I've worked as a screener for a number of film festivals (and screenplay competitions!). Here's what makes or breaks my choosing your film to go through to the next round.

As with anything your mileage will vary but you should know that this list, while not exhaustive, should be considered before submitting your film to help increase your chances of success.

The TLDR of this post is as follows: I’m going to cover three main areas—

If you’re about to embark on the festival circuit with your feature film, pilot, doc or short, then you definitely need to read this post.

And if you’re thinking about making your movie or entering the festival circuit then the contents of this post are going to help you get the best shot of success possible to be accepted into film festivals that matter.

One thing to know off the bat is that not all film festivals are the same and that film festivals are not the end all be all of your film’s lifecycle nor are they going to be the barometer for your film’s success.

I recommend that you incorporate a film festival strategy into your film’s distribution plans but remind yourself that film festivals work when you’re “chosen” and if you’ve been reading my work for a while then you’ll know I don’t believe you should wait around to be picked because you may be waiting a long time.

Not All Film Festivals Are the Same

Like colleges and Universities, film festivals carry their own weight and cache in the filmmaking community. If we’re going to use this analogy, it would be fair to say that Sundance is like the Harvard of film festivals.

But we all know that not everyone gets into Harvard and not everyone gets into Sundance. And rarely do people get into either of these institutions based on merit alone.

You can have the best grades or the best film in the world but if you don’t have connections or whatever else they’re looking for, odds are 99.99% for sure you’re not getting in. So you better have a backup plan.

There’s not point in railing against the system: it is what it is and these institutions have no interest or intention of changing their models or how they do business.

So let’s say we’re not one of the “chosen” ones. Does this mean we shouldn’t be able to experience success or happiness with our degrees or artistic endeavors? No! Of course not. You’ll just have to chart a course outside of these monoliths and find a new path because truthfully, those doors are closed to most of us.

Fortunately for us all, there are dozens of other amazing festivals that you can enter that WILL have a meaningful impact on your film.

Not getting into a top film festival or even ANY film festival is not the end of your film’s life nor is it the end of your career.

I’m going to cover a few things in the remainder of this post to help you plan your festival journey:

1. Picking the right festivals to submit to

2. Things you HAVE to know will make or break your film getting selected

3. WHEN to submit your film

Plus, I’ll tell you the NUMBER ONE THING that makes me reject a film.

Ready? Okay, let’s dive in.

Picking the Right Festivals To Submit To

Many filmmakers use a shotgun approach to submitting to film festivals, meaning that they will submit their film to anything and everything that seems like a fit. This is not only an incredibly financially wasteful approach but a—