Latest / Indie Film Hustle® - A Filmmaking Podcast / MONDAY MOTIVATION!: Dealing With Rejection

Transcript

MONDAY MOTIVATION!: Dealing With Rejection · Indie Film Hustle® - A Filmmaking Podcast

• 0:03
  Failure is just success training. So you got rejected from Sundance? Also,
• 0:09
  did I, guys? And how you deal with getting rejected and how you
• 0:13
  move forward afterwards. Now, many of you know that I directed a film
• 0:17
  called On the Corner of Ego and Desire, which was shot entirely at Park
• 0:23
  City during the Sundance Film Festival of last year, And as I was making
• 0:27
  it, I was really hoping that magically, one day it would play at
• 0:33
  the festival that I do love. It's a love hate relationship, but I
• 0:37
  do love Park City, and I love that festival, going to it and
• 0:41
  enjoying it. And I really wanted to make something that was a love letter
• 0:45
  not only to Park City to Sundance, but also to filmmakers. And yesterday
• 0:51
  I got the letter, the dreaded letter from the Sundance programmer says the word
• 1:00
  Unfortunately, there's many of us out there that did not get in. And
• 1:04
  it also, by the way, doesn't mean that your film is not good.
• 1:08
  Sundance doesn't always get it right. Okay, there are many reasons why
• 1:14
  things didn't go your way and didn't get your film into Sundance. There's other
• 1:19
  ways to get your movie out to the audience that needs to see it.
• 1:23
  Understand something that festivals used to be the only way filmmakers could get their films
• 1:30
  out into the marketplace, out into an audience. But today's world, they're
• 1:34
  not as important as they used to be. These top tier film festivals are
• 1:38
  not the only gatekeepers of independent film anymore. In fact, honestly, there
• 1:44
  aren't any. And don't forget guys, you know, at least ninety eight
• 1:47
  percent of all filmmakers, regardless if they get into these big film festivals or
• 1:53
  not, are still going to end up being responsible for their own distribution or
• 1:57
  getting their own distribution. You know, just because you win Sundance just before,
• 2:01
  Just because you get into Sundance doesn't mean you get a distribution deal.
• 2:05
  Those days are so gone. Just because you get into Toronto or Soft Fire,
• 2:08
  Canna, Berlin or any of these big festivals doesn't automatically give you a
• 2:14
  check and a big distribution deal. It doesn't work that way anymore. Getting
• 2:19
  into any of these top tier film festivals should not be your distribution plan.
• 2:24
  I've had that conversation with too many filmmakers over the years. I go,
• 2:28
  what's your distribution plan? I'm like, well, I'm gonna get a sundance
• 2:30
  and sell it for ten million bucks. That's just the way it goes.
• 2:32
  No, that's not a distribution plan. That is a lottery ticket