DON'T repeat my MISTAKES during film distribution of your next project

Yes, you made it! Finished the project and now it's time for a film distribution! Dream of every filmmaker/director/cinematographer to walk by red carpet at a prestigious film festival. Now we need to work hard during the distribution - essential to the filmmaking success story.
Film Festival Secrets - amzn.to/3ZQwRL8
Being not only a filmmaker, who applies movies, but a selector and jury member of international film festivals I've gained some insights about what you should avoid during the application to save your bucks and nerves.
Today's episode is about DON'Ts in film distribution. Please, do not repeat my mistakes and the mistakes of thousands of filmmakers out there.
00:00 - Intro
00:48 - Late Deadline
04:25 - Strategy
04:43 - SCAMs
05:06 - Relax

[@jtem9313]

I've worked five festivals, served on the selection committee of four (including one BAFTA qualifying festival) so, OMG, if you get into a festival SHOW! UP! I volunteer on a small festival presently and we gave out bags, pins & hats to filmmakers, trying to bribe them into showing up! I think most people just want another set of laurels to hang on their poster but, BE THERE! Talk about your film. Network. Sure you're a local guy attending a local festival but, who else are you going to draw on for advice & support? Ask the next guy where he found his D.P. or ask him for the contact info of his actress. BE THERE! Someone else is going to get your hat if you don't go.

[@sergiypudich]

Absolutely true - attending festival is a crucial part! Basically, it should be part of filmmakers life ;)

[@jtem9313]

P.S. We'd all love to close the festival on the 11th, open submissions on the 12th and then close them again on the 13th spending the next year taking our time, watching 800 entries. But that never happens. And the closer we get to the festival the more work there is, the less we want to stop and watch a few hours of films every day. And this is why submission fees rise throughout the season. We're trying to push you to submit early! We want you to submit early. We're not going to penalize you for submitting late but it makes out lives so much easier, submitting early, and it makes submissions so much cheaper for you. Again, WE DO NOT PENALIZE! As producer, I accidentally extended the submission deadline in 2023 and we ended up putting in a film that was literally submitted at the very last minute. Because it was good. So we won't penalize you for submitting late but we will charge extra.

[@sergiypudich]

It’s not penalizing intensively, but it’s just happens automatically. And, of course, not all festivals. But many. And it’s like fact.