Film festivals left right and center have been closing their doors in the wake of the Coronavirus. CPH:DOX has moved its entire edition online, while SXSW has shuttered, letting go of 33% of their staff. Meeting Point at Vilnius Film Festival and ZagrebDox in Croatia have also been cancelled.
While nothing compared to the strain on global healthcare services worldwide thanks to this deadly disease, it threatens to decimate the value chain upon which independent filmmaking is based. This is a difficult moment for the film industry as a whole – as seen by major releases being postponed until the autumn – yet while major studios, backed by billions of dollars, should be able to find novel workarounds to make sure that they remain in business, this can be lethal to the precarious nature of festivals, which rely on a good year to remain in business. Cannes are feeling particularly testy, as their insurance plan doesn’t cover the event of a pandemic.
One solution, proposed by good people across the internet and actually being implemented by a few festivals, is to move to digital only platforms. Stage 32 have told filmmakers who were selected for SXSW that they can screen their films online. Additionally, CPH: DOX is still technically going on, with organizers making “an online program available for a local audience”. But while these measures could be argued as a necessary stopgap during a season of crisis, if it continues much longer than the virus itself, it could be largely harmful to the entire value chain of the film industry.
Firstly:
Films Should Be Seen in the Cinema
At huge festivals, like the Berlinale, where over 400 films play across the entire event, its impossible to see absolutely everything in the cinema. Sometimes, whether its to avoid a clash or simply to see as many films as possible, screeners are requested for personal consumption at home. Screeners are deeply important to festival culture, a vital resource for underfunded critics who want to take part in the film culture but cannot afford to fly across borders to see such films. For example, I have reviewed films from Toronto and Venice despite never actually going to Toronto or Venice.
Therefore while they serve a necessary purpose, they simply cannot replicate the experience of watching a movie in the cinema, surrounded by other journalists or members of the public also watching the film for the first time. The one big exemption for screeners at major festivals, unless you are from a huge publication, is in competition strands. In my six years of film writing, I have yet to be granted a screener for a main competition film at either Berlinale or Cannes (although they were more lenient at Karlovy Vary). I can’t complain – these films are meant to be seen on the big screen, otherwise they may as well just play for television.
A Film That Tanks Digitally Will Have a Harder Time Being a Success
To outsiders, having a film play in a major film festival looks like a major success in and of itself. Nonetheless, it means nothing if no one turns up to see it. Many a film can play in a festival without receiving any coverage whatsoever, which ultimately represents a lack of resources on behalf of the PR team.
If they even have a PR team, of course. For some independent filmmakers, especially in smaller festivals, they have to do the heavy lifting themselves, meeting journalists and members of the public and personally vouching for their film. If a first time filmmaker premieres their movie online instead, not only does it devalue the worthiness of the film, it reduces the likelihood of it even being seen. A potentially negative reception on top of that could prove lethal, especially to personal morale. It takes a huge amount of will to make a film, and only a few bad reactions to put a filmmaker off completely. It’s far better for a filmmaker to watch their work with a public audience in order to spiritually validate their efforts, especially when critical reception is less favourable.
The Film Industry Thrives Upon Personal Connections
The real money-maker from festivals can be found in the film markets, where producers make funding available and distributors find films to play in their respective countries. Just like all industries, there is no real substitute for personal connection.
This is also true for journalists. A large part of my film writing success can be found through making personal connections at festivals. Without going to parties, making friends and having film-related conversations over drinks, I wouldn’t have the variety of contacts I currently enjoy to lean on during a difficult time for publishing reviews, articles and interviews. It is an industry based upon 50% talent, 50% personal friendships – take away half of that equation and filmmakers, journalists and producers will have an even harder time moving up in the industry.
This Can’t Become the New Normal
Although hard to see in the current moment, there will come a time when it is safe to convene in large groups again. Yet film festivals, especially those running on limited, event-dependent funds, may find themselves pondering digital only events. This can’t become the norm. While there are a variety of well-curated digital platforms such as Short of the Week or even Mubi to help highlight independent cinema, their tireless, well thought-through efforts are no match for the streaming giants who are likely to benefit most from these changes.
