Blog-o-STIFF

Final Notifications

The final notifications for all filmmakers went out yesterday.  As a thorougly rejected filmmaker myself, this is an ironic time of the festival cycle for me.  We have had a lot of responses from filmmakers ranging from "You guys suck!" to "Darn, I'll try again next year".  I appreciate all of these emotions.  Please understand that no matter what, filmmaker communication is one of our highest priorities and notifications are a point of pride for us.  If for some reason, you have not received an email or phone call from our programming staff, please send an email to submissions (at) trueindependent (dot) org and we will try to get to the bottom of the problem.  We are also always on the lookout for suggestions to improve the process.  Any feedback you can give us is definitely appreciated. 

Thanks,

Clint

I know what you are thinking…

“Your website says that filmmakers will be notified by April 15^th…  WTF is the holdup?!  I haven’t heard anything yet!  Why don’t you guys have your shit together?”

Believe me, I understand your frustration and we have been doing our best to answer emails from filmmakers wondering what the heck is going on.  Rest assured that we have been notifying accepted filmmakers and trying to lock down the print details and hope to have all filmmakers notified by the end of the week.  BUT…  Just because you haven’t been notified yet doesn’t necessarily mean that you will be getting a rejection email on Friday.  There have been a few strange and wonderful developments recently, that I can’t announce quite yet, which have opened up some up some additional screening slots and we need to get everything 100% locked down before we send out the rejections.  A couple of you still have legitimate hope for another day or so.

If you haven’t gotten a phone call yet, there is a pretty good chance that your email is going to carry some bad news. No matter what I write here, it isn’t probably won’t change your opinion of me, but just know that there are some really good films that we weren’t able to screen for a variety of reasons.   Just like casting or editing a movie, some difficult decisions have to be made when programming a festival.  Some movies seem just a little too similiar to other movies that we are screening, some are great, but just need a little tighter editing.  Some are excellent quality and seem perfect for SIFF, but just aren’t a great fit for STIFF.  In my dreams I see Carl Spence and Brian Shelley in some dimly lit parking garage exchanging unmarked paper bags full of these types of DVD’s like captured hostages in a cold war era film. 

I’ll close with these two pearls of uninvited advice…  Don’t Quit!  No matter how many times you get rejected by film festivals, keep making movies.  This is a pretty subjective business and sometimes festival acceptance is little more than the luck of having the right screener grab your DVD out of a bin.  Thank you so much for submitting your work to us and please keep us in mind when you finish future projects as we would love to see them.   We are a lot more willing to grant waiver requests to filmmakers who have submitted to us in the past and paid entry fees than we are to spammers.  Second, make sure to check your spam filters.  Sometimes notifications get lost in them.

Thanks Again,

Clint

Buy Film Festival Acceptance for $1.99?

As most seasoned filmmakers already know, and many new filmmakers are just about to find out, rejection is part of the filmmaking process. With Sundance and Slamdance recently announcing their acceptances and a slew of other fests getting ready to announce, this is the time of the year where rejection can really seem daunting. As a recently rejected filmmaker myself, I understand just how tiring it can be to read “We received a lot of excellent entries this year, but unfortunately…” This year, STIFF has teamed up with the Stranger to offer something that I don’t believe has ever been offered by a film festival in the history of film festivals – a LEGIT way for a filmmaker to buy his or her way into a set of film festival laurels and help a great northwest charity at the same time.

 

For those unfamiliar with the Stranger, it is Seattle’s largest alternative weekly (similar to the Village Voice, Austin Chronicle, San Francisco Guardian or Portland Mercury) with a print distribution of over a quarter million per week and online distribution of over 8 million a month. Every year, they put together an online holiday auction called Strangercrombie where they sell one of a kind items that range from the exquisite (private dinners with the city’s best chefs) to the obscure (a phone conversation with Chris Crocker, the idiotic “Leave Britney alone guy” from Youtube). All of the proceeds go to a fantastic local charity. You can read more about Strangercrombie here.

This year, STIFF is contributing a feature and short slot in the 2008 program as part of 2 filmmaker packages that are coupled with either a scholarship to the Seattle Film Institute of a 6- month membership to the Northwest Film Forum.

