Film Festival / Contests / Distribution Information

Film Festivals

Besides your screenings at CalArts, film festivals will be your greatest opportunity to showcase your work. 

There are over 10,000 film festivals worldwide, and navigating them can be difficult. Most film festivals charge an entry fee, which can quickly become very expensive. 

You should do careful, focused research into the right festivals for you. 

For information on upcoming film festivals and their application deadlines, there are many websites with festival listings, such as filmfreeway.com (a clearinghouse that lists any festival that pays to be listed). Check out the online bulletin board and the physical bulletin board by the Equipment Cage for posters and advertisements from festivals. Also, check your emails regularly, as sometimes faculty or staff will let you know about an upcoming film festival.

Contests

For all contest information, please check the online bulletin board and your email for CalArts contests.

Distribution

CalArts is working with exciting companies to continue to help students have a further life with their work. If you are interested in further distribution of your project beyond CalArts and film festivals, please schedule a time with Production Services for a consultation. You can also read a new resource for filmmakers put together by Kinema, and Seed and Spark. The Distribution Playbook is a great resource and is the perfect place for filmmakers who are confused about how to approach distribution to conceptualize how to connect their films to an audience.  

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