I am just organising my pass for the Cannes Film Market / Festival right now. This year I am going in through the Short film Corner, which is basically a way to ‘buy’ your way in very cheaply (75 euros). All you need to do is sign up, pay, and send your film in. You can also do this all through Without A Box, which is great and a headache saver.
So we are now strategising about how best to use the Cannes event. First off, we don’t know if we are in competition yet, and we won’t know for about a month. There will be thousands of films competing for just a few slots, so competition is fierce. There is just no point in speculating.
The second thing to consider is, do we really want Gone Fishing in the Short Film Corner? If it is, Cannes will digitise the film and allow it be viewed via there computerised system, but that means anyone can see it in far from ideal conditions. But that also means that anyone CAN see it, at any time, including people who may play a part in its future, such as other festival organisers. The jury is out until nearer the April 18th deadline.
We hope to have a major PR push for the film, with a strategic push for Rocket Boy at the same time. We have all sorts of crazy ideas, and I am not going to reveal a single one just yet, but hopefully, post Cannes, we will be able to see just how successful each strategy was.
Our goals are this…
1. Get major international film festival programmers to see the film, meet with them and get a commitment.
2. Get players in the UK film business to see that the film is terrific and that we really mean business.
3. Make contacts with international film players, using the film as a way to state that we are serious players too.
We are hopefully going to have a 35mm print in time too, but I will also be fascinated to see how many films are being screened digitally off BluRay. My guess is there will be some – think about it – five reels of 35mm print or one disk? It’s a no brainer really.
Right, loads of PR stuff to start getting ready!
Onward and upward!
Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]
