition a few years back, and cross-posted them on every online competition site I could find. The end result was a distribution offer from a digital content provider to have one of the shorts play on Sprint cell phones and gas pumps in Europe. (I know. Weird, but true.)

Make sure to get the proper releases and contracts from all of the talent, locations, and crew, and then get busy posting online (TriggerStreet.com and WithoutABox are the first two that come to mind).

Also think about traditional festivals, which often have digital-only competitions that run concurrent with the regular programming.

Nick Coleman

Fantastic! Now, if you’re in a situation where you have a great screenplay and that’s your self-produced work, at this point, consider some of the screenplay contests out there. Some offer great monetary awards, others provide coverage on the material (which can be even more valuable than money, depending on who’s providing that coverage and script notes), and some lead to staffing deals at networks. Read carefully and check the fine print to see which might be the right fit for your needs. Here are a few (there are many)!
Disney Diversity Programs
Manhattan Short
Nicholl Fellowship
The Other Network
Script PIMP (AKA Script Pipeline)
Scriptapalooza
Slamdance
Sundance
TV Writer
Warner Bros. Fellowship
and this is a list of screenplay competitions and discussions on each.

If you’re not quite ready to enter a contest with your screenplay or spec script, consider workshopping with a writers’ group. Again, there are many out there. These are just a few.
Naked Angels’ Tuesdays @9
Playwrights 6
Story Salon
Women In Film Writers Group

If you’re developing and/or ready to put up your one-person show, sketch, or produced piece of comedy consider these resources (which include a few sites that post original content from independent producers — again, there are many, and you need to research which works best for your needs):
Blip TV
Brevity TV
CollegeHumor
Crackle
Creative Rites
FunnyOrDie
IFC
iTunes
Monkey Butler Comedy
Ning
Slideshow
Strike TV
YouTube

And if you’re looking for the latest news on web-based content providers, start with these sites, but again, know that there are many out there!
NewTeeVee
Tilzy TV
TubeFilter

Finally, I’m not even going to attempt to list all of the various film festivals and contests out there, as there are just dozens upon dozens of them. Just taking a look at the IMDb-Pro festival calendar from week to week can get overwhelming. But just like you would do research on potential agents or managers you’d want to add to your team, just like you research shows that consistently cast your type before bothering to submit or do CD workshops for them, you’ll need to do exactly what Kyle Keller suggested, above, and that’s pay very close attention to the vibe, the tone, the feel of your self-produced work before choosing where to spend your submission resources (including fees, as Kathi Carey discussed). Be sure you note which ones require exclusivity or premiere rights (for instance, don’t bother even submitting to Sundance if you’ve already premiered elsewhere — they won’t touch it) and keep your budget in check.

Contest-related and festival-related resources mentioned above include:
ReelPort
ShortFilmDepot.com
TriggerStreet
WithoutABox
FilmFreeway
CreativeFox

Of course, you may only want to use your self-produced awesomeness for your demo reel. That’s totally fine. Take it — along with your other great clips — to a wonderful editor and get yourself a superb reel that showcases yourself in your best light, markets to your primary type, and helps steer you toward your next booking.

Whatever the fate of your self-produced work, have fun, enjoy the ride, and make sure you check the fine print in your SAG New Media Deal, if that’s what you used to shoot, so that your performers are paid appropriately, based on what sort of distribution deal you get for your baby!

Thank you, self-producers, for contributing such great info to this piece. Now, let’s get out there and produce, everyone!

Bonnie Gillespie is living her dreams by helping others figure out how to live theirs. Wanna work with Bon? Start here. Thanks!

Originally published by Actors Access at http://more.showfax.com/columns/avoice/archives/001065.html. Please support the many wonderful resources provided by the Breakdown Services family. This posting is the author’s personal archive.