So you’ve made your film. Now, what do you do? Do you have this burning fire to share it with others and an audience? Then your first step is to start thinking about which film festivals you want to send it to.

Hopefully, your film isn’t too long. That’s the first piece of advice Caran Hartsfield would give: “I think there is this misconception that I am more of a filmmaker, the longer my film is. From what I’ve seen, that is the wrong way to think about it. A film festival and being a filmmaker is quite the opposite.” The tighter your film is and the more in control your story, scenes, and directing are, the better it is. If you can do a tight 10 (minutes) as opposed to an okay 20, it’s better to have the tight 10. And depending on your skill level, the shorter, the better. Just show you’re a promising filmmaker, and that’s all you have to do. Caran adds, “I’ve seen careers launched off of five-minute films, so don’t think, the longer, the better.”

It can’t be stressed enough that a lot of film festivals also cut off minimums and maximums. Often, the maximum for many festivals is 20 minutes. It’s really hard to program longer films because then they have fewer films to put in the festival. So even if you’ve made a film under 20 minutes and you think it could be longer — know that you already have your film to share with the festival.

Also keep in mind that film festivals usually have an entrance fee. Be strategic about how and where you spend your money. However, some festivals do waive fees. Send an email, explain your situation, and see if it is possible to waive the fee. If you already have a track record and you’ve established some sort of momentum with your film, this can especially be a door opener for you.

Film festivals are really great practice for you as a filmmaker to talk about your work too. Usually, there’s a Q&A after screenings for filmmakers to talk about what inspired them or their filmmaking process. This is helpful in getting you comfortable to have a dialogue with your audience and thinking about your work. And as you move forward to your next project, you will be much more aware of what you’re interested in thematically and why you’re telling this story. Because you already know that Q&A is coming. You definitely want to be clear on how your story is connected to what you’re thematically interested in.

Caran highly recommends submitting your work to film festivals. She explains, “It’s a great opportunity for an audience to see your work and share in the thing that you were most interested in and passionate about for so long.” So send out those films. Have a strategy. And put on your calendar when the film festival deadline is, and submit on time because those deadlines can come and go quickly.

An international film festival: early beginnings
“I was living in New York in the 1950s where there was this guy named Amos Vogel. He showed independent films in downtown New York in alternative spaces to various audiences,” Eugene Hernandez recounts. “Later Richard Roud, a Londoner, came to New York and to the Lincoln Center, where the New York Film Festival (NYFF) is now held.
The Lincoln Center for Performing Arts was founded in the late ’50s, early ’60s as this kind of arts campus for different art forms: ballet, opera, the philharmonic, and various other art forms.
“This is what started the connection between Amos Vogel, a guy presenting films in downtown New York, and Richard Roud, who showed films at London film festivals before moving to New York,” explains Hernandez. (Vogel and Roud co-founded the New York Film Festival.)
The NY film fest-where being different is the norm
The New York Film Festival has shown diverse cinema styles over the years. And it continues its tradition toward distinct filmmaking—high-profile films with well-known actors and directors.
Celebrated films from all parts of the world. Films that haven’t yet played to an audience in New York.
“This is the big thing about the New York Film Festival—each fall it introduces new films to new audiences, particularly to New York audiences,” Hernandez continues.
“Hundreds and hundreds of films are submitted for consideration each year, but few are selected,” Hernandez points out. “It takes place over a few weeks at Lincoln Center, at other parts of the city, and online.”
Short films, experimental films, movies from all over the world come here to New York to be discovered by audiences.
New York Film Festival is for film lovers
There’s a lot more festivals now, but NYFF has become an annual fall gathering place. Audiences get an overview, a cross-section of which films and filmmakers stand out for the fall season.
NYFF is highly regarded because it has a relatively small program, with only 25 to 30 films.
“It’s a place where we get a measure of what’s new, what’s celebrated, and what’s so special about the art form of filmmaking,” ends Hernadez.

###

There’s a movement right now in the world with streaming and online audiences, and filmmakers who self-distribute their films. These filmmakers figure out how to get their films booked and get them into theaters and do everything themselves. Taking the self-distribution route is completely possible for you, too. It takes a lot of work, but it’s definitely possible.

