Featuring commercial-free indpendent media from around the Southeast, IMAGE's 24th Annual Atlanta Film and Video Festival will be another crowd pleaser.
Every year, various venues up and down the Peachtree corridor play host to one of the oldest media traditions in Atlanta, the Atlanta Film and Video Festival. Over the past twenty-four years, the festival has afforded the city opportunities to see films that may have otherwise missed us, often drawing on the nation's top industry talent as it was emerging. The festival is a frenzied, fun filled week with parties, grand openings, and crowd pleasers such as the ever popular Animation Extravaganza.
While independent filmmaking becomes a big business and larger independent festivals become more focused on marketing and distribution, the Atlanta Film and Video Festival remains strident in it's commitment to provide an outlet for the independent media producer. The festival accepts submissions in all lengths and on all formats and is proud of its status as one of the few festivals that gives projects shot on video equal merit to those shot on film.
For many, film festivals are a gateway to the world of professional filmmaking. Well received projects generate a "buzz" for those who have produced them, earning their creators a calling card to use for funding future projects or establishing themselves as a major talent. For others the festivals are an opportunity to present messages not normally heard in mainstream media.
A Southern Experience
The Atlanta Film and Video Festival has grown tremendously over the past few years. 2,500 people attended the festival in 1995. By 1998 that number had grown to 6,500. Genevieve McGillicuddy, director of this year's Film and Video Festival maintains that festival's growth reflects the growing popularity of independent film in mainstream media. "Since Sex, Lies and Videotape broke out of Sundance in 1989, independent film has grown dramatically," McGillicuddy says. "I would say that 40 to 50% of the film festivals held last year were festivals that evolved or started after 1990."
Several factors have contributed to the growing number of festivals. Technology has advanced rapidly. Films that once cost hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars to produce can now be made for tens of thousands of dollars. Video has gained more acceptance as a visual arts medium, and distribution channels for programming have expanded to include alternative video rental stores (such as Videodrome and Movies Worth Seeing in Atlanta), cable television, and the internet. Websites like atomfilms.com and ifilm.com offer worldwide exposure, audience feedback and possible distribution deals all with the ease of a mouse click.
As the festival grows, members of Atlanta's film community have varying ideas about how it should evolve. Some would like to see larger crowds, some would like to see more distribution deals and others would like more appearances by major stars. Although it's perfectly natural to dream of expansion and growth, the Atlanta Film and Video Festival is proof that bigger isn't always better.
"I'm not sure the Atlanta Film and Video Festival would be improved if it were to move into the ‘major leagues,'" says local filmmaker Tim O'Donnell, who's film Man of Visions: A Story About Howard Finster and Paradise Gardens appeared at the festival in 1999. "Consider (what other festivals offer)" Tim says; "impossible ticket lines, impossible ticket prices, reservations made weeks or months in advance, fighting huge crowds for one of the few bad seats left because you weren't standing in line for an hour and (worst of all) instead of talking to friends after screenings, everybody brushes each other off and instantly reaches for their ever-present cell phone to schmooze."
"We're chiefly an audience driven festival," McGillicuddy says. "We're not in the market for distribution. We're not like Sundance, where diners and distribution are the norm. We don't even aggressively court distributors to attend the festival, although there are usually some here. Festivals like Sundance, Cannes, Toronto and the Independent Feature Film Market in New York already serve that role and provide that kind of entertainment."
"We seek original, independently produced work of any length, in all genres and on any format," McGillicuddy says. "We're dedicated to bringing in works that Atlanta audiences wouldn't normally see and we're dedicated to providing opportunities for the Southern filmmaker."
Although submissions in years past have come from as far away as Australia and Lebanon, the primary focus of the festival is the South and filmmakers from the South. Films are chosen to reflect the south as a region, and the festival's flagship award, The Southeastern Mediamaker's Award, is reserved for artists born in, educated in, or who produced work in Georgia or a neighboring state.
Picking the Participants
The Atlanta Film and Video festival receives an average of 600 submissions a year, of which 150 - 160 are chosen for presentation. About 35 of those chosen are feature length.
"We accept anything for submission as long as it's independently produced," says McGillicuddy, "so the quality varies. Certainly not all of them are appropriate, but some of them are." Films screened at the festival have ranged from multimillion-dollar productions to a VHS tape of a man sitting in front of the camera expounding on various topics. McGillicuddy likens the selection process to dipping into a grab bag. "It's a lot of fun," she says. "You never know what you're going to pull out."
The selection panel is made up of 20 - 25 people, comprised of local industry types from all backgrounds. "We have people who manage theaters, people who act, people who produce, film critics… anyone who's in the film industry but not directly involved with anything being submitted that year." Each panel member volunteers his or her time, screening submissions and making suggestions for the board's consideration. "It's quite a tenuous process," McGillicuddy contends, "often involving long hours of viewing and rather heated discussion. We narrow it down, but there's always at least 100 films I would like to have programmed but can't because we only have so many slots for screenings."
"Don't feel bad if you get rejected," says Traci Carroll, director of the short film Five O'Clock Shadow, which ran in the festival last year. "Most filmmakers I've talked to have been rejected from a number of festivals, even with films I thought would get in festivals bigger than the ones they were submitting for." When submitting a film, realize how much competition is out there. "There is so much being produced right now," Carroll says, "that most films just get a brief glance of three to five minutes from which the staff and/or screeners must decide whether to include or exclude a film from a festival."
