Symposium âHow to Sell a Short Filmâ - Internationale Kurzfilmtage ...

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Therewasnoactualdistributionstrategy.Ofcourse,Retomadeapointofnotstartingwiththesmallest festivals, but thinking about where he'd really like to show the film – and where itwouldfit.Inasecondstep,hewouldalsoconsidersmallerfestivals,whileheconstantlymadesurethatsomepremiererulewouldnotblockhischancesofshowingthefilm.Applyingtothefestivals took a lot of effort at times (3 to 4 days a week); platforms such aswww.shortfilmdepot.com, www.reelport.com and www.withoutabox.com can be great timesavers.He also produced address stickers for the various application form fields, so that hewouldn'thavetofillthingsinbyhand.Retosometimespaidtheapplicationfees–especiallytothemoreimportantfestivals.Forifafilmhasbeenshownsuccessfullyatalargerfestival,itisthenofteninvitedforfreetosmallerfestivals.One central question was if one needs a 35mm print. Reto had decided to make his film oncelluloidforaestheticreasons.Butformanyfestivals,havinga35mmprintisnorequirementanylonger.It'sworthjustsendingaDVDforthesubmissionandtobluffabouthavinga35mmcopyintheapplication,sothatyoucanhaveaprintmadeonceyouhaveanactualinvitation.But subtitling is not something you can wait with. In this case, the film even had Germansubtitles,asitwaspartiallyspokeninSwiss‐German.Inthemeantime,8copieshavebeenmadeof“AufderStrecke”(2ofthemarearchivedattheAcademy)–usuallyoneortwocopiesshouldbe enough. Especially smaller festivals even project the film from DVD (especially during thesecondyearofexploitingthefilm).OneshouldsimplymakesurethattheDVDisgoodquality,hassubtitlesindifferentlanguages,isanamorphicandhasDolbysurround.PostcardsandothermaterialsarenotsoimportantaccordingtoReto,andbelongtothe“niceto have” category. In Clermont‐Ferrand, however, posters were very practical to attractattention,especiallyatthemarket.Clermontoffersgoodopportunitiestosellfilms.Therewasalso a number of lucky coincidences, which Reto had no influence on whatsoever: a noncommercialagencywasinterestedinthefilmforeducationalpurposes.HesubsequentlygotintouchwiththeShortFilmAgencyinHamburgforlegaladvice,andtheypromptlyacquiredthefilmthemselves–inthiswayhewasintheluckypositionthatthefilmwassoldevenbeforethefestivalinClermontstarted.Butallfestivalsthathaveamarketoffergreatopportunitiestofindabuyer.BringmanyDVDs!Intermsofagencies,Retomadeverygoodexperiences.Theseagencieshaveanetworkthatanindividualusuallydoesn'thave,andtheycanhelpoutwithlegalquestionsetc.Retodiscussedtheissueofanagencyrepresentingthefilmwiththeschoolthathadproducedthefilm.Theycame to the conclusion that it would be most effective to let the Hamburg Shortfilm Agencytake over the marketing of the film‐ and in return give them a certain percentage of therevenues.IntermsoftheOscarcampaign,RetowasintheluckysituationtobeaSwisswhostudiedinGermany,allowinghimtoreceivefundingfrombothcountries.Thecampaigncostabout60,000to70,000CHF:3weeks'residenceinL.A.FlightsforRetoandsomecrewmembers,onehasto
hireaPR‐agent,placeadvertisementsinthemedia(“Variety”)etc.FromReto'spointofview,thisisworthit,asitcreatesthenecessaryattentionforthefilmanditalsogavehimthefeeling,thathedideverythinghecouldforthefilm.Withallitsawards,thefilmmadeabout70,000CHFincash,whilealsowinningin‐kindawardsandsupportforfutureprojects.Fromthe70,000CHF,about20,000CHFwereusedtopaybackdebts,20,000CHFwerepaidtothecrew,meaningthatabout30,000CHFwerelefttoReto.Giventwoandahalfyearsofworkonthefilm,thisisafairlymodestamount.TVsalesearnedanextra35,000CHF,ofwhichhalfgoestothefilmschoolandhalftothecrew,whichseemslikeafairdealandarecognitionfortheworkputintothefilm.∙QuestionfromGerdGockell,filmmakerandproducer,aboutthesubmissionfees:why should filmmakers pay for their film to be shown? They hardly ever earnanything, the festivals on the other hand do. The question is mostly directed toMaike–Gerdisoftheopinionthatsubmissionfeesshouldbeabolished.∙ Answer from Maike: There are also exceptions: filmmakers they already knowareofteninvitedtosubmittheirlatestwork–withoutbeingchargedafee.Thefeesareusedtopaythepeople,whopreviewandselectthefilms.Theaimistocreateacontinuityintheprogramming,withpeoplestayingmorethan2yearsandformingaproperteam.Butexceptionscanbemadeintermsofsubmissionfees:anicelyformulatedlettercouldalreadyhelpyouout!∙Shaneaddsthatit'sthesameforSundance:festivalstaffdon'tgetrichfromthecontributionsoffilmmakers,andit'suptoeachfilmmaker,ifheorshewantstosubmitthefilmornot.Onecanalsoapplyforthefeetobewaived.ThesubmissionfeeforSundanceis50US$.∙ Shane concludes with the remark that Reto Caffi and “Auf der Strecke” are aphenomenaltext‐bookcaseofhowashortfilmshouldbemarketed,andisamarkofReto'shardworkandtirelesscommitment–congratulations!
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Symposium âHow to Sell a Short Filmâ - Internationale Kurzfilmtage ...