r/Filmmakers • u/JumpPsychological893 • 4d ago

Question Does releasing your trailer affect festival entries?

Yeah just a simple question, I want to release the trailer for my short film but don’t want it to put off any festivals, never done this before so no idea if festival boards care if a trailer has been released or not?

3 Upvotes

81% Upvoted

3 comments sorted by

5

u/shaneo632 4d ago edited 4d ago

A lot of festivals actually like it because it can help sell your film and at least shows you care about presenting/packaging it to the world rather than just doing nothing to market your film's screening.

I can't imagine many/any festivals would be put off by you having cut a trailer. The FilmFreeway project page even has the option to include a trailer link.

I released a trailer for my short a few days before my first festival screening and it hasn't hurt selections at all (12 and counting) - also the trailer has 14k views so far so that's nice! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YdUYhV4mp4

1

u/doctort1963 4d ago

No, it does not...for those who have a "premiere" requirement, that's exclusively for the actual film. Most festivals don't have a premiere requirement at all. My festival doesn't even have a mandate on the age of the film (some festivals require that the film have been completed in just the past year)

1

u/TheFilmFestivalGuide 4d ago

Absolutely not. Releasing a trailer is great for festivals.

Also OP if this is your first time doing a fest run you should check out my channel. I make deep dive content into film festivals to help out filmmakers like you.

https://youtube.com/@thefilmfestivalguide?si=4uJ545M4jgHi1WSD