WHY FESTIVALS MATTER

ULTIMATE FEAR… TEST BY FIRE...

While on tour with HOMEPLANET, our new sci-fi drama selected by film festivals, our fourth film to be selected, we’ve had the privilege to meet fellow filmmakers and festival programmers and mingle with fans. There’s a wonderful social aspect to attending festivals, whether you’re screening a film or not. Festivals are a reinvigorating step into the aura of film, and at the heart of it, a live paying audience. No seatbelts or safety nets are provided. When a live audience watches your film, it’s a baptism by fire, the moment of absolute truth.

The First Glance Film Festival Philadelphia Short Film Block (2025)

THE AUDIENCE IS KING

What is it about a live screening that ties some directors up in knots?

Why did famed director Frank Capra get sick to his stomach at each attempt to watch his own films with an audience? Anxiety, fear, loss of control, or was it knowing that a live audience is the ultimate cinematic judgement? It cannot be denied. An audience’s reaction to a film is the ultimate truth. To paraphrase Gloria Swanson in SUNSET BEACH, filmmakers are at the mercy of, “those wonderful people in the dark.”

Gloria Swanson in Sunset Boulevard (1950) Paramount Pictures

Audiences can surprise you by laughing in places you never expected or gasping at a minor moment you never intended to be so intense. When the audience reacts in all the right places, it sounds like music, perfect harmonious music. Conversely, when the comedy falls flat, horror comes off as ho-hum and campy, there is absolutely no place for a filmmaker to hide. This is something AI will never be able to simulate. The reaction of a live audience is a completely human phenomenon.

WHY FESTIVALS ROCK

The hero of Digital Filmmaking is Streaming; the ability to create and exhibit a digital production to a global market has put the might of distribution into a filmmaker’s hand. Before a film is released to streaming, it’s best to know how a home audience might react. Without a live screening, it’s a leap of faith hoping your film engages viewers. Film Festivals are the proving ground. To experience a live audience is to know your film.

HomePlanet Q&A, Kansas City Film Fest International (2025) ©QikfingerFilmsLLC (L to R: Guy Giaimo-McClung, Dawn Linneman, Dan Daly, Andrew Pritzker Patrick Poe, Jaimie Campbell, Lolo Loren, Scott Cordes (also on Screen.)

STAR POWER VS. HIGH CONCEPT

Most indie films are not driven by star power but by original concepts, scripts, direction, and craft. Episodic television series have launched successfully fueled solely by an imaginative concept and a yet unknown but talented cast. There is an extra layer of cinematic realism when there are no preconceived notions about the cast. An indie cast rises to success based upon a script's writing and concept. An indie film's sense of craft needs to shine not it's name actors. As I've told my producers, if we can’t cast stars, we’ll make them.

Dan Daly in HomePlanet  (2024) ©QikfingerFilmsLLC

FESTIVAL VETTING…THE MAGIC BULLET

Viewers don’t have the time nor inclination to sift through thousands of productions to find something they love. We rely on trailers, movie reviews, and recommendations. Without vetting Hollywood Studios vetting to winnow the herd, the audience would be overwhelmed.

Film Festivals, through a juried selective process, are determined to create a film program that both attracts an audience and advances the craft of film. Having your film selected to screen at a festival is a professional accomplishment. It’s a professional credit worthy of the Hollywood Trades and IMDbPro. A film selected by a festival has credibility. It has merit. An award earned from a festival attracts the attention of distributors and streaming platforms. Festival selection provides a magic bullet for indie filmmakers… but it’s up to the filmmaker to promote it.