Dov Simens On Why Only 12 To 20 Film Festivals Matter
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- Опубликовано: 17 май 2012
- Dov Simens of the famed 2-Day Film School shares the difference between Ed Burns, Kevin Smith, Morgan Spurlock and us, along with his reasons why only 12 to 20 Film Festivals really matter.
To find out about Dov's latest endeavor Movie Cloud and how it can revolutionize the film industry go to www.MovieCloud.com
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/ moviecloud
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CONNECT WITH DOV SIMENS
dovsimensfilmschool.com
CONNECT WITH US
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#!/FilmCourage 
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He is absolutely right in that spending exorbitant amounts of money chasing a slew of festival laurels for your DVD case is probably counter-productive. You have to be smart and target the audience you want to reach. Don't submit to a festival unless you are genuinely interested in what that unique festival offers (exposure, audience, fun, location, networking, etc.)
Agreed
I remember watching this interview years ago and saying to myself "yes, shorts are stupid. I'm making my feature." Then I couldnt raise the funds for the feature and made a short instead. I got into Tribeca, so one of the 10-20 festivals he mentions. if I never did the short, my first feature would've sucked. It still might, but I at least know what I'm doing now. If I had just dove right in and made a feature without the experience of the short it would've been a disaster. Make shorts for practice, but dont expect to make any money from them. That's where Dov is wrong in my opinion. And hell if your short gets into a big fest, you're now an alumni of that fest. Use that in your business plan when securing finance for your feature. At least that's what I'm hoping to do.
How much did you spend on that short?
Can we see the short somewhere? Just curious ,Cheers.
Amen
@@SL-hq2ck I would like to know too
@@NUCLEARDASH For the short that got into Tribeca, I raised around $20k on Kickstarter. I put in around $20k of my own money (most of that due to music licensing costs) and then probably spent another $5k-10k traveling to watch the short at multiple festivals (festivals, even the huge ones don't help you out with travel costs). You can watch it here: ruclips.net/video/aFtNpapbhJs/видео.html
I also want to come to the defense of the short film, which Simens dismisses outright because he sees "selling your film" as the only goal. Short films can lead to career-building contract work, for-hire gigs, commercials, or establish cred for attracting investors (or kickstarters) for your feature. Not to mention it is a valid art form unto itself and it is possible to make money doing it (not a lot, but some).
If you're after commercials and music videos then yes go ahead and make a short and see how your career is stuck as "the video guy." But if you want to be a feature film director, almost nobody will trust your talent with only a bunch of shorts as your resume. FEATURE FILM and short are not the same. Short films can be shot in a few hours. Shooting a feature film takes months!
How can you manage a half a million dollar budget, 20-30 set crew, a dozen locations, and all the paperwork with zero experience? Who's gonna trust you with their half a million dollars for you to shoot a feature film?? If you had several hundred thousand dollars to spare for a feature, would you hire a director who only made a bunch of shorts or, would you get someone who has a few features under the belt? You're delusional if your answer isn't the latter. Yes, David Sandberg only had short films before he shot the feature Lights Out but, people also win the lottery every month. Go ahead and play a few rounds and let us know how it went.
@@bluerabbit1236 All depends thou. Some shorts are used for concepts to get a Distribution deal or raise money for the Feature.
Lots of people have directed short films before going on to make their feature film and the fact that their short films won awards is why they where bank rolled for making a feature. I would not belittle short films.
Gotta love the condescending face- slap-brow-beating drill sergeant approach to film education and producer wisdom. So much for chasing your dreams.
Our point was more that Ed, Morgan, & the Polish Brothers aren't investing a lot of time on the "festival circuit." They are getting their films on platforms where audiences can access their films immediately.
Dov is one of the most inspiring honest teachers you can hope to have. I wish for every filmmaker trying to break into the industry to get some of his insights..
I'm in NO way undermining Dov Simens, but this is also a different day than the 90s, when films like CLERKS were admissable to theaters. I agree there's value to making and submitting a feature over a short, but also there's the opposite, and lots has changed in the five years since this was recorded. And if you haven't made at least one short - which is also much easier to get anyone to view than a feature, and get others to help out with - then starting with a feature will be that much more difficult.
