"Official" "I've been rejected by Sundance" thread.

[Stephen Pruitt]

9800 film submitted this year. 200 accepted.

"Works in Progress" will not be one of them.

Stephen

[MikeHedge]

wow so you got a rejection email? that means that everyone who is in should know. have they announced the official list yet?

[Jeremy Torrie]

It doesn't work like that exactly...I got the call two years ago 10 minutes before they announced their lineup. We were very, very close and probably one of the last calls made. But, that doesn't count for much.

[Petr Dvorak]

9800 film submitted this year. 200 accepted.



he he thats craaaazy

[Noah Kadner]

Been rejected several times over the years, now I just save the entrance fees for lunch money and show stuff on Youtube! :)

Noah

[Jaime Vallés]

Don't sweat it, Stephen. There's plenty of good, high-profile film festivals out there. I'm confident "Works in Progress" will make a big splash once it's out in the public eye.

[Brandon Kraemer]

Don't sweat it, Stephen. There's plenty of good, high-profile film festivals out there. I'm confident "Works in Progress" will make a big splash once it's out in the public eye.

True Jamie. While there are still some gems that come out of Sundance, it has long lost it's way as an "independent" film festival. There are all kinds of politics that play a role in what is and isn't selected, and there are a fair amount of films there which already have studio backing via small off-shoot arms of bigger studios. It's also become heavily merchandised/commercialized, catering to the luxury class, which goes against the grain of what an independent film is really about.

While entrance fees have to be taken into consideration... there are LOTS of film festivals around the country. Austin City Limits, Chicago International, Montreal, are a few of the other more notable ones, but most metro areas have some kind of festival (i.e. Santa Fe, Louisville, Baltimore, etc...) and they are staggered through out the year.

If I had a film to get out there, I would take a two pronged approach. Follow Noah's advice about viral release, and submit to a geographically diverse portfolio of festivals, doing some research to see what kind of angle different festivals have of their own, and submitting to the ones that match your subject and target demographic. I would likely pass on Sundance.

Just my .02.

[KETCH ROSSi]

9800 film submitted this year. 200 accepted.

"Works in Progress" will not be one of them.

Stephen

Stephen, I could care less for festivals such as Sundance, even so they are a great form of advertisement and meeting people while partying and possibly make some great connections, they are NOT the only source to get your material out there, so push on and best of luck to you my friend.

[Gavin Greenwalt]

If I had a film to get out there, I would take a two pronged approach. Follow Noah's advice about viral release, and submit to a geographically diverse portfolio of festivals, doing some research to see what kind of angle different festivals have of their own, and submitting to the ones that match your subject and target demographic. I would likely pass on Sundance.

Just my .02.

Careful some festivals consider you tube etc as distribution and won't pick it up.

[Brandon Kraemer]

Careful some festivals consider you tube etc as distribution and won't pick it up.

Good point Gavin... pure speculation on my part that you could do both.

[Ben Rojas]

rejected last year :mad2: ... let's see what happens this year. www.jarringmovie.com

[Stephen Pruitt]

Well. . . did you make it?

Did any RED features make it?

The word on the street was that Sundance went for very serious, depressing films this year. Apparently there were a few comedy-oriented features last year, and they dubbed it "the year of hope." This year, with a totally depressing line-up, they are calling it the "year of mope." Since we submitted a poignant romantic comedy, I don't feel so bad.

Actually, I do have the final numbers for 2009, taken from "The Reel Truth": In 2009, 3,661 features films were submitted for 120 slots. Only 12 of those were picked up for theatrical distribution."

But it's worse than that this year. That's right! This year, Sundance accepted only 16 U.S. narrative features out of the 1068 submitted.

Amazing.

Stephen

[Jon B.]

But it's worse than that this year. That's right! This year, Sundance accepted only 16 U.S. narrative features out of the 1068 submitted.

Amazing.

Stephen

Wow!

