Proof that film festivals sometimes don't even view the submissions
Here's the dirty little secret about film festivals: most of them are curated and some hardly even view all of the submissions. What does curated mean? It means most films have already been pre-selected by the film festival director, or curator, from a group of personal contacts and prearranged deals. Some films are presented at film festivals without even having been viewed by the film festival staff beforehand. Ever heard of the situation with Brown Bunny at Cannes? It was the most reviled and hated film ever at the festival. Later, Vincent Gallo defended himself by stating that the film wasn't even done and he was pressured into presenting at Cannes even though he didn't even have a rough cut yet. Yes, he had a spot at Cannes reserved even though no one had even seen the film because not only was it not finished, but they didn't even have a rough cut of it. This is what I mean by curated.
First, before I get any further, let me say that I have been selected by and attended film festivals before so this is not a rant by someone who is upset at not selected by festivals. That being said, I've always wondered whether my films are always properly viewed and how would I know if they were or not?
Things came to a head recently when there were some suspicious circumstances revolving around my submission and a film festival (which shall go nameless) and I decided to address the issue. Basically, I submitted my film to said film festival through Withoutabox.com, the film festival submission site back in August. This site allows you to also track whether or not the film was received and logged, etc. I had a lot of things on my plate, as I was shooting another feature film at the time, so I totally forgot about the submission and only checked back in October when decisions were supposed to have been made. I saw that a number of people had already gotten their decision (based on things I read on the message boards) even though my submission showed a red dot, which indicated they had not received my film yet. I contacted the film festival and they called me back indicating that they had no idea what happened to my film, they couldn't find it, and generally had no idea what I was talking about. I contacted WAB (withoutabox) to get a refund. WAB promptly responded and said I would be getting a refund of my submission fee. Half an hour later, I called the festival back, at which point they completely retracted their previous statements and said that they had indeed received my film, and had reviewed it, but had not made a decision yet. (BTW, I knew that this was not true, since other individuals had received their decisions and the festival was only a week away.) I was notified by WAB that I wouldn't get a refund and the next day the festival emailed me, notifying me that I had not made the cut.
Here is their email:
"Dear Michael,
Thank you so much for your submission to xxxxxxx Film
Festival. Your film, "Obsession" was reviewed during the last week in
August. We certainly did enjoy viewing your film. However, we regret to
inform you that your film was not selected to screen in this year's
festival. We thank you and wish you much success in the future."
I was completely busy with other events in my life at the time, such as finishing my other film and I let it go for a while, even though things didn't sit well with me. Earlier this month, I had a chance to review my previous submissions for the past year and I decided to contact the festival again.
Here was my email:
"xxxxx, thank you for your consideration. I know it's been a few months, but I was just reviewing some of the festivals I had submitted to, and it refreshed my memory concerning this festival. I can't help but be suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the submission and evaluation of my film. There is just something telling me that perhaps my film was never viewed at all, but my submission fee was taken nonetheless. I hope I am wrong.
The suspicious circumstances include the following events:
1) I sent out a dvd of Obsession in August, but Withoutabox showed a red dot near my submission until Oct 10, the date that I contacted both you and WAB, indicating the dvd wasn't received
2) Your initial phone call and voice message to me indicated that you had no idea about the film and did not know when I had sent it or if you had received it
3) Only when I requested my money back from WAB and called you back, then suddenly you had found the film and indicated that you had notes about it dating back to August
4) You also indicated that xxxxxx had not made their decisions yet, but would get back to me, even though other people from WAB message boards indicated that they had already heard from xxxxxx in early October
5) I received an email from WAB that my $50 would be credited back to me, however right after your initial phone call, I received another email indicating that xxxxxx contacted them and stated that they had reviewed my film, so I wouldn't be getting my $50 back
All of this makes me believe that my film was never received and/or reviewed and that it was only so claimed in order to keep my submission fee. I'm sure that you understand that it would be very frustrating and unfair if I sent in my hard earned money with the expectation that my film would at least be reviewed and watched and it was not. It would be even more unfortunate if I was mislead in the process. As I stated, I hope I am wrong, but I'm sure you can also understand my concerns. I know that all festivals keep notes of films that were reviewed, so it would be great if you could at least share with me anything about the film, plot, or synopsis which would indicate that the film was indeed watched. If you cannot provide this information, I will ask for my money back. If that is declined I will contact WAB and also communicate all of this information to the WAB message boards and other aspiring filmmakers. If the film was watched and hated, that's fine. However it is not fine if the film was not watched at all, but my submission fee was taken.
Once again, I don't mean to make a wrong assumption about what happened here. I wish the best success for your film festival. However, I feel suspicious about the circumstances, and as a struggling filmmaker, I want to make sure that my film was at least watched. If the film was watched and rejected, I'm sure you would have no problem sharing with me info that would set my mind at ease. If that is the case, then I apologize in advance for any of my suspicions and misunderstandings.
Sincerely,
Michael Aaron"
I didn't know what to expect, but I felt fairly confident that they had not in fact reviewed my film and were just taking my money. I expected them to deny my insinuations, but didn't know how they would respond. I felt that my threat of spreading their practices on the WAB message boards might be enough to at least get a refund. I didn't really care about the money, I just wanted to know the truth, and for them to know that I knew and that they couldn't get away with it. Film festivals are supposed to help emerging filmmakers, not screw them over.
Well, my questions were answered very soon as I got an almost instantaneous response:
"Hi,
I understand your concerns, however, I can assure you that your
submission was reviewed. Please send us your address and we will be
happy to refund your submission fee of $50."
