John Q. Phats Entertainment

Submitting Short Films to Film Festivals

Carl — Tue, 03 Apr 2012 04:18:48 +0000

Being a film maker, I’ve gone the festival route several times. I’ve had several films show at film festivals and for a short time was a programmer for the United Film Festivals. The United Film Festival featured films from around the world that showed at several locations around the world. Being a programmer, meant viewing films and giving my opinion on them to determine if they should show in the festival or not. So, you could say, I’ve seen both sides of the process. I’m going to talk about the how to and the do’s and don’ts of submitting a short film to a film festival.

Obviously, you’ll need a short film. Preferably one that you’ve made or at least had some part in making. You could steal one, but that’s a different article all together. When putting your short film together, please cut out ALL intro credits, unless they are somehow blended in to the story. The people viewing your short film don’t care what you named your film making company and they don’t care who’s in it. Feel free to put that information at the end of the short film, but long intros just aggravate programmers. Furthermore DVD menus are a waste of time as well. Programmers don’t care how awesome your DVD menu is. They usually have 30-50 short films to view that day and your DVD menu is just getting in the way. Your short film should be DVD ready when you send it out. The goal is for the programmer to be able to put the DVD in to a DVD player and have it play with as little hassle as possible. A .mov or .mpeg burned on to a DVD isn’t going to work.

I’m not going to tell you how long your short film should be. It should be however long you want it to be, it’s your film after all. But I will say that I’ve had the most luck of getting in to festivals with short films that are 3-5 minutes long. It’s not so much that 3-5 minutes is the optimal time to tell a story, it just comes down to a simple numbers game. Five good films that are 3 minutes long will be selected over one great film that’s 15 minutes long. Five good films can appeal to a broader audience then one film can. It’s just how it is. Someone once told me that if you make a short film over 8 minutes, it had better be brilliant if you want it to show in festivals. One final thing before I move on. When submitting a short film to a festival, make sure your film isn’t available for viewing online. A lot of film festivals won’t accept films that have been online at any time. Why would people pay to go to their festival to see your short film, when they can see if for free online?

Now that you’ve got your completed short film with no DVD menus it’s time to start sending it out. You could go to Google and type “submit to film festival” but you’re better off signing up for a Withoutabox film maker account. It’s free and makes the submission process as simple as possible. It really is an amazing tool for film makers. I’ll leave the Withoutabox tutorial to the Withoutabox website. If you do things the old fashioned way, like me, you’ll be mailing a DVD to the film festival you’ve decided to submit to. They will provide you with a tracking number and address of where to send the DVD. I would recommend investing in a DVD labeling system. I use the Neato CD Label Applicator along with Neato Labels. The applicator is $5.00 and the labels run about $20.00 for 100 labels. Of course there are much more high tech options, but this works. Don’t use a black magic marker. It’s often hard to read and it doesn’t look good. When printing your label, include the title, total run time of the film (with credits), your name, and the tracking number provided to you when you completed the registration process. Include any other information that the film festival requests. The tracking number is extremely important, be sure it’s readable. You can have fun with DVD art. Feel free to put the name of your production company here. Be creative, anything that makes the DVD stand out is a good thing. Just be sure, all of the information about the film is readable. This is optional, but on the jewel case, I used to add another label with all of the information about the film. It’s not necessary, but putting that information in several locations isn’t a bad thing. I used to hate when I had to search for a tracking number on a DVD when I was a programmer. So, the more places the better. I also used to put the tracking number on the return address label under my name. I used to use whatever interesting stamps I could get at the post office. For awhile, I used the Simpsons stamps. Anything that can make anyone look twice at your submission is a good thing. The stamps were a long shot, in fact I doubt anyone ever looked twice at them, but the cost for stamps was the same either way, so I figured why not? One final thing for this section, DO NOT use an address label to label your DVD. While this seems like an ultra cheap alternative, it won’t work. The label throws the DVD off balance and may cause it to not play in certain DVD players. Use a a CD or DVD label. You can’t get accepted to film festivals if they can’t get your DVD to play.

Now that your package is all ready, that’s it mail it out. I used to send out my films to 10 festivals, just to kind of test the waters. If I got accepted to 3 or more, I sent out more. If I got rejected by all of them, I moved on to my next project. Festivals charge a submission fee. The fee ranges from $5 – $150. It seems like the standard fee is $45. You’ll be asked to pay this when you register your film. The cost is the same through Withoutabox as it is going through the Film Festivals website. You’re going to get rejection letters. Don’t take it personally. Film is very subjective, getting a rejection letter doesn’t mean you made a bad film. If you made the film you wanted to make, then it’s a good film, no matter how many rejection letters you get. So don’t be afraid of rejections. I promise you, it’s nothing personal.

