When film festivals go wrong

Film Festivals provide a showcase for hard working filmmakers who want to get their latest movies screened to a public audience, but things can go wrong if the organisation isn't up to scratch.

In a recent report by the BBC The Swansea Bay Film Festival is under investigation and celebrity supporters Michael Sheen and Catherine Zeta Jones have withdrawn their support.

Complaints were made about the festival from it being poorly organised to lacking a clear direction for movie screenings, even scheduling and publicising it on a basic level.

These are just some of the characteristics of a film festival that need to be in place for it to work. There is no point sending your film to a festival that has no publicity, doesn't make the effort to promote your film or has little impact in the media.

Some smaller film festivals are fantastic places for short and feature length films that wouldn't get an audience elsewhere, but make sure that when you submit a film, you do some research behind the festival. Who went there? How did it make an impact to those who won awards? Was there any publicity? Did it give filmmakers and their production teams a career boost?

These are good questions to ask, and at the end of the day, there are many thousands of film festivals with good recognition to choose from. Best of luck with your submissions.