I promptly emailed my address and I got my check in a few days. If this isn't a concession of wrong-doing, I don't know what is. The proof that I was seeking is right here. If they had truly reviewed the film, it would've taken them a few moments to get the information and prove to me that they had seen it. Clearly, they knew they didn't know a damn thing about the film, but took my money and they figured $50 was a small price to pay to avoid any drama.
Bottom line is, some/many/most (pick the best answer) film festivals don't even watch your films, but still take your money.
First, before I get any further, let me say that I have been selected by and attended film festivals before so this is not a rant by someone who is upset at not selected by festivals. That being said, I've always wondered whether my films are always properly viewed and how would I know if they were or not?
Things came to a head recently when there were some suspicious circumstances revolving around my submission and a film festival (which shall go nameless) and I decided to address the issue. Basically, I submitted my film to said film festival through Withoutabox.com, the film festival submission site back in August. This site allows you to also track whether or not the film was received and logged, etc. I had a lot of things on my plate, as I was shooting another feature film at the time, so I totally forgot about the submission and only checked back in October when decisions were supposed to have been made. I saw that a number of people had already gotten their decision (based on things I read on the message boards) even though my submission showed a red dot, which indicated they had not received my film yet. I contacted the film festival and they called me back indicating that they had no idea what happened to my film, they couldn't find it, and generally had no idea what I was talking about. I contacted WAB (withoutabox) to get a refund. WAB promptly responded and said I would be getting a refund of my submission fee. Half an hour later, I called the festival back, at which point they completely retracted their previous statements and said that they had indeed received my film, and had reviewed it, but had not made a decision yet. (BTW, I knew that this was not true, since other individuals had received their decisions and the festival was only a week away.) I was notified by WAB that I wouldn't get a refund and the next day the festival emailed me, notifying me that I had not made the cut.
Here is their email:
"Dear Michael,
Thank you so much for your submission to xxxxxxx Film
Festival. Your film, "Obsession" was reviewed during the last week in
August. We certainly did enjoy viewing your film. However, we regret to
inform you that your film was not selected to screen in this year's
festival. We thank you and wish you much success in the future."
I was completely busy with other events in my life at the time, such as finishing my other film and I let it go for a while, even though things didn't sit well with me. Earlier this month, I had a chance to review my previous submissions for the past year and I decided to contact the festival again.
Here was my email:
"xxxxx, thank you for your consideration. I know it's been a few months, but I was just reviewing some of the festivals I had submitted to, and it refreshed my memory concerning this festival. I can't help but be suspicious of the circumstances surrounding the submission and evaluation of my film. There is just something telling me that perhaps my film was never viewed at all, but my submission fee was taken nonetheless. I hope I am wrong.
The suspicious circumstances include the following events:
1) I sent out a dvd of Obsession in August, but Withoutabox showed a red dot near my submission until Oct 10, the date that I contacted both you and WAB, indicating the dvd wasn't received
2) Your initial phone call and voice message to me indicated that you had no idea about the film and did not know when I had sent it or if you had received it
3) Only when I requested my money back from WAB and called you back, then suddenly you had found the film and indicated that you had notes about it dating back to August
4) You also indicated that xxxxxx had not made their decisions yet, but would get back to me, even though other people from WAB message boards indicated that they had already heard from xxxxxx in early October
5) I received an email from WAB that my $50 would be credited back to me, however right after your initial phone call, I received another email indicating that xxxxxx contacted them and stated that they had reviewed my film, so I wouldn't be getting my $50 back
All of this makes me believe that my film was never received and/or reviewed and that it was only so claimed in order to keep my submission fee. I'm sure that you understand that it would be very frustrating and unfair if I sent in my hard earned money with the expectation that my film would at least be reviewed and watched and it was not. It would be even more unfortunate if I was mislead in the process. As I stated, I hope I am wrong, but I'm sure you can also understand my concerns. I know that all festivals keep notes of films that were reviewed, so it would be great if you could at least share with me anything about the film, plot, or synopsis which would indicate that the film was indeed watched. If you cannot provide this information, I will ask for my money back. If that is declined I will contact WAB and also communicate all of this information to the WAB message boards and other aspiring filmmakers. If the film was watched and hated, that's fine. However it is not fine if the film was not watched at all, but my submission fee was taken.
Once again, I don't mean to make a wrong assumption about what happened here. I wish the best success for your film festival. However, I feel suspicious about the circumstances, and as a struggling filmmaker, I want to make sure that my film was at least watched. If the film was watched and rejected, I'm sure you would have no problem sharing with me info that would set my mind at ease. If that is the case, then I apologize in advance for any of my suspicions and misunderstandings.
Sincerely,
Michael Aaron"
I didn't know what to expect, but I felt fairly confident that they had not in fact reviewed my film and were just taking my money. I expected them to deny my insinuations, but didn't know how they would respond. I felt that my threat of spreading their practices on the WAB message boards might be enough to at least get a refund. I didn't really care about the money, I just wanted to know the truth, and for them to know that I knew and that they couldn't get away with it. Film festivals are supposed to help emerging filmmakers, not screw them over.
Well, my questions were answered very soon as I got an almost instantaneous response:
"Hi,
I understand your concerns, however, I can assure you that your
submission was reviewed. Please send us your address and we will be
happy to refund your submission fee of $50."
I promptly emailed my address and I got my check in a few days. If this isn't a concession of wrong-doing, I don't know what is. The proof that I was seeking is right here. If they had truly reviewed the film, it would've taken them a few moments to get the information and prove to me that they had seen it. Clearly, they knew they didn't know a damn thing about the film, but took my money and they figured $50 was a small price to pay to avoid any drama.
Bottom line is, some/many/most (pick the best answer) film festivals don't even watch your films, but still take your money.
posted by Michael at 3:06 PM
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