According to film industry expert David Ninh, “When I think about the role of distributors that we work for, and specifically our distributor and my role, it’s very curatorial.” Distributors look for unique storytelling. They look for whether or not the filmmaker has an interesting voice or an interesting story that they want to tell the world. They look at the film and if it’s going to be relevant and special down the road in their library. Or if it’s going to become a classic, because distributors sometimes compete for films. David adds, “I think that when there is a good film, there’s a lot of interest. A lot of distributors want it for themselves so that they can put their stamp on it and put it out to the world with the filmmaker.”

Those are very striking instances for the filmmaker to figure out the right home for their film, to get the film out to the world, and to figure out who can be the best partner for them to get it out in the widest way possible. Filmmakers need to outline the goals for their films. Some filmmakers just want a lot of money and to sell the film. Some filmmakers are more concerned with getting it out organically and having the theatrical experience by getting it rolled out in as many theaters as possible. The money is secondary to them because it’s more important to build the profile of their film in their career.

Let’s take a look at the role critics play in the film industry and how every year they get together to discuss the best films and reward them for their effort.

“Film gets released. Critics write about it. Critics love to champion work that they’re passionate about,” explains Eugene Hernandez. “A group of critics, at the end of the year, meets to say, Ok, what were the films that mattered to us this year?”

Critics watch the most films out of any kind of writer or journalist. They’re like programmers of festivals, the folks that choose the films. Eugene explains that they watch lots and lots of movies. At the end of the year, they sit back and make a list, and they say, well, what was my favorite? What was my favorite film of the year? What was the best performance? What was the best-what had the best costumes or the best editing or the best direction, writing, various categories?

There are several critics groups at the end of the year in December you see a lot of. If you’re aware of it and thinking about it and you do a search on Google at the end of the year and you look for sort of critic’s prizes or best films according to critics or even top 10 lists, you’ll see a lot of that. You’ll see that critics are championing, celebrating, and highlighting the films that they were the most passionate about.

Eugene says that could be a great way to bring more attention to a film as well. A film comes out maybe early in the year or it’s at festivals earlier in the year, and then suddenly at the end of the year, critics are looking at it against all the films they’ve seen, the hundreds of films they’ve watched that whole year. And they’re saying, oh, these are the ones that stick with us, that matter, that is worth giving more attention to.

The awards season -as it’s called for the industry at the end of the year and into the beginning of the new year- is the moment when a lot of these films are celebrated.

“Whether that’s at the Golden Globes in January or at the Oscars later in the winter or early spring, these are the highest-profile awards,” Eugene says. “There are different levels and layers of awards, starting at local film festivals and national, international film festivals, but also continuing to the critic’s groups in the fall and then the higher profile, well-known awards.”

If you’re a filmmaker, you often work with writers and editors at publications. And as you progress in your career, you might want people working with you to help navigate some of their questions. You might hire what’s called a publicist.
A publicist is someone who’s an advocate on your behalf. They have a lot of relationships with writers and editors, and they do some of that legwork for you. Before you even get your film into a festival, they might be emailing journalists to say, “so-and-so has a film at the festival, we invite you to check it out.”
They often know what the writers and journalists like, too. They’ll say, “this writer at Indiewire tends to like these kinds of films or these topics,” for example. Publicists might know that a journalist has written about one of your films in the past. They’re tracking all of that.
These are the different kinds of folks that are involved in helping you, your producer, and your team to make that first impression.
One of the first things that publicists do when they look at a film is to pick it apart. They figure out how to look at this film and they ask questions. What is the news from this film? What is newsworthy about it? Why is it exciting? Why does the film have a unique place in this world?
They will figure out how to amplify it in the best and widest way possible through press, online journalists, working with online journalists, and social media. They are continually working out how to continue building buzz around the film and the filmmaker. They want to amplify your point of view.
[Please embed: https://pixabay.com/photos/press-camera-the-crowd-journalist-2333329/]

[Please embed: https://pixabay.com/photos/camera-aperture-digital-camera-dslr-1239384/]

“Before you get someone to watch your movie, you’ll need to get their attention,” says Eugene Hernandez. “But everybody’s got so much coming at them on a given day, and you’re trying to get their attention for even 20 seconds.” 

That’s why, Eugene explains, you should put a lot of thought into your press kit. “Because that’s how people are going to remember your film, both before and after they see it,” adds Eugene. “It’s really important to — for lack of a better word — kind of agonize over it. Ask, ‘Does this image represent the film? Is this the image we want other people to remember when they think of our film?”

