Screening your film at a film festival should be the ultimate goal of your efforts.
You and your crew and actors have just completed an immense amount of work, so you have a responsibility to your collaborators to ensure that effort does not go to waste. Additionally, when you promise credit to your cast and crew, the only way to deliver on that promise is to have your film screened at an IMDb-recognized film festival. IMDb.com requires some evidence of that screening before it will officially list your film.
The Communication Department also has an IMDb Pro account you can use to list your film–check with your professors for access.
Resources
You should also consider submitting your film to outside festivals. The two largest film festival submission companies are WithoutABox.com and FilmFreeway.com. Nearly all film festivals use one of these services to collect submissions. It is free for you to create an account and make a submission profile for your film. You only pay submission fees for the festivals you select. Both services also allow you to search their databases of festivals. Be strategic about the festivals you select. Choose smaller festivals to start and look for festivals with content-specific themes that fit your film. Also look for festivals with cash prizes!
Submission Materials
Festivals will often require you to submit supporting materials for your film, if accepted. Planning ahead can make this process much easier. You will eventually need some version of an electronic press kit, commonly referred to as an EPK. An EPK typically contains the following:
- A logline and synopsis for the film
- 3-5 Production Stills (these can be high resolution screen grabs) clearly labeled with the character and actor names depicted in the still
- Biographies and pictures for the key talent (usually the producer, director, and lead actor)
- A 30 second trailer for the film
- A one-sheet or promotional poster for the film
Your producer should begin gathering these materials during preproduction and immediately after production to assist with the festival submission process.
One last piece of advice: make sure to keep a copy of all the original footage and the Avid or Premiere project file for your film. Many students forget to do this and find that they don’t have the correct file format or can’t make a required change to their own film.