Having been successful in the festival circuit with Five O'Clock Shadow, Carroll teaches Finishing Your Film (is Just the Beginning) at IMAGE. The class guides filmmakers through the process of finishing their films and getting their work into the festival circuit. "There are a lot of things people just don't think about until they've finished editing," Carroll says, "but once your film is done, and the copyright date appears at the end, the clock is ticking. Festivals want NEW stuff. If you aren't ready to roll the second your print is finished you could lose out on getting into a festival because it won't be eligible the following year."
The selection process can be tenuous, and it can be heartbreaking not to have your film chosen. That being said, you should never try to produce something with the tastes of a festival selection panel in mind. "Do your best work," O'Donnell says. "Don't do work because you think the festival organizerswill like it and choose your film. Put all your best ideas and talent on the screen. Then, whatever happens you have something you can whip out at parties and screenings for years to come and you can say, "hey… does anybody want to see my film?"
You Are What Your Audience Sees
Although there are a host of reasons to submit to a film festival, most people are in it for exposure. "Especially for short films," says Traci Carroll, "since they have slimmer distribution opportunities."
With exposure comes a plethora of opportunities to network. "The festival helps bond an otherwise fragmented community of film and video artists from the region with other presenting artists," says O'Donnell. "Who knows what can happen - scripts, collaborative projects… babies?" Carroll agrees. "This industry is all about who you know. You'd be really surprised who you can meet at a festival like this - and the kind of connections you might make."
The biggest (and most important) connection you'll be making at a festival will most likely be with your audience. A central tenet of film theory is that a movie is not complete until an audience has viewed it. In most cases, presenting work to an objective, unbiased audience is what offers the filmmaker the most room for growth. "When I showed my film Man of Visions about Howard, most of the 60 or so people attending had no idea who I was," says O'Donnell. "It's important to screen your work in front of an audience that doesn't know you. They don't owe you anything and will therefore give you their honest reactions while they're watching."
"What's said after the film is not nearly as important as what's felt during the film," he adds. "Be observant."
Atlanta filmmaker Jud Hockersmith agrees. "When I go to a screening, I spend as much time watching the audience as I do watching the film," he says. "If you see people checking their watches or heading for the door, you can usually take that as a good indication that something is wrong with your film."
Realizing the need for a forum where local filmmakers could present their work in front of an audience, Hockersmith co-founded MediaHead in 1997. Meeting at the FountainHead Lounge in East Atlanta, MediaHead offered local filmmakers a new opportunity to screen their work each month. "We had a pre-screening process in place," Hockersmith said, "thus ensuring crap would not be programmed." As a result, the filmmaking community had a place to gravitate, an audience to produce for, and a monthly opportunity to network. A sense of community was developing and filmmakers were beginning to inspire each other to produce.
Currently, MediaHead is on a special event only basis, as the founders take time to work on their own projects. "I would love to see someone like IMAGE step in and pick MediaHead up," Hockersmith says. "This town is really thirsting for something like that. It would be the best thing that could be done for the growth of the film community in this city."
IMAGE is a Resource
"I think the major setbacks for most indie filmmakers are money - which most people don't have, and education, which most people don't think they need," says Carroll. IMAGE can help with both.
As a non-profit media arts center, IMAGE acts as a conduit for charitable contributions from public funding agencies, foundations and private individuals to independent film and video producers who are IMAGE members. To qualify for most funding, these projects have to be non-commercial ventures, meaning if you ever make money off them, you've got to pay back your investors first. IMAGE also offers classes on financing, marketing, and distributing independent film.
IMAGE also fosters education by hosting monthly salons. The salons take place at 7:00 pm the second Tuesday of every month at the Red Light Café. Speakers have been brought in from a variety of organizations, including the Georgia Film Commission, local production houses, and national film festivals. Topics have included "Insuring Your Independent Film," "Proposal Writing" and "The State of the Georgia Film and Video Industries."
IMAGE's Access program offers members access to state of the art production and post production equipment at many of Atlanta's top production facilities for significant discounts. This benefit for members is available only to those who are using the equipment for a non-commercial project. IMAGE also offers a screenplay critiquing service and workshops in field production, editing, lighting and location sound recording. IMAGE members receive significant enrollment cost reductions. For more information visit the IMAGE Film and Video website at www.IMAGEfv.org.
The Curtain Goes Up Soon!
The Atlanta Film and Video Festival offers filmmakers a unique opportunity to present their work in front of an impartial audience. The potential for personal and professional growth is staggering. The Atlanta Film and Video festival offers those talented enough to have their work selected invaluable networking opportunities, an occasion for honest audience feedback, and a chance to rub shoulders with their peers. It offers Atlanta's media lovers the opportunity to see some great films they might have otherwise missed.
"I think the Film and Video Festival is one of Atlanta's best kept secrets," says Tim O'Donnell. "It's not every day you get to meet filmmakers from around the country or the world, and it's definitely something to be taken advantage of. Get the word out to your friends, here and outside the city, that the programming is generally great, and encourage them to submit their work. Submit your OWN work or submit your friend's work for them (with an appropriate credit, of course)."
This year's Atlanta Film and Video festival will run from May 13th to the 21st. For more information visit the Image Film and Video website at www.IMAGEfv.org or contact the IMAGE offices at (404) 352-4225.