Ready for the wrap up? Yeah, my rewrite on festival strategy took three parts. Sorry about that. When they start providing classes in festival strategy — because there are jobs in this realm that need to be filled — I hope the series is part of the curriculum. In fact, once you’ve taken your film on this ride and provided you thought long and hard about each of my suggestions and even maybe tried them on for size, I can’t think of a better profile for who to provide such a service than a filmmaker who just went through it. Granted it may be more the producer type than the director, but if you can pick up some extra scratch doing this on the side, go for it. Someone has got to do it.
I assume you’ve read Part One and Two, but I have them for you if you need to play catch up. Part One starts with observation about the Big Picture and then Two gets into the nitty and the gritty. What decisions do you need to make and when? How do you prioritize? Well part three, does it bit more of that. And then we will get into the what-happens-next of it all. We also have to do a post mortem, but will save that one for later.
I might need to do a re-ordering for the collective edition. Stay tuned. And then we have to build the If/Then Decision Tree, and one for each genre, right? Whew. Glad that’s all still down the road a bit. We are still in 101 la d for now.
Let’s dive in again, shall we?
The HFF New Festival Strategy For You & Your Film — in 40 Steps, 2026 Edition, Steps 26-40.
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Think carefully about publicity.
What exactly are you hoping publicity will accomplish at each particular festival? Your goals will likely differ from fest to fest. National attention might be possible at one place, while reaching a very specific local audience could matter much more somewhere else. The press strategy should follow the purpose of the festival rather than some EZPZ catch-all “philosophy” like “more coverage is always better”. Prioritize everything, including your goals for publicity at the various festival stops.
And be realistic about why someone or some outlet will cover you and your film. A festival acceptance alone does not necessarily make the movie a story. Nor do you, no matter how many years you worked on it or what hoops you jumped through. What is happening around the film now that makes it relevant today? As the festival run develops, that answer may change. Pay attention to what audiences are responding to and what conversations are developing around the movie, because the most interesting story may turn out not to be the one you thought you were bringing into the festival.
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Treat the Q&A as part of the release.
You have something extraordinarily valuable after a festival screening: a room full of people who have just spent time with the film and are still thinking about it. Don’t regard the Q&A as the obligatory thing standing between you and the bar.
Listen as much as you talk. The questions people ask can tell you what they think the movie is about, where their curiosity is leading them, and sometimes what you have failed to communicate. You may hear the same question in five different cities and realize that the audience is consistently seeing something you had not recognized.
The Q&A is also a chance to keep the relationship going. If there is something useful people can do after seeing the film, this may be the moment to let them know. Just make sure you are responding to the room rather than delivering the same speech you gave at the last six festivals.
You want the conversation to evolve over time. Think about how you can do that. To keep it fresh you may want to introduce new aspects — and that takes timing.
You are also going to get bettter and better at answering the questions over time. Each one is a rehearsal for the next. In many ways you are performer like any other one and now you are honing your act or your routine. Think of it as preparing your “Ted Talk”, and even if you don’t get invited to do it, you will still probably have the opportunity to do something similar in universities, community centers, and corporations.
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