i wrote a screenplay and i want to know how can i get it into the sundance or cannes film festival?
i wrote a screenplay and i want to get a budget for it to make it from the cannes or sundance film festival..im going to make it into a short film for now so it could be seen at the festivals!! i dont know much so i need as much info as you can give..even if people at the festivals only read it..that could also be a way to get a budget!! do i need an agent??
There’s a lot of competition out there for getting movies into festivals, much less getting movies made. First make sure your script is written using proper format.
One of the best website for help with screenplays and information on how to format scripts, get financing, find an agent, etc. is DoneDeal. Check out their forums.
If you really want to get your film seen, you may want to look into smaller, local film festivals in your area. Cannes and Sundance are proving grounds for even well-established, highly respected filmmakers. As such it’s very competitive.
Good luck!
Well, at least you’re aiming for the stars.
If you’re planning on making a trailer (that’s what it sounds like you’re doing), then you can probably do it for virtually nothing. The entire film El Mariachi was made for $7K.
Film in digital, rather than on film – it’s cheaper.
Make sure you scout all of your locations.
Make sure you PREPARE before you go out.
Rehearse with all the actors extensively so that they know their lines and you’ve even blocked out what’s going to be done, how, and from what angles you’re going to shoot.
Many film school or acting school students will work for food. We all need food.
If you prepare, you’re professional, and you work with like-minded people, you can make the film for the cost of renting the equipment.
You are going to need to get an agent at some point, but to enter a film into a film festival, you don’t have to. What you do NEED VERY VERY BADLY is a financier — someone who will give you the money you need to make the film, and take a percentage of the residuals the movie earns. You could also try and pitch to a production company with some money, but you will be hard pressed to find one that is willing to spend money on a flick that may never move past a film festival. Prodcos think silver screen, financier’s think festivals.
So how do you get one of these financial angels? If you know how to write a professional business plan, write one. Scour your script and budget out every dime that it will cost to do anything in any scene. Figure out if you will need to build sets to scale, and how much that will cost. Then after you prepare the budget, you will include a proposal. Similar to ordinary pitching, but a lot more detailed. You will outline every single step to getting your flick to the festival and beyond. You will either want to find a film crew that is willing to work for free, or research how much each member of the film crew will cost. Do they have their own equipment? No? Will you rent the equipment? So on. There are people in Hollywood who do this for a living, but they come at a price if you want them to write the plan for your film. Some cost a couple grand, others cost next to nothing. The cheapest route would be to find a grad school student with a focus in marketing/business, and hire him for a months rent or something like it to do your business plan.
Or you can forget everything I have said, spend your savings on a quality camera, go find some actors willing to work for nothing, and do it yourself. Sometimes these are the best films entered into festivals. I would recommend you go for some smaller film festivals first so that you can get a feel for the response to your film before you drop a nice dime on getting it into the big fish.