Tried Sundance lab this year to no avail... decided to get a RED and shoot without their permission. :hurray:

...still got a lot to learn.

Anyway, waiting until I can see 'White Lightnin' again, 09 after hours program.

Thanks for posting the numbers. Hope RED gets in there.

[jake blackstone]

I'd recently finished grading a 28 minutes short. Lo and behold on Friday I was informed by the director, that it got accepted into Sundance. It's a dramedy, shot on Viper... I know, it's not a feature, but still... We're all very pleased.

[Roberto B]

Careful some festivals consider you tube etc as distribution and won't pick it up.count on it.. i did never realize why people bother to be happy w/ such cheap form of distribution.. side by side the ripoffs or silly Charlotte web series :huh:

[Roberto B]

The word on the street was that Sundance went for very serious, depressing films this year. Apparently there were a few comedy-oriented features last year, and they dubbed it "the year of hope." This year, with a totally depressing line-up, they are calling it the "year of mope." Since we submitted a poignant romantic comedy, I don't feel so bad.
very likely

[Roberto B]

But it's worse than that this year. That's right! This year, Sundance accepted only 16 U.S. narrative features out of the 1068 submitted.

Amazing.

Stephenyou know the world cinema is growing up thanks to the digital redvolution.. ooops.. revolution

[Danish P.V.]

Who gives a f... - most of the films that are accepted at sundance never make back a single dime. I know, it`s about the presence and advertisement - but then there are numerous other, way better ways.

[Stephen Pruitt]

Super congrats, Jake! It's more competitive for shorts than it is for features!

Stephen

[Rick Presas]

SlamDance
SXSW
Austin City Limits
Austin Film Festival
Tribecca
Toronto


If Sundance or Cannes didnt give it to you, those are all also high profile festivals. Give 'em a shot.

I can't wait til next year when Sundance rejects MY feature! :)

[Jeremy Neish]

Film festivals aren't all they are cracked up to be in my opinion. Our film was only admitted into a few minor festivals, yet we managed to do something few Sundance films do... turn a huge profit. Our movie cost about $30,000 to make and we've sold almost 32,000 DVDs at a profit of about $10 each. Do the math. Plus, our target audience loved it, it has a nearly perfect 5 star rating on Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/Done-Impossible-Fans-Firefly-Serenity/dp/B000IJFJDG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1259876836&sr=8-1).

For those that are curious our movie was a documentary about Firefly & Serenity called Done The Impossible. ( www.donetheimpossible.com (http://www.donetheimpossible.com) ). And we'll be releasing the Blu-ray version sometime in 2010.

[Stephen Pruitt]

If we can't get distribution, we will definitely be going that route. We KNOW we've got a very good film. Audiences really like it. The question is, will the festivals.

I'll probably have to start my own "Official" "Slamdance rejection thread" in a few weeks.

:-)

Stephen

[David Collard]

try SLAMDANCE.
Apparently it runs at the exact same time.

[Noah Kadner]

Yeah I personally think the lock that film festivals like Sundance/Telluride/Toronto/Slamdance had on indie audiences in the '90s no longer really applies. (Although their marketing teams are trying their hardest to convince filmmakers otherwise.) You can easily four wall a film in most cities if you want to show in front of an audience.

And the big bounce that a film supposedly gets from showing at Sundance- that happens for maybe 5 movies a year. The rest will never be seen in a theater outside of the festival circuit. And nowadays there are so many self-distribution options from viral to youtube/vimeo to Amazon Unbox etc. There's really nothing stopping you from getting your work out there. Kudos to folks like Jeremy btw- that's brilliant.

Now if it's making a sale of your movie and getting theatrical distribution you're after, well that's as much of a long shot than ever. For every success like Paranormal Activity there are tens of thousands of features that never get any sort of distribution. Bottom line- this stuff is not for the faint of heart. The best way to get a movie distributed is write a kickass script and sell it to a film studio. Course that aint' easy either...