This is full acceptance for your film that comes with a screening, inclusion into all program materials, laurels to put on your DVD boxcover, and all of the other filmmaker perks. Bidding starts at just $1.99, so it may be possible to get guaranteed acceptance into a festival for less money than it would cost to actually submit to a film festival. Hurry, because the auctions end at 5PM Pacific time on December 14th. If you’re looking for a good way to promote your movie, you may even want to look into bidding on a film review, news story , or full page in the Stranger to do whatever you want.

Thanks,

Clint Berquist

Director, Seattle's True Independent Film Festival

www.trueindpendent.org

Getting Doors Slammed in Your Face

Rejection happens to everyone... Even Festival Directors... Here is something from my inbox today...

Dear Filmmaker,
We am so sorry to tell you we were unable to include your short film(s) into the 2008 Slamdance program. Thank you so much for submitting. Slamdance is limited by space constraints in Park City to program less than 70 shorts every year, though the quality of submissions would allow us to program many many more.

Please keep in mind that Slamdance is just one festival out of hundreds of others. Our film program is based on the subjective decisions of our programming committees. Please don’t take this rejection as any indication of the quality of your film, or its potential for a successful, well-regarded future.

We wish the best for you and your film.

Warm regards,
Slamdance Programming Department

STIFF 2008 Call for Entries

We just recently posted our call for submissions for STIFF 2008.  I am really excited for this year's festival.  Pete suggested that we start doing a blog as we start to kick the meetings off to give people a bit more visibility into the 4th annual Seattle's True Independent Film Festival and I like the idea of opening things up a bit.  There are a few changes to the team this year.  Kevin Gilbert stepped down as the program director to focus on acting and I really miss his bald head, but I know that Brian Shelley will be able to successfully take the reigns.  I am hoping that Brian and the rest of the screening team will post their thoughts on some of their favorite movies as they start to work their way through the submission process.  At times, being a screener can feel like being locked in a closet with a box of cigars, but when you happen to find that movie with nothing on the cover but the name written in black sharpie and it turns out to blow your mind, the feeling is like nothing you can imagine.    

In case you haven't heard about STIFF before, here are some of the things that I think makes our festival really unique.  If you are a filmmaker, we'd love to see your movie.  If you are a musician or a comedian, we'd love to hear from you too. 

STIFF focuses on True Independent Films. We don't cater to films with celebrities or Hollywood indies.

We specialize in long shorts. Each of our shorts programs is anchored by a short with a runtime that many other fests have a hard time programming (25-45 minute range).

Our venues are truly unique. Each features state of the art projection, and most offer table service with gourmet food, micro brews and cocktail service.

Our goal is to have each submission judged in its entireity by a minimum of three screeners. STIFF is put on by filmmakers who have taken their own films through the festival process and we strive to make it a festival that we would like to submit our own films to.

Each film wins its own unique STIFFY.

We are working with partners to offer unique prizes that we feel are better than ca$h awards. Breakthrough Distribution is sponsoring the Breakthrough Award which includes 2000 professionally authored DVD's and a possible retail distribution deal. A leading national video rental chain will also be offering a one hour meeting with an acquisitions executive to the winner of the Grand Jury prize (winner will need to cover their own travel).

STIFF Licks adds a ten day music (indie rock, punk, hip-hop) and stand-up comedy festival to the films, turning STIFF into a complete independent entertainment experience.

We keep the price of our badges low to ensure good attendance. We have a very loyal audience that continues to grow each year. The festival and filmmakers get excellent press every year - STIFF was mentioned in CNN's Indie Guide along with SXSW, and indie staples like Richard Linklater and Mos Def.

Most of all, STIFF is about having fun. Don't take my word for it though, check out some clips from last year's fest:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QxlF_XNdqt8

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bdlv_vW_Pvc

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zNuriGJkE_w

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ak7PLSMPWMY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5d4puFWtb5o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZNdaOVLTZY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sBbCvnJ2os

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-ZvjAsI1VQ

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HUeiu8Qtt3A