By Raine Blunk
At the Marshall House early this morning, students and professionals gathered in the lobby over coffee and donuts to discuss the ins and outs of short films with the programmers of some of the world’s most influential festivals.
Linda Olszewski, senior programmer from the Palm Springs Film Festival, Sharon Badal, senior programmer from the Tribeca Film Festival, and Mandy Ward, a SCAD graduate and starter of the upcoming First Time Film Festival, shared their industry knowledge about short films in the festival circuit.
Michael Chaney, film and television professor, began the talk by discussing the importance of submitting short films to festivals rather than publishing on YouTube or Vimeo, even as a student.
“Film festivals capture the beauty of accessibility,” said Ward. She went on to explain that releasing online can be very risky. “Be very careful—think about where you want your film to be seen.” Ward, who is heading up the First Time Film Festival in March 2013, is offering theatrical distribution as a prize to the winner.
Even connections that can be made at festivals with other producers and writers in the industry are valuable.
“Even if you don’t have a film [in the festival]…distributors will tell you what they’re looking for [in films],” said Ward.
Both Badal and Olszewski work to promote short films outside of their work as programmers. Olzewski is currently scouting for films to run on Shorts HDTV, a 24-hour channel that screens only short films. The only downside, she says, to shorts, is the need to engage your audience by the one and a half minute mark. “It’s got to be something that really wows. It should be perfectly edited — a nice, tight cut.”
Bedal helps run a film festival collection on Netflix when she’s not screening films. “Your short film lives or dies by your story,” said Bedal. She’s seen over 12,000 shorts during her time as a programmer, but says her pathological fear of clowns sometimes leaves her unable to finish a screening.
“The biggest misconception about films is that to be taken seriously you have to be serious…Be funny!”
Olzewski and Ward agree that although programmers are “smarter than you” when it comes to picking good movies. They appreciate a strong sense of voice from directors.
“Every director has a style,” said Ward. The market (term used to describe festival films with rights for sale) is looking for “your regional voice,” said Bedal in reference to the impact of a university-run film festival in Georgia.
“The last thing I want to watch is another movie shot in a New York diner.”
For more information about other coffee talks this week visit filmfest.scad.edu.
