Happy 2013 from the DIY Film Fest!!!

Wow. Time flies when you're having fun.

Tapping a wrist; universal sign for "Hurry Up!"

Speaking of TIME - it's getting to be that time of year as we gear up for the annual DIY Film Festival Gala at the Roosevelt Hotel in Hollywood in March.

But first things first... the DIY FILM FESTIVAL will accept entries up until Monday Feb, 11th, 2013 - finalists will be notified by or around Feb 18th to give filmmakers who can attend the gala, time to get their reservations in order.

We are an annual fest which presents screenings at local venues during the year, and then a screening of finalists prior to the Gala and then excerpts are shown at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel - (if you're film arrives after the deadline, it will be rolled over into the following year's fest.)  We've had some amazing winners that have submitted their films the last day of the festival, as well as the first day of the festival.  Not to worry, but if you're film is ready, now is the time to submit it. Our submission address (which is listed at WithoutABox.com, our exclusive way to enter the festival).  But if you lose the address, or misplace it:

DIY FILM FESTIVAL, PO BOX 248, SANTA MONICA, CA 90406
EMAIL: DIYFILMFEST@YAHOO.COM

Deep Roy gettings his 2011 film award at the Roosevelt

We have some amazing films from around the world this year - from as far away as India and Romania, from young and old filmmakers across the country and planet who felt the desire, need and passion to tell a great story.  Each year we honor some amazing films, amazing filmmakers.  AVID has been sponsoring us for a number of years now, and a million thanks for their support.

We haven't had a youtube cat film yet - there's still time!.

Roosevelt Gala of 2012

So if you're film is nearly finished, get to work!  Be courageous, be daring, have fun.  Take a look at some of the amazing entries that are posted along this page - they're fantastic films, dramas, shorts, comedies - from all stripes, from all walks of life.  DIY filmmakers follow the tenet that an artist doesn't need wheelbarrows of money to tell a compelling story.  We look forward, once again, to honoring them.

Could be you!

Good luck!  Break a reel!  Or a DVD!  Throw caution to the wind, but your back into it, put your heart into it, and good will come of it.

Happy New Year from DIY!

Happy Holidays!!!

As we come up onto the New Year, we here at the DIY Film Fest want to wish y'all a
Happy Holiday/MerryChristmas/Kwanzaa/Hanukkah/Diwali/Eid from the DIY FILM FESTIVAL.. have we missed anyone?

Our usual venue.. although it may be another Hotel this year

As usual, we will be holding our annual event with the DIY Convention in Hollywood at the Roosevelt Hotel sometime in March 2013 (depends on availability, might be another locale).  We'll be holding screenings of the finalists sometime prior to that, and the evening of the gala will announce the winners of the various genres.

Flavio Parenti phoning it in - or  rather getting his award via Roma at last year's awards

2012 fest gala at the Roosevel

Which means there's about a month left for submissions.  Traditionally we stop accepting them around the 15th of February, so if you want to be eligible, please submit through "WithoutABox.com"

We're heading into our 12th year of the festival and we've had some fantastic films submitted, so stay tuned for more information!  Thanks for your submissions and we're looking forward to a glorious and independent "do it yourself" 2013.

DIY FILM FUTURE

Everything seems back on track with WithoutABox - other than a couple of snafus, everything seems to be working fine. If you submitted a film a couple of weeks ago and haven't heard a confirmation, please let us know.

And now a word from our sponsors:

Corel has released some new editing software. Pinnacle 16 is a PC based editing system that seems designed for DIY filmmakers and filmmaking. Although why they name things "ultimate" is a bit loopy, as it's usually "the ultimate" until it's not.  That being said, if you're not a MAC based editor, Pinnacle is worth looking into.  Not expensive, but has the bells and whistles of Avid software backing it up.

Our sponsor Avid dealt Corel their Pinnacle division, so it remains to be seen how that will affect Avid's foray into the low end (DIY) editing world.  Currently they're focusing on Media Composer, a professional editing system that handles the higher end material, in a Final Cut Pro fashion.

Where there's a will, there's a way - there are free editing solutions and opportunities in every platform, whether windows "movie maker" or "ifilm" from Mac.