Copyrighting a Script

Carl — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 04:09:35 +0000

You always hear about copyrighting here and there, but the thought of actually getting something copyrighted can be a bit intimidating. Of course there is the poor mans copyright of mailing a hard copy of a script to yourself via USPS. Would that really hold up in court though? I don’t know. What I do know is that getting a script copyrighted isn’t that difficult or complicated. Using https://eco.copyright.gov/ you can submit your work and get the review process started in roughly 20 minutes. Go to the site, register for an account and follow the super easy steps. It’s literally that simple and it only costs $35. They even accept PDF’s. I’m not going to go through this step by step. That would be demeaning to both you and me. I know what you’re thinking: “a government service that isn’t insanely tedious and complicated? Impossible.” But, I just completed the application and I’m pretty sure I did everything right. I’ll let you all know when it goes through. I have yet to look in to WGA protection, but there is an option in Final Draft so I can’t imagine it would be that complicated. I’ve read that getting both is essential when shopping a script. I’ll have to give that a shot tomorrow. Look at me, submitting scripts to be copyrighted and protected, shit just got real.

Profanity Report- On My New Script

Carl — Tue, 25 Oct 2011 05:26:59 +0000

Among the various tools in Final Draft are several reports that can be ran and printed out. Most are rather useful to get a feel for which characters are getting the most attention in the script or where most of the script takes place. One however looks like it was just added purely for my amusement. The profanity report. That’s right, a report not only detailing the occurrences of profanity, but on what page in the script they are on, and which character speaks them. The following is a list of the profanity used in my script and how many occurrences of it there are:
“Ass” (10 occurrences)
“Asshole” (5 occurrences)
“Bitch” (9 occurrences)
“Bullshit” (3 occurrences)
“Cock” (4 occurrences)- All spoken by one character.
“Damn” (12 occurrences)
“Dick” (21 occurrences)
“Fuck” (54 occurrences)
“Fucked” (4 occurrences)
“Fucker” (9 occurrences)
“Fucking” (24 occurrences)
“Piss” (1 occurrences)
“Pissed” (1 occurrences)
“Pussy” (8 occurrences)
“Shit” (29 occurrences)
“Tits” (1 occurrences)

I’m a little disappointed by the low occurrences of “shit” and “Bitch.” However, I am proud of myself for including a “tits.” Plus, I think 54 occurrences of “fuck” is something to be proud of. I mean 54 in a two hour span is one fuck every 2.22 minutes. Go me.

We really should be drug addicts…

Carl — Wed, 05 Oct 2011 05:26:55 +0000

I tried something a bit different tonight. I’ve done a video blog. I’ve often scoffed at video blogs, but holy hell, it’s much harder then it looks. Most of the video the bottom portion of my face is cut off. Actually it was a style choice. That’s a lie. I’m just a shitty camera man and was too cheap and lazy to set up a tripod. I promised content, not good content. So, here it is, my video blog premier.

JQP Entertainment Video Blog- 10/4/2011 #1
Please note that if you want to check the video out tonight, Vimeo may still be converting it.

Wait 20 minutes and check back later. If 20 minutes later it’s still not available, read this line of the blog again.

Lesson Learned: Just Let it Go.

Carl — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 04:05:12 +0000

Recently, I’ve been writing a movie script. That’s actually one of the reasons I haven’t been posting. It was kind of exciting because someone from some big time movie studio got a hold of it and actually read it. Although not that exciting. Allow me to explain. In my experience, leads like this never really pan out. First off, it could be anybody at the studio. It could be the janitor or someone in billing who is in just as good of a position as you are to actually get your movie made. Second of all, big deal, doesn’t mean your script is any good. I’ll read anything you put in front of me if I’m bored enough. Third of all, if they are someone whose capable of doing something with your script, it’s still a thousand to one. You’re an unknown writer with no background. They are either desperate or bored.
Enough of that happiness. They did actually read it and they were someone in a good position. Their words of advice: It’s too long and the funny parts aren’t that funny. Ouch. But not really. They were right. So, I started editing, which turned in to nitpicking to a degree that was unhealthy. I’m not exaggerating, I’ve read this script at least 400 times. So, this is it. I’m done editing it. I sent it off to some friends and told them that this is the furthest I can take it. Any other edits have to come from discussions or pointers from them. I’m not editing this thing any more. It does free me up for a project though. While I have other movie script ideas, I’m going to do a short film. And since I’ve neglected my website so much recently, it will be something for my website.
In closing, lesson learned. Sometimes you just have to walk away from a script. Especially if you’re as OCD as me.

