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Tuesday, May 27, 2008

Life after fests?

Jonathan Marlow at GreenCine has a good, lengthy, and sobering essay on festivals and distribution: 

The festival circuit has instead become an ersatz distribution system unto itself that, for the most part, keeps money away from the makers. The ten or 20 dollars you spend on a ticket (or the $50 to $500 you spend on a pass) rarely finds its way into the hands of the folks behind the camera.

Posted at 1:33PM in Of interest...|

Comments

It''s true. The festival circuit is a racket. They make their money primarily off submission fees but they also leech off the crowds the filmmakers bring: charging admission and always reminding the director what an honor it is to be in their profit sucking festival. As a filmmaker myself, I have started selling DVDs of my film at festivals to help cover my expenses. People really want to buy the film right then and there. The quantities I sell are not enough to affect a national distribution deal, so I feel fine about it. It''s my debt and my movie and I should see some cash from my art. www.artofpainmovie.com

Posted by: Matt Brookens | 5/28/2008 10:11:50 AM

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About The Circuit
Mike Jones Michael Jones is the film festival editor at Variety.com.

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