It's almost like, as soon as Clerks became a hit, the film industry decided they didn't want any more "Kevin Smith's" coming into the business left and right, and thus made it harder for any new filmmaker to emerge, despite the fact that this is exactly how the film industry began. It's like a self-sustaining empire in control of everyone else who wants to be like it.
@@kavakahn9387 That didn't make any sense.
@@trinpictures In what way(s)?
Truth.
Matter to whom? Festivals aren't just social events. They are a path to building an audience. You just have to know what your goal is.
I program for deadCENTER Film in Oklahoma City. Last year we launched a distributor's forum where filmmakers could interact directly with distribution reps, and a couple of films found distribution through that connection. More importantly, many filmmakers made direct connections with new audiences that they can communicate directly to in the future.
I am grateful for the Film Courage platform. You guys will help filmmakers such as myself to become better and eventually be in position to educate others such as you guys.
Thank you.
Thank you for stopping by Kevin. We consistently hear great things about deadCENTER. The challenges from the filmmaker's POV is that they really have to know why they are submitting to film festivals. Once beyond that, they have to do their due diligence to find festivals that meet their goals and right now there is not a simple and easy way to do that.
Guess I'm a 12 year old.
i'm 11 lol
hahaha It "demostrates that you're a 12 year old" after just hearing what Dov said, I am gonna finish up my current short that is taking forever to complete, and move on to my 80 minute slasher. But it does feels good to win awards, cash, and prizes at some of these not so famous film festivals and competing with other filmmakers.
I think there's a place for stories of any length. With Internet and streaming distribution just having films of just one particular length makes less sense.
Also there was a guy on Film Courage recently who said about the importance of short films and how they can help develop and nurture different styles of filmmaking, which makes sence really.
i'm watching this in 2023 and I'm not sure if what he said really holds true today, especially given how quickly things are changing, but the his answers sound doable and can be applied with some twist if necessary
he is speaks straightforward, free of flattery and fictitious motives. I feel like what he stated to me was like rules. I believe
Fantastic Episode! I love Dove Simens info. Life-saver!!
This guy is a breathe of fresh air. I love the way he cuts through the BS and gives it straight.
Dov Simens is awesome. I went to his 2-Day Hollywood Film class
We just watched the movie "Official Rejection" last night. If you haven't seen that one yet and plan to submit to festivals, make sure you watch it asap.
Shorts can be made for a number or reasons, least of all to get submitted to film festivals. There are still a number of them, including the big ones, that have a Short film category.
I think it helps a new filmmaker, director or writer/filmmaker "make their bones". It gives them real-life application and experience, and shows possible investors (for feature films or better shorts or webisodes) that a good ROI is possible.
I think there are 100s of thousand filmmakers, globally, want to make a feature. However, without the funding, the equipment knowledge and usage, without the experience, without the collaboration partners that all are on the same page, it's fruitless. At least in the sense that Dov is thinking. All of these flaws or shortcomings will show and your feature film will sit among the collection of your home collection of Blu-Ray movies. Distribution deal? Forget about it.
The best Interview i have ever seen.
Here at the end of 2021 and I needed to hear this from almost 10 years ago
Better late than...
Cant help but think about Ricky Bates who did go to most every Fest his short got into back in 2008 collecting those those"fake" laurels, and then was able to make the feature length version in 2012, which not only premiered at Sundance, but also plenty of fests outside of this magic 12-20. Today EXCISION is available in every video store in the country, and second only to CABIN IN THE WOODS as the the most popular genre film of 2012.
Peter Ford what's a video store?
Dov! Best teacher I've ever had.
Jae Shon who are the others?
This is VEEERRRYYYYY helpfull!! 8^)
'12 year olds made shorts' Duuuude, no.
You have to start somewhere...
I have 8 laurels right n ow and I have a distributor Still in another 25 film festivals Big and small
Laughed out loud at 6:14
Sadly I couldn’t hear a word he said because his attitude was so loud.
Acquisition Executive ;)
By the way I predict quality short films will be where film content is actually heading. I guess I’m 12 too!
Je Rk
This is an amazing reminder that if the motives ain't right we'll fall off at the wayside. If you love what you do, in creating a film, then you already won. The longer I make films the better I get. The better I get the more I realize I'm as good as I thought I was. Keep telling stories. "stop and watch films inc." >shameless plug