Profile Communicate your story through your profile. Talk about yourself, your team, idea and inspiration behind the film. A slight personal approach is what the festival and viewers are usually interested in. Where you come from and your challenges as a young director.
Custom Submissions: Customize or personalize your approach for every submission according to the festival you’re sending it to. And do it also because you don’t know what might work as the festivals receive thousands of submissions and you need to outshine others.
Understand Festivals and Audience: Research on film festivals before you start sending your submissions. Check if the festival would consider your style or genre. Or simply look for the festivals that appreciate your style of work and prioritize things accordingly. Don’t waste time and efforts on festivals which play films that are poles apart from yours.
Extras or Behind the Scene: Show behind the scene material such as photographs of actors and the team on set, a bit of bloopers or anything interesting that the audience can enjoy. This is another way you can get personal with the audience.
Rules: Read and follow every instruction given by the film festival. Runtime restrictions, any sensitive content that is not allowed or selecting specific categories is something to be taken very seriously. There’s no point in wasting money in fees if you get disqualified for breaking such rules.