Noah

[jake blackstone]

Super congrats, Jake! It's more competitive for shorts than it is for features!

Stephen

Thanks Stephen. It was rewarding experience to be a contributor to a great film. Having it ended up at Sundance was a little unexpected, but welcomed benefit.

[Neil W. Smith]

... of the sixteen finalist in the Dramatic Section at Sundance Film Festival '10.

We had the pleasure today of meeting the Director and Producer of one of the 16 finalists in the Dramatic Section .... will screen their movie next week.

And yes .... it was shot on you know what ....

RED continues to change the dramatic landscape .... first RED/ProRes4444 into Toronto FF and now another into Sundance.

Visual story telling is pure art ... either you get it, or you don't .... either you care or you don't ... either way, you want to win or you don't.

Visuals, music and story .... what else is there??? .... err yes, even an ex-Brit knows that there's more to life than mere movie making .... and that is se ... nd an email to RAWworks .... we're going to sponsor the Can-Do Film Festival .... either you can or you can't .... either you're on the wave or you're on on the shore ... life is never long only short .... make every frame count.

Neil

[jake blackstone]

OK, it's official and I can finally reveal the short movie, that I was lucky enough to grade. "Successful Alcoholics" is one out of 18 in the category of US Dramatic Shorts in 2010 Sundance. The trailer is up, so hope you like it...

The trailer is here:
http://vimeo.com/7141146
And the list of selected movies is here:
http://www.indiewire.com/article/sundance_announces_short_film_program/

[Zack Birlew]

Sent in my three short films shot on the Nikon D90, none of them made it in. :frown5: Hoping Slamdance is a second chance.

If not, then there are a bunch of other film festivals I've entered for next year. Based on what I've been hearing and reading, Sundance is really not the hippest film festival anymore.

[Jeremy Torrie]

Any Red Heads going? I'm arriving Saturday (23rd) for a week. It's a great time, but for me I always love to talk shop about Red.

[John Brawley]

Well. . . did you make it?

Did any RED features make it?


But it's worse than that this year. That's right! This year, Sundance accepted only 16 U.S. narrative features out of the 1068 submitted.

Amazing.

Stephen

I shot a Feature that is screening at Sundance using mostly RED. The Perfect Host will have it's world premiere tomorrow night. I shot it in LA late last year and was pretty excited to get it in. I also have a short shot using the Si2K @ slamdance as well, using a homebrew anamorphic rig if anyone's interested.

Anyone going to be there ? Drop me a line !

jb

(currently at Sundance / LA)

[John Dobbs]

Adult videos is where its at if you want to make good money. Adult Videos pay the bills so you can work on the artistic stuff on the side.

[Rick Presas]

Yeah. I sometimes wish i had no morals or artistic integrity to get in the way of making serious cash in Adult.

[Andrew Wilding]

My short Piano Man is an OFFICIAL REJECTION of the Sundance, Slamdance, Santa Barabara, and Cine Quest film festivals!

http://vimeo.com/5572232

0 for four so far, but I've applied to a couple others so well see. Big thanks to the 15 thousand or so of you that have watched so far - much appreciated.

[Omar Saad]

My short Piano Man is an OFFICIAL REJECTION of the Sundance, Slamdance, Santa Barabara, and Cine Quest film festivals!

http://vimeo.com/5572232

0 for four so far, but I've applied to a couple others so well see. Big thanks to the 15 thousand or so of you that have watched so far - much appreciated.

Andrew, I just watched the short. Excellent work! I love the camera work in throughout and the set design in the home. Don't worry about not getting into those festivals. Keep pushing forward... you clearly have a good eye and storytelling abilities. Can't wait to see what you do next.

Best,

Omar

[Andrew Wilding]

Thanks Omar - its easy to get a bit down when the rejections start to pile in the inbox - It helps me remain philosophical to know that people out there enjoy my work!

Thanks

Andrew