Materials Needed for a Festival

When it comes to what to send to a film festival, you can pretty much find the information right on the website, or with a quick google search. Raindance has a good article on some essential things you would want to mark on a check list.

But what happens once you've been selected in this film fest, well the lovely people at Hermosa Beach Filmworks have a FAQ based on all things DCP related.

Aside from all the technical things, there are some reading material that should be included. It should be in a easy .pdf format that includes pictures, bios and necessary information.

You will need:

-Logline/Synopsis (both short and long)

-Cast and Crew bios (principle actor bios and top crew bios, director, producer and possibly DP) You can add other major roles here especially if they have other known work whether cast or crew.

-Pictures of all cast and crew mentioned (these photos need to be publicity ready)

-Technical aspects of camera and audio.

-Set stills and candid shots (these also should be able to share with the public by all parties, get their permission!)

-Any reviews of the film based on previous festivals if it applies (if it's your mom, just leave it out).

-A full list of cast and crew credits (everyone involved).

-Trailer or teaser (this way the festival can post it to their website, or direct back to your YouTube or Vimeo page).

-Movie poster.

-A word from the director (the journey on making the film and/or any anecdotes they want to share).

This is the EPK (Electronic Press Kit) for a movie/film that people talk about. The file format should be easily attached to an email without any problems. Having this ready asap helps out big time as it's just another way to market your film. It doesn't need to be an elaborate file with intense colours and background music as some festival extract the information and pictures from this and load it to their website.

Still need help figuring it all out? Why not drop a line at info@tovoice.ca