There are many camera platforms to consider, from Canon single lens reflex series that also shoot HD, to the standards of Sony, Panasonic and other versions.  With feature films using the RED digital film systems for their big budget pictures, it's a matter of time before these systems become prosumer.

Lighthouse to the DIY future

In terms of DIY film distribution, what appears to be the easiest to navigate, is the createspace.com model - where you submit your DVD to their service, they digitize it, copy it, and make it available on Amazon.com in return for a percentage of your profit.  Once you've created the DVD or the streaming video, it's up to you to promote and sell and make it worth the effort to make it.  Itunes requires an aggregator to be the go-between between filmmaker and their sales outfit - and that can cost the filmmaker thousands of dollars in order to format it in their system.

 In that vein, KinoNation is a new company that will act as an aggregator, but takes their cut from the profit of the film.  Worth looking into.  It's a matter of time before DIY production, distribution becomes a larger share of the creative workplace. 

It seems to be the DIY way of the future.

And now back to the show!  Click on some of the films along the side panel to get an idea of the kinds of DIY winning films we've had the pleasure of honoring over the past 11 years!!!! Keep up the good work and thanks.

Withoutabox outage

Hi DIY Filmmakers, apparently Withoutabox had a glitch, and films that were submitted between Oct 25th and Nov 2nd were lost in the path of Hurricane Sandy. Here's the email we got this morning from our partners at WITHOUTABOX.COM:



Dear Withoutabox Customer


  On November 1st, our site experienced an outage which unfortunately resulted in the loss of data submitted from the afternoon of October 25th to the evening of November 2nd. You have been identified as a customer whose data was affected by this outage. Any changes made to your account during this time will need to be resubmitted; additionally, any submissions made during this time have been unintentionally deleted from the system.

Wow. Where did they get their tabulating machines from; Ohio?

Flavio Parenti accepted his award from Rome at last year's fest.
No glitches happened here.

Now, they may just be referring to films that individual filmmakers might have submitted (hence why its addressed to customer and not "film festival") - and if you submitted a film and you got this email from them, then you might look into it.

If we read this correctly it seems to imply if you submitted your film between the 25th and the 2nd, they have no record of it.  However, if your film finds its way to our PO Box in Santa Monica (DIY Film Fest, PO Box 248, Santa Monica, 90406) we will contact you if we can't find you in the withoutabox system (our chosen method for film submissions).  So not to fear, no need to resubmit - hopefully your DV has an email address/contact number that we can access and get in touch with you if there's a problem.

If you don't hear from us, you can contact us anytime at DIYFilmFest@yahoo.com - sorry for the glitch, but what can you do? Glitch Happens. 

If you did receive a notice from Withoutabox letting you know your film was entered, no need to worry, no stress, you're "in consideration" as they call it.  If you have submitted your film to our festival and not received a notice, please email us at DIYFilmFest@yahoo.com and include the Withoutabox submission entry #.  Thanks.

DIY Fest Winners from 2011. Not a glitch among them.

And please, on behalf of all those who fought for our rights: don't forget to vote!

2013 CALL FOR ENTRIES

2013 DIY FILM FESTIVAL CALL FOR ENTRIES!!!

DIY Book and Film winners at the Gala last March

HOLLYWOOD, Ca. (Sept. 25, 2013) _ The 2013 DIY Film Festival is now accepting entries for its 11^th annual awards and screening series, part of the 2013 DIY Convention: Do-It-Yourself in Film, Music & Books in Los Angeles.

The DIY Film Festival honors the best of independent and self-produced films. Past winners have been able to get their films on Showtime and some have found a theatrical release. Submissions are accepted from countries around the world, culminating in our annual awards in Hollywood at the Roosevelt Hotel, home of the first Academy Awards.

Submissions to the 2013 DIY Film Festival must have been released after Jan. 1, 2011 and have been produced without multinational corporate backing. 

Categories include:

Cara Feinberg Accepting her award

Dramatic or Comedy or Documentary Features (over 30 minutes in length)

Dramatic or Comedy or Documentary Shorts (under 30)

Animated features and shorts

Student films, Experimental Films and/or Mocumentaries.