Eugene also advises filmmakers to take pictures while still on set. Many professionals agree. Eugene has been on and moderated many film festival panels over the past 25 years. “The most common piece of advice is to take good pictures on your set,” he points out. “It sounds logical when you’re not making the movie, but when you are, it’s the easiest thing to forget.”

Think ahead to when your film goes to festivals or distribution. When a company wants to buy your film, they’ll ask for photos. If you don’t have those photos, you can’t recreate your set and costumes from four years ago. As you film, make sure you capture the images that will represent your film in the future.

Some marketing and distribution panels recommend spending money on this process. “Hire a photographer,” says Eugene, “or if you have a friend who’s really good at that, invite them to your set. Have them take pictures while you’re shooting or rehearsing.” Eugene recommends taking some posed photos of the cast, too.

You may not use these photos for years, but they matter. “Those are the images that will fuel the materials you create,” advises Eugene. “Those are the images that you’re going to hand someone on your postcard three years later at a film festival. It’s essential.”

 “Lovebirds came together because I had read this really funny script. It was originally a little bit darker and a little bit edgier, but it was just a really fun script about a couple that could be anybody who was breaking up. They got involved in what they thought was a murder while they were breaking up, and had to deal with their relationship while they had to stay together,” says Tom Lassally. “It was a very funny script and maybe more on the independent side when we first started it. When you’re going for a pairing like this, you’re trying to think, what is a fresh way to pair two great people?”

“I worked with Kumail before on Silicon Valley, and he’s such a gifted comedian and actor,” Lassally continues. “At that point, you would not see him do something like this. Then looking at Issa Rae, who at that point had not done a role like this, and to pair them as a really interesting couple. It was a really special dynamic that made the whole thing come together in a very different way. It was an example of one and one making three. The approach to do a romantic comedy with a African-American woman and a Pakistani lead and not necessarily have to make it about that seemed like a really fresh way to do a movie.”

“We financed it with a terrific company called MRC, and then Paramount stepped in to become our partner to release it. We did a lot of development with them, we worked on it with them, and we went and shot the film in New Orleans. Netflix came in because they liked the movie, but, on a practical level, they had a movie that already had Paramount and MRC spending money on marketing to create awareness for something, and that would be a good thing for Netflix.”

“All of these movies are sitting there. One of the first to be bought by a streamer, maybe even the first, was Lovebirds because they really liked the movie. They loved the cast, but they also knew they had some awareness going into them doing their job, which helped. The movie seemed to have performed well for them. At least people got to see it even though we were disappointed that we didn’t get to see it in theaters.”

Part of an editor’s responsibility is to take the material and understand what the editor’s vision is, but also, bring to the table their own particular perspective.

“A really good editor understands that, what he or she feels about the material, how they respond to the material, is just as important as trying to do what the director wants,” says Sam Pollard.

Sometimes, it’s about re-editing somebody’s interview or taking an actor’s line and finding a different note, a different word, or something that they might have said in a different way, in a different take, and using that instead.

“Some people call it sleight of hand. To me, it’s part of the practice, it’s a part of what I call the nuts and bolts of editing,” says Pollard.

“I see myself in a very funny way. I see myself as not so much as a magician, but as a professional craftsperson, like a master carpenter where my job is to take all these pieces of wood, or sculptors, they have all these pieces of clay, and give it shape and form and art.”

Sometimes, editors have to try something different: that tool or that piece of clay may not work.

“I see myself as a craftsperson. I always have. And to me, that craftsperson, if he or she does their job properly, they make it rise to the level of art,” adds Pollard.

One thing that everyone needs to understand about filmmaking and film editing is that so many components are necessary to make a good film.

It’s not just shaping performance in a fiction film. In a dcoumetnary, it’s also understanding how to figure out the best pieces of an interview and make different segments come together.

It’s also understanding how to create the soundscape of the film and how to create the titles.

What’s the opening Title Sequence and what should look like? Or should there be no titles at the beginning?

How should it unfold?

Should it be at the beginning?

Should it be at the end?

“There’s some films I’ve worked on, like the title sequence in Mo’ Better Blues, a wonderful company, Balsmeyer & Everett, they created this wonderful title sequence that they gave me all these beautiful elements of Denzel and Joie and Cynda Williams, that I was able to shape to make it
work.”

