New York Independent Film Festival

trentsteel

Okay, so our film got accepted to the New York International Independent Film and Video Festival.

This is very exciting, as we have never been to New York and it seems like a good way to get discovered. Allegedly people like Quentin Tarantino and George Clooney have been known to attend.

Here is my problem: There are something like 300 films playing at this one-week event. You get a booth, two VIP (watch any movie there) tickets, 100 tickets to give out and admittance to both the opening and closing party. How the hell do we get people to watch our film? How do we get discovered? Is it a scam?

I wonder this because there are so many films playing that I just see it as being very difficult to get our theatre packed. They have advertising deals, (1500 dollars to play your trailer at the opening party, being the cheapest) to promote your film, if you choose to take them.

Have any of you been to or heard anything about this festival? Have any of you been to a festival before and do you have any tips for us?

http://www.nyfilmvideo.com/

Fuzzy Cumulonimbus Cloud

http://www.indietalk.com/archive/index.php/t-4521.html
http://nyc.metblogs.com/archives/2006/07/new_york_film_v.phtml
That is just from typing in the website and adding scam.

I'm really sorry. Generally, anything that demands money like that is usually a scam.
God, I remember being 14 and submitting a poem to a contest.
It won, and I was offered an invitation to the ceremony. It cost 400$ of course.
That was the first scam to crush my heart.
Anything with international in it is usually a scam too.
Really sorry. There are plenty of college festivals you could enter though.

nexuscrawler

Allow me to preface this post with the understanding of how hard it is to be a filmmaker and get noticed. I myself am struggling to get by in the film industry.

To put it bluntly this is a scam. A festival showing 300 films? Even if they are all shorts that's an absurd number. I work for a post-production company that deals with several major festivals in NYC. I've never heard of this one at all.

I've never heard of a festival charging people for advertising. Festivals usually have a promotional budget so they can advertise for you not the other way around. Festivals rely on sponsors and ticket sales for revenue not the filmmakers. A festival this big would have some big sponsors and they don't have any from companies I've ever heard of. This tells me they're making money from the filmmakers themselves instead.

I'm being honest here this is no way reflects on the quality of your film. There's lots of bastards in this industry looking to make a quick buck. The easiest targets are the people struggling to get noticed and willing to do anything for it. Don't let people take advantage of your passion for film making. Most entry level festivals will charge you a token fee that's really only covering their costs.

Really sorry man. If you believe your movie is good don't let these jackoffs let you think otherwise. If you'd like to PM me I could give you some better places in NY to submit your movie. There's lots of small college sponsored festivals in the city and others that cater to starting film makers.

nexuscrawler

EDIT: Also a further look into this festival reveals lots of accusations of shady charges and complaints. DO NOT SIGN ANYTHING without having a lawyer look at it first. You own your movie they do not. Do not give these people your banking info or credit card over the phone. Your entry fee is gone but don't give them another cent.