Winner Flavio Parenti accepting from Rome

Entries will be judged using the following criteria:

1) The sophistication and potential of the film to reach a larger audience; and

2) The unique use of DIY production tools to tell a compelling (dramatic or comedic) story that perhaps breaks boundaries of traditional story telling.

Information on the event and entry forms can be found at www.DIYConvention.com, www.diyfilmfest.com or submitted through Withoutabox.com

Comedian Deep Roy accepting an award

Site of the First Academy Awards

The films should follow the paradigm of "Do It Yourself" filmmaking. This means no film studio or major corporation financed your film. We're a film festival that highlights and focuses on the ability to tell a good story, a moving story, an interesting story using the tools that are available to everyone. That being said, it's up to you how professional your film looks, or your story is. 

We firmly believe in artist Jean Cocteau's maxim "When the cost of making films is as much as a pencil and piece of paper, then we'll find true art."

Toronto, Sundance, Cannes, DIY Film Distribution

Hello DIY Filmmakers,

Just a few words about Toronto's film festival, upcoming deadlines for Sundance and the Cannes Film Festival. (further details check: withoutabox.com) and a few words about DIY distribution in general.

Aim high!

Shoot the moon. Why not?

You don't really know who's going to respond to your work and in what fashion.  So if you can afford to, get it out there, see if you can get into these premiere film fests.  Toronto is a wonderful venue for international attention, Sundance is the premiere festival in the US (along with Slamdance, South by Southwest, Santa Barbara, Palm Springs short, NY Film Fest, Indie Spirit Awars etc), and Cannes of course, is Cannes.  Look at your film with the jaded eyes of a festival programmer - and then find the right fit for your story.

This cat wants to eat your film.
Just leave it lying around
undistributed.

And then after you've been the festival route and due to myopia of festival programmers, still don't have a place for your film, think about self distribution.  It's the way of the future for filmmaking - and as filmmakers get frustrated trying to get films into the studio pipeline, or the indie pipeline, or any pipeline other than a pipeline to the ocean - they'll see how DIY distribution can make you the filmmaker happy, make your audience happy, and make a name for yourself, as well as at least a modicum of income.

Here's one way to do it, it's not for everyone, but if you're tired of waiting for Godot to show up and anoint your film worthy of studio attention, here's one way to do it.  We at the DIY Film Fest have seen a number of folks pursue this avenue, and while it's no guarantee of profitability for your film, it does grant a certain amount of satisfaction in a world where there's little of it in artistic pursuits.

an indie filmmaker's dream actor

We at the DIY Film Fest believe in do it yourself filmmaking, do it yourself publishing, do it yourself music - doing what you feel comes natural and then getting it out there for others to appreciate.  Your audience will find you if you let them.

Finish your film in the best way that you can, screen it for friends so that you can experience what they experience when viewing it. "Kill all your darlings" meaning edit the film until its not just good but really good.  And you feel it can't be edited any longer.  Add some great music, there are many bands that will let you use their music on your film in return for credit or future compensation ("if the film is sold to a distributor, you will be paid as per BMI or ASCAP rules) or look for some great classical music that is inexpensive to license.  Music can make or break your film.  You've already paid attention to the visuals, to the sound and dialog, make sure the music moves your audience as well.

Then figure out where you want to show your film.  If its itunes, you need an aggregator.  They cost money, unless you find one like Ted Hope's new KinoNation, which if they take on your film, don't charge to sell it through to the various VOD sites.  You can save thousands using their service - otherwise you need to hire one of those listed in the link to get onto Itunes.

There's also Amazon, which is one of the most visited sites per day in the world.  The way to get your film onto Amazon is to use their createspace.com service - they have templates and easy instructions on how to send a DVD of your finished film, as well as help you to build your artwork.  You can do all of it for free if you want to. The only caveat is that if you purchase an ISBN yourself, if you resell the film to another entity, you continue to use your own title, if you use their ISBN then you have to rename the film for an alternate sale. Once they have the DVD they stream it live - all funds go monthly into your account.