F***

Carl — Fri, 20 May 2011 04:23:25 +0000

You may have noticed a lack of posting lately. I apologize, but I’ve been working on a movie script. You can understand when the options are work on some new material or bs about old material. I’ve been spending 3+ hours a night working on this script. Lots of late nights and lots of rough days that followed because of those late nights. I do still have a day job that pays the bills. I finished a first draft last week and have been working on nothing but revisions since then. I have read this script at least 50 times. I read it, probably 4-5 times a day. It’s getting to the point where I am tempted skip pages because I have memorized them. So, I’m taking a break tonight and getting a fresh look at it tomorrow. Although, it’s hard not to think about it. Even when I’m not working on it, I’m thinking about what I can change. Give me a minute without any mental stimulation and my mind will wonder to the script. I’m not complaining, it’s actually kind of exciting. My editing sessions are getting shorter and shorter which means I’m getting closer to a final draft. I’ve written movie scripts before, but I’ve never really tinkered with them to the point where I have a final draft that I’m comfortable with.
I think the funniest thing about my edits is that I actually had to have a night where I went through and filtered out about 90% the “fucks” and variations of it. I don’t know what it is, but when I write, I tend to over use the word “fuck” to an insane degree. I’m totally fine with using it in a script but I think it has to have some sort of build up. Like you have to justify using it, instead of throwing it in there randomly as a word filler. I also tend to over use phrases in scenes. I don’t know if my brain just gets stuck on it or what, but there was a scene where I wrote “God job, bud” like 9 times from 5 different characters. I’ll try to write here more often, or maybe I’ll try to get Steven writing. I don’t know, but something is going to happen.

About 3 Years Late

Carl — Thu, 03 Mar 2011 03:50:08 +0000

I know I should be talking about the Academy Awards or something recent. But the fact is, the awards were really predictable. All the people everyone thought were going to win, won. There’s not really much to talk about. Instead, I would like to talk about Lost. I know, I’m about 3 years late but I just got around to watching the final season on DVD. I’m a big fan of Lost. The show changed a lot of people’s opinions about it throughout it’s life time. It seemed like everyone watched season 1 and was on board. I would say people started to get pissed around season 4. They were impatient for answers. The only problem with that is that when Lost answered a question it created on average 4 more questions. Here’s an example. In the first season there was some sort of big monster crashing through the island and killing people.
The question:
“What’s the big monster crashing through the jungle?”
The answer:
“It’s a big pillar of smOKe that clicks and creeks and has lightning shooting off of it!”
Which brought about the questions:
“Why is there a big pillar of smoke on the island?”
“What is it?”
“Why is it killing people?”
“How did it get there?”
This went on for six season. With each answer bringing 4+ questions with it. I think the fourth season was a lot of people’s breaking point. I’m not the type of person that needs answers. I don’t know, maybe I’m an ignorant simpleton. I just enjoy the ride while it’s happening. I made it through the sixth season and I’m content with the ending. Of course it only brought more questions and I’m OK with that. Were they dead the entire time? I don’t know and who really gives a shit? They’re all imaginary anyway. Whatever, it was a good story.

My Uneducated and Ignorant Top 5 Movies of 2010

Carl — Tue, 04 Jan 2011 05:32:34 +0000

I’m still getting this list writing thing out of my system. So stay with me here. I would say overall, 2010 was a good year for movies. We’ve seen everything from horrible to amazing. It was a good year for an industry that’s always pushing artistic and technological boundries. Shit, looking at the list of movies made in 2010, I haven’t really seen much. So, here is my biased and ignorant top 5 choices for 2010.
5. The Book of Eli
Say what you will about it, but this movie had style. And it was it’s own style. Something becoming rarer as the Hollywood formula for making a successful movie becomes more and more prevelant in cinema. It’s good to see a movie that’s sort of out there and does it’s own thing. I loved the art direction and cinematography in this film. Plus, Denzel Washington proved yet again that he’s a bad mother.
4. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows- Part 1
I think this is pretty obvious. Not only does the Harry Potter series do quite a few things very well, but it also manages to do absolutely nothing wrong. Every aspect of this movie is at least good.
3. 127 Hours
This is a rough movie to watch. Especially because you know what the end result is going to be. Very few movies have made me think of ways that I could stop seeing the imagry in front of me. Of course, I watched every gruesome bit, but the thought of “I could walk out of the theater right now” did cross my mind. This isn’t what makes 127 Hours such a great film though. It tells an interesting story all in one central location. This was a test of acting prowes and James Franco knocked it out of the park.
2. Kick-Ass
Possibly the most purely entertaining movie I’ve seen in the past 5 years. I laughed a lot in this movie and yet I was still interested in the story. It was funny at the right times and serious at the right times.
1. Inception
A lot of people complained that they had a hard time following Inception. I didn’t really have an issue with it. Which I was surprised about, because the storyline was pretty intense. Taking a concept that complex and making it understandable to people like me is just good film making. This movie was brilliant. Plain and simple. Christopher Nolan has an uncanny ability to make a movie appealing to both critics and the general public. A great skill to have if you want to win awards and make a shit load of money.
There you have it. I haven’t seen a lot of movies that probably should have been on this list. But, out of all the movies I did see, these were my top five.

