Today, there are more film festivals all over the world than ever before. (Hell, Marfa just had one, and they don't even have a movie theater.) This is indisputably a good thing for moviegoers, as it gives them a chance to hobnob with filmmakers, get a little touch of cinema magic wherever they happen to live, and catch a glimpse of movies that probably aren't otherwise going to be playing at a theater near them anytime soon. But more and more, business insiders, from producers to filmmakers to the press, are starting to ask the question: is it a good thing for the movie business?
Hot on the heels of everybody and his executive-producer brother questioning the role of Sundance in getting new films greenlighted, the Guardian's "L.A. Diary" blogger, Lisa Marks, documents her travails -- familiar to anyone who is a filmmaker or knows a filmmaker -- in trying to get her work accepted on the ever-growing festival circuit. Not having seen it, we can't speak to the quality of Ms. Marks' work (and thus we can't answer her question, 'why is it so hard to get my movie accepted by a festival jury?', with the answer 'because it's lousy'). But we do know that she asks a lot of good questions: Why, with so many festivals being founded every year, is it still so hard to even get a response from the organizers, much less an acceptance? Why in the world does Tenerife need, let alone have, a film festival? How are people who are already, by definition, struggling filmmakers supposed to afford the entry fees and travel costs to go to so many festivals? And who, exactly, benefits from there being a film festival every week and a half and every twenty miles, like they were roadside Arby's?
Like a lot of people, Marks comes to the ultimate conclusion that the internet may be the way to go for up-and-coming filmmakers. And who hosts the biggest and most influential online film festival? One guess, and it better rhyme with "fun pants"...