What happens to those who steal films via Torrent

Yes, there's a problem if someone uploads your film to Torrent.  But if you've made a good film, and give people the option on your website to pay for it - even a paypal donut that says "if you've seen my film and not paid for it, please donate something."  But see pic to the left as to what happens to those who don't.

But that aside, you set the price, and then Amazon takes their cut.  It's around 55% to your 45% - but considerably better than a studio percentage.  Once you have the film packaged and online, then the next most important way to reach your audience is marketing and publicity.  Can you do that yourself?  Sure, if you have the time and inclination and imagination.  Many folks hire a publicist, or hire a marketing consultant - it's something you can find online.  There's also the PayPal way to go - once you have a paypal account, you can purchase a Merchant Services option which allows you to build their code onto your website.

You do have a website for your film,don't you?  If not, build one for free - get a gmail account, then use their very simple blogger software - build your site, then add HTML or links to purchase your film on your site - either via amazon, itunes, or paypal - where you can design in the paypal merchant button a link that takes your audience to another site to download your film.  You're only limited by your imagination.

Remember not to sign away any of the rights to your film without really understanding what the contract says.  There are some people who agree to represent your film, then take a huge percentage of your profit, and you'll never see a dime.  They've resold your film to another aggregator, and getting money from that sale is next to impossible.  If you can sell it yourself, then you're ahead of the game. (Can anyone say attorney?)

The most recent success story in that regard is Louis CK's wildly successful one man show.  He did a show at the Beacon in NY, paid for it himself (around $200K) and then put the film out on his website for $5.  The web protocol he used was the Amazon Cloud - with payments going direct to his PayPal account - so that once it resides in the cloud, he gets charged a nominal fee for every download.  In 30 days, he'd made a million dollars with his film - the first month alone!

Louis CD's PayPal page showing his million dollars in sales in one
month!  Can't make money with your film unless you get it out there.

Of course he's got a built in audience, he's got fans, he's got a good show that everyone wants to see - but he made it simple for them to find it, he did it himself.  At the moment, it's the DIY story of the year.  And why would filmmakers waste their time with theaters when they know full well that a theater is not going to show their off beat, particular film?  Why not bypass all that and just offer it directly to the audience?





So that's it for now from the DIY Film Fest.  We believe in Cocteau's observation that "when the cost of filmmaking is as much as a pencil and a piece of paper, then we'll find true art."  That time is now.

Never too late for schmoozing!

It's one thing to make a film.

It's another thing to get it out into the world.  What's the answer?

Schmoozing is good.  Sometimes it's getting your film into festivals that have high schmoozing factor.  Like Cannes and Toronto - or Sundance - but that requires plane trips and hotels (although Park City is more DIY than the others).

There's another way to schmooze - and that's online.  Build a website at Facebook for your film, get your film a twitter account, and very important to build a blog so anyone who searches for the name of your film can find it easily, and not just at IMDB.com - that's important too - but if you're going to market and sell your film at some point, it's important to make it easy for people to find it.

Blogger offers an easy solution if you have a gmail account.  There are a million other ways to promote and sell your film, and the first and best way to do that is find a film you like, check out the website, see how it's built, and either hire someone to do the same for you, or figure out how to do it for yourself.  After all, we are about DOING IT YOURSELF here at the DIY Film Fest.


And in light of this profound information, I submit there are a few other things you can do, if you have enough money saved over from production to promote and distribute your film.  And that is CreateSpace.com - it's owned by Amazon.com, it's simple to build a page and submit your film, and once the DVD is submitted, the film goes live through Amazon - streaming, downloading, etc - and the account you've set up at CreateSpace pays you monthly.

But one final step might be to join an organization that has a proven record of helping filmmakers - it's Film Independent.  It's based in LA, they hold the Spirit Awards every year, but its a way for completely independent filmmakers to reach out and contact other filmmakers. Their deadlines are in Sept to submit films, but they have forums and workshops where you can learn more about distribution and sales.  There are conferences held at AFM every year - but the ones held through Film Independent are more often than that.  And they cover all disciplines, from shorts to features, from documentaries to animation to fiction films.  So if you have the extra cash lying around, it's something to look into - basic memberships are under $100, but the schmooze factor can be high if you get your film accepted into their festival, or just attend some of their events.  Good luck!!