Working Backwards

Carl — Thu, 30 Dec 2010 06:25:05 +0000

Lately, I’ve been attempting to write a trailer. Which I thought would be easy, but is actually turning out to be really difficult. I can’t help but shake the feeling that I’m working in the wrong direction. I’m so stumped that I’m seriously considering writing a full script and then trying to just pick parts to make up a trailer. I suppose it’s not so bad. I’ve actually written two trailer scripts. They only problem is, they kind of suck. How do they even make trailers? Are there scripts for them or do they just give a cut of the movie to an editor and tell him to make a trailer? Well, I’m going to find out.
So apparently there is an actual title for it. They are called Trailer Editors. Sounds like something a redneck would do. They spend hours at an editing bay and have access to orchestras and all kinds of other shit that made this project seem that much more difficult. O well, that never stopped me before. Of course some of our methods are questionable. But we get the job done. Here’s 10 awesome examples, because I’m in a list mood.
Example 1:
“Bad news, we forgot the boom pole.”
“…….Hand me that broom stick and get me some duct tape.”
Example 2:
“Crap! I forgot the food. Call Austin, tell him I’ll list him as a producer for a tray of sandwiches.”
Example 3:
“Ha! Who needs a dolly? We found this rolling chair in the alley.”
Example 4:
“OK, for this shot, I’m going to throw you the camera. DO NOT DROP IT.”
Example 5:
“OK, the camera rig that we built is bolted above your bed.”
“Is that safe?”
“I wouldn’t sleep under it.”
Example 6:
“Good catch. You’re now my script supervisor…… Of course you’re still the lead actress, and now you’re my script supervisor too.”
Example 7:
“Can we somehow attach the camera to the car?”
“Not safely.”
“But we can do it, right?”
Example 8:
“Alright everyone, I don’t want to alarm you, but I have an actor who’s going to take his pants off. It’s no big deal, he’s wearing underwear. Just go back to drinking your coffee and we’ll be out of here in no time.”
Example 9:
“I’m thinking I might steal that guys camera. I’m not sure yet, but I’m leaning towards yes. I’m pretty sure I can out run him.”
Example 10:
“What’s your budget?”
“…. I got like 11 bucks.”

One of these is not true. Can you guess which one? God, I can’t tell if this is pathetic or epic that only one of those isn’t true. First person to guess which one isn’t real gets a short script written about them as a super hero which I will post on my website.

3d Will Probably Fail

Carl — Mon, 20 Dec 2010 06:33:54 +0000

I went to see Tron 2.0 last night in 3d. I was entertained. But not really by the 3d effect. In fact, I would have preferred to see it without. It’s not that I’m an old fashioned film buff and I think all cinema should be projected on a shitty projector and seen through film stock that looks like it’s been dragged through the dirt for 4 miles. I suppose my biggest complaint with 3d is that it makes my eyes hurt and it gives me a headache. Apparently this is a common issue. In fact I just read a review on a 3d television broadcast that said the camera angles chosen increased 3d associated headaches. Increased? So, they were there before and shitty camera work made them worse? Wow, sounds fun. Second of all it’s gimmicky. It’s blatantly obvious that sometimes it’s a producers attempt to cover up a story that’s lacking.
A shitty movie is a shitty movie. Putting it in 3d just makes it a shitty movie in 3d. We’re already seeing this phenomenon with the Green Hornet. I haven’t seen it yet, it could be great. But the fact that they pushed the movie back a month to make it available in 3d is already having people assuming that the movie is going to be a piece of shit. Third of all, those that can watch a 3d movie without getting a headache don’t really care if a movie is available in 3d or not. Nobody on the planet is going to not see a movie if it’s not offered in 3d. A good movie is a good movie. Putting it in 3d doesn’t make it any better then it already is. Finally, 3d is too soon. Sorry TV companies, but you just got most of the population to commit to HD Television. I also get the sense that because it’s a gimmick a lot of film makers and directors would prefer not to shoot a movie in 3d. Which is only going to get worse as long as Hollywood keeps using it as a patch job for horrible films.
When HD first came out the entire population didn’t go nuts for it. It took awhile for it to catch on. But when it did come out, nobody hated it and it certainly didn’t give anybody headaches. There were people who claimed they couldn’t see a difference between HD and standard def. But they didn’t mind if HD was what they were watching. On the production side, I didn’t really hear any complaints. I certainly didn’t see HD as an attempt to fix a bad movie or television show.
So, what’s going to happen with 3d? I think movie and TV companies will fuck around with it for another 3-4 years. At which point they will realize where we are currently is about as much acceptance for 3d you’ll get out of the world. And the only real profitable implementation of it is on gimmicky films like Piranha 3d. Because that’s what 3d is, a gimmick. That’s all it ever was and that’s all it ever will be.