Do you know how to submit a film to Sundance? If you don’t know, this article is for you.
Let’s go to dive into the main article to know the details.
Table of Contents
Sundance Film Festival
Here are some tips to help you focus in the right direction as you explore how to submit a film to Sundance:
Step#01 – What Are The Submission Deadlines And What Are The Fees?
The first thing you should do is check out the Sundance submission page. There, you will find all of the information on what are the submission deadlines and what are the fees. From here, you can also download a PDF version of their How to Submit a Film bible. This document is extremely useful for learning everything there is to know about submitting to Sundance.
It explains how submissions work (both via mail and online), which categories they accept entries in, how many films can be sent into each category (the short answer: it depends on where your film fits into that particular category), and even give you tips on how to write an effective application letter.
Step#02 – How Do I Prepare My Submission On Short Films?
There are a few things you need to remember when preparing your film for Sundance. First, make sure it’s no longer than 90 minutes in length (Sundance 2013). Second, screeners can only be sent via DVD or Bluray/HD-DVD disc (Sundance 2013).
Third, make sure your film is in English. Last but not least, don’t forget the application fee! You must pay $50 to submit your film (Sundance 2015). This helps with processing fees and such; as you can imagine. Reviewing thousands of films per year costs Sundance quite a bit of money on its own.
Step#03 – How Long Before The Deadline Should I Send My Film To Sundance?
While there is no set deadline for sending in your film, it’s best to start preparing it early. How early? Well, the first step of the application process requires you to register for a free account on the festival’s website (Sundance 2014).
How long this might take depends largely on how busy their servers are and how many submissions they have exactly received that year. If you wait until the very last minute to send them your download link, then you run the risk of all of their servers crashing and none of your data making it into their system!
Step#04 – How Do I Promote My Film After Submitting It?
Now that you have submitted your film to Sundance, you need to start trying to gain recognition for it (within the festival circuit) and promote it. How do you do this? Here are a few tips that might help:
· Register yourself as an “official” representative of the film on IMDB.
· Create a YouTube page about the film and link it up with your Facebook page, Twitter account, etc.
· If you can get into one of the satellite festivals during Sundance weekend, even better! Otherwise, just do whatever you can to create hype around your project. You should already have at least sent out press kits before submitting but now is when they really come in handy. Check out How to create a press kit.
· Start adding people on Facebook who you think might be interested in promoting your film (or even just friends that live near Salt Lake City). From there, build up interest in the festival circuit and start reaching out further as time goes on.
Conclusion
Remember, this is just a brief summary of How to Submit a Film to Sundance. I highly recommend absorbing as much information as you can from the Sundance website because it contains some very useful and important information.
