DO YOUR RESEARCH

A very unfortunate side of the Film Festival Industry are scammers. Anyone can start a Film Festival, and once they take your submission fee, it is very unlikely that you will get it back. There are some very awful people out there with the intention of taking advantage of new or inexperienced filmmakers.

How to spot some red flags

• Do they list previous selections?
• Are there photos from previous events?
• How many years has the festival been active?

 A lot of smaller independent Film Festivals have very tight budgets and may not have access to big sponsors, fancy websites or a social media manager, so if you are doing your research and still do not know, you can always call or email them directly to get more information on their event. If no one responds:

These and more are all effective ways to determine the legitimacy of a Film Festival. You can read more about this and other topics on how to improve your festival submissions in our E-Book, the Film Festival Submitter’s Guide!