Netflix purchase hundreds of films a year from film festivals that simply disappear into the ether. While some movies, such as Atlantics and Happy as Lazzaro, do make an impact regardless, too many films simply get buried underneath a stream of endless content. Programming, especially for a festival, is a difficult art that often requires years of film experience. So is PR. For films to make the best impact, they need a strong release strategy, which includes consideration of where to play, how to distribute and how to pick up coverage.
Digital releases – in a world over-saturated with online content – is almost a surefire way to devalue the magic of the festival experience, replacing the thrill of the new with simply another selection on a long online menu, competing with Spotify, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook for your full, uninterrupted attention. Here’s hoping that these current trends, coming under quite unique circumstances, are only a blip upon the festival industry as a whole.
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As a filmmaker of short films and low budget features, this article is extremely shortsighted. First off, how many films actually get picked up at festivals outside of the big ones? How many short filmmakers are approached by representatives? I had a short in SXSW and it was scheduled to screen at 2PM on a weekday. I’m happy to have the SXSW laurel and was thrilled to get in, but realistic about what was going to happen after my screening. Nothing.
I took Stage 32 up on their offer (I should add, I think what they are doing is brilliant) and entered my short film. Why wouldn’t I want to play for managers and agents? I need one. My hope is to turn my short into a feature. Why wouldn’t I want to play for producers and financiers? I could use help?
The author of this piece looks very young. I’ve been at this for 15 years and I’ve had features that made Tribeca and the Los Angeles Film Festival. I was told both times this was my big shot. I was going to have the films get picked up, distributed, the whole thing. I received glowing reviews, a laurel for my website and bragging rights. Then I watched my films drift into the ether, along with the personal savings I put into it. Not to mention all the travel dollars, meals, and more that goes into a fest run. I think when this writer has more years under his belt, he’ll understand where I’m coming from.
If I can have more options to get my work seen, sign me up. If Stage 32 wants to welcome me and other filmmakers to meet their executives, sign me up. If there’s other ways to get my films to the masses that gives me a chance to break, sign me up. If there are ways for me to save time, money and get more than 20 eyes on my work at once, most of them just people in town who want to go to a movie, sign me up.
I’m saying it shouldn’t replace festivals themselves. Obviously they’re a good platform to have and a decent solution for now, but once the panic is settled its important to keep the festival world itself in tact. Obviously it’s a graft, but you shouldn’t replace the cinema and personal connections with digital only screenings. That said, I’m not advocating for no online streaming at all because it can be a useful tool, especially on well-curated platforms.
I actually say in the piece “Many a film can play in a festival without receiving any coverage whatsoever” – I just also doubt having it on Stage32 will make a bigger impact than a festival play. Filmmaking and film writing can be very demoralising. Without personal connections and the audience experience, it should be even harder.
No one is saying festivals should go away. But most festivals have changed to the point where the only films they are taking are star filled and many have had deals in place before the festival even starts. Sundance this year had over 10 films, all with big names that had deals before it began. Other big buys were with name actors and done by the streamers for big dollars. Look at SXSW’s lineup this year compared to 10 years ago. It’s all stars now, all the time.
Where does that leave a smaller filmmaker with a feature with no big names? Or B list names? If they’re lucky enough it leaves them either leaving a major festival with no deal and having to make a shit deal – This happened to a great friend of mine with a feature in Toronto last year – or trying to find alternate ways to make a deal to the point where the content becomes “old” and nobody wants it. And let’s face it, if you play at a 2nd tier festival, the buyers aren’t there. Play a regional festival and you’re playing to the town.
I think you have to acknowledge that the dynamics have changed greatly. I’ll go back to the original point of my post, if you tell me I can play to a focused and concentrated audience of representatives (which, again, I need and have never had one approach me at a festival where my shorts have played) and buyers or sales agents on Stage 32 or another platform vs. playing once at a fest in an off hour against a film with big names that everyone is running to see, give me that focused and concentrated audience every time. More options are fantastic for filmmakers like me and for those of us not in the upper 1%.