“They did, also, a wonderful sequence for Jungle Fever that’s really very nice, using the landscape of Brooklyn to create the titles,” notes Pollard.

Titling is a very important part of this shaping of the filmmaking process and telling the story.

Pollard mentions a film about Martin Luther King and the FBI that he recently finished. When working on it, a company in California created a raw-ish title sequence with Martin Luther King using both imagery that we shot on a soundstage, imagery of archival footage of Dr. King with stills and other elements to create a very textured opening.

If you’ve got the budget and the money, you can do extraordinary title sequences. Sometimes, if you don’t have the budget and money, you can still do extraordinary title sequences.

Everything about filmmaking is going the extra mile, using your imagination and your sense of technique, and finding good collaborators to make the story come alive.

 “Being an editor gets you to understand the whole process of what a script needs, what production needs, and then, ultimately, what you need in the editing room in order to make your film effective,” David K. Irving explains. “The editor will want to spend a lot of time with the director thinking through how they want to do the story. They usually do their first cut, which is called an assembly, based on the script, and then they’ll eventually cut it down. Their most important job is creating a rhythm or a sense of pace in the film, so the film moves along.”

“I know when Shakespeare would write his tragedies, his first act always ended on a very tragic note, but he would always start the second act with a little comic scene for relief, so the audience could relax and then build up their tension for the tragedy that would happen at the second act.”

An editor, too, is looking for all those rhythms. They’re built into the script. Ideally, the director has given the editor everything he or she needs to put it together, but the editor is not on set. The editor is only making a movie out of the material they have in front of them.

“For example, many times, with an editor, I’ve seen them take a shot from an early scene and put it in a later scene as long as the wardrobe matched because it’s what they wanted in terms of their eyeballs going left to right. There’s a lot of freedom in the editing room. You have to let an editor be freeform in order to make sure they make the best movie possible,” Says Irving.

“As directors, we often get very stuck on the material we shoot. I shot a single take scene where at the end of the scene, one of the actor’s wardrobe got connected to another actor’s wardrobe and got dragged off the set. The actor was smart enough to come back on the set, but I didn’t print that take because I said I can’t use the shot if the continuity doesn’t work.”

“My editor said ‘the audience will never see the continuity problem’. That’s the take with the most energy, and that’s what’s in the film now. I, as the director, cringe every time I see it, but the editor made the right decision.”

In Midnight Cowboy ,the very famous movie with Dustin Hoffman and John Boyd, they almost get hit by a taxicab in the middle of the street in the middle of a scene, and Dustin Hoffman stayed in character as “Ratso” Rizzo, banged on the front of the taxi, and said, ‘I’m walking here! I’m walking here!’ That was never planned in the script, but in the editing room, we’re able to put it together and get this great moment that wasn’t planned, but the editor was able to use it to great effect.

[Please embed: https://pixabay.com/photos/shooting-cinema-camcorder-cuba-75599/]

In the 21st century, the editing process is very different between fiction and nonfiction. For Sam Pollard, the nonfiction editing process depends on whether or not the film contains interviews. “If it’s an interview-based film, I will make sure that the director has transcribed all the interviews, which I can read to make selects,” says Sam.
“Sometimes I just read the interviews. Sometimes I read and watch them at the same time, so I can hear the cadence of the person who’s being interviewed.”

Once Sam makes his selects, he uses a step-by-step system. If the filmmaker has shot B roll or verite footage, Sam starts by watching that. He pulls the things he likes and the things that work in terms of look, feel, and relevance.

From there, Sam determines the film’s structure. He writes down the interviewees’ themes on 3×4 cards. On a poster board, Sam lays out a three-act structure for the film based on those themes. He arranges the cards into these three acts, and that’s how he builds the film.

Of course, Sam’s editing process looks different for films with no interviews. “If it’s just raw footage that’s been shot on location, I’ll just make selects from that footage,” Sam explains. “Instead of using the storyboard structure, I’ll just edit sequence after sequence. Fo example, someone shot me today, getting up and doing my activities. I would just edit that sequence in order.”

After Sam edits his sequences, he starts thinking about the beginning of the film. “How do I want to start this film?” he asks himself. “Do I want to start with Lizzie having the idea? With me getting an email about this program?” Then, Sam moves his sequences into place.

This editing process lets Sam create order and structure. “That’s the way I work with documentaries,” Sam says, “because 90% of documentaries have no scripts.”