Festivals
An important part of our work is to make sure your documentary is being launched in a proper way. This needs good planning with you. You have to bear in mind important festival deadlines before finishing your film. Festival deadlines are often 3 - 6 months before the festival. If your timing is bad, it can mean that there are no major festivals you can send it to, therefore no free international publicity and almost no interest from broadcasters as they don’t know your documentary exists.
January: Sundance
February: Berlin Film Festival
April: Nyon
April: Hot Docs
May: Cannes
End of November: IDFA
Of course there are many other international festivals around the world. Check the various websites, Reel Screen or DOX for profiles, deadlines and guidelines. Make the festival launch part of your production plan! Check with your supporting broadcasters when they plan to broadcast your film, as many festivals do not want a film in competition if it has already been broadcasted. It helps if you can include festival hold back in your pre-sale agreements. While you can only give the international premiere to a festival once, please be aware that you are normally allowed to have a national premiere at a festival in your own country, after which you can have a world premiere at another festival.
Markets
First Hand Films takes your film to the most important international markets during the full launching year. In addition to big international markets, we register films to film libraries/screenings during film events and festivals all over the world, where we know many important buyers come to screen.
Before each market we send to more than 1000 of our buyers a personal e-mail announcing and describing your film. Further more the buyers can find all information on your film on our website including an opener. We get many requests from buyers before a market from this service.
Two of the biggest TV markets we attend take place in Cannes: Mipdoc and Miptv in April and Mipcom in October. Mipdoc is a digital library with screening facilities for buyers only, Miptv and Mipcom are markets where people meet. First Hand Films has a stand at these markets where we show your film and have our meetings with the buyers. Other important international screenings/markets we go to are Docs for Sale in Amsterdam, Berlin, Toronto, Nyon, La Rochelle and Thessaloniki. We are evaluating screenings every year in order to be on top of the best possible place to show your film and to set up meetings with buyers. Every year we test and try new screening events in addition to our standard schedule.
After each market we follow up all our meetings and send screeners to buyers requested during screenings and meetings.
After one year your film is considered ‘old’ by the broadcasters. There still might be an interest, but business will be slower. Using an advanced data system, which shows over the years who we have spoken to already and who has received your screener, we can and will keep bringing up your film when we believe that it makes sense - it suits a new slot of a broadcaster or might be suitable for a theme evening. We know from experience that older films still sell!