Remember that 30 point post I did on Film Festival Strategy last year?

Here it is:

It being film festival season again, I thought I should revisit it. I did. I started adding more to it. And then some more. You can see it was updated if you want to check with the link above.

It was a bit of an unorganized list to start with though and the more I added to it, the worse it got. Or so I thought. I knew I could make it better. So I did that too. I want you to be happy with my work, you know? I hope it was worth the bother! Happy to get some comments. Maybe I should spend time on the new stuff and leave the old alone. What do you think?

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I did discover something in the process though. I could argue this was a little bit like discovering what I already knew… or felt. But it still helped drum it all in for me. Things are forever changing and we have stay nimble on our feet. It is never too late to learn either, or firm things up a bit. In this case, these recognitions (literally, re-cog: to know again) aligned with many of the themes of this newsletter. So that is kinda neat I think too. It is one way I know I am on the right track.

When it comes to festivals, best to keep these big principles in mind:

• The festival run is part of distribution and marketing, not a warm up exercise before distribution; you have to do a lot work along the way.

• The distro run is dynamic: you learn from audiences and change the strategy as you go. It is not just one thing after another.

• A successful festival strategy will create audience, community, evidence, and future possibilities—it is where it all takes hold and not an afterthought.

I think the first BP is something others have been stating for a while now. The other two we don’t hear as much about though, and we probably should. But like everything… both god and the devil are dancing in the details. You are going to want to get specific as that is where it all happens.

As this Fest Prep List grew and the nuance became a nectar, I decided to chop it up for easier consumption. I will provide a full list version afterwards for your reference too, but I get it: it’s hard to digest 6K+ words with your morning coffee. I like to keep the digestion easy for you; that’s just the kind of guy I am.

So shall we jump in? Buckle up, buttercup.

How To Build The Right Festival Strategy For You & Your Film — in 35+ Steps, 2026 Edition

Part One: Steps 1-10.

1. Read this entire list before you begin planning your strategy..

I know, this one may be hard not that I broke it into multiple parts, but still: get the big picture first. Festival strategy is one of those things where an early decisions can be counted on to screw up a later one. A choice about when or where to premiere will affect options you are not even thinking about yet. You want to do your best to see the entire board before you move the first piece.

But get this: you will fail to see the entire board and all of it intricacies. No matter what. But don’t sweat it. Get over it and keep going. Mistakes happenb and bad luck is riding the wind, looking for a place to drop. This is just another thing you can not control. The goal is to understand enough of what may come next that you don’t unnecessarily close off the possibilities you are going to need later.

2. Recognize that festivals are part of an ongoing distribution, marketing, and audience building process, not an end unto themselves.

Don’t rush it. The “smaller” the film, the longer you may want to stay on the festival circuit, because festivals can buy you time to learn what the film is, who responds to it, and what else it might be able to become.

Festivals should also be used as occasions to make things happen around the film. Meet people. Set up later opportunities. Arrange private screenings. Find ways to keep the noise going once the screening itself is over. In many ways, the less money you have, the longer you may want to use festivals, because time and repeated attention can accomplish some of what a large marketing spend otherwise might.

And first you have to keep the film alive, get it screened and get people talking about it (we will discuss this later). Only then can you start trying to grow what has formed around it.

3. Before choosing festivals, decide what you want the entire festival run to build.

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