interview

AUSTIN REVOLUTION FILM FESTIVAL, Q&A with the Festival Director

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“Soon to be one of the best ‘true’ independent film festivals in the world”
– Jason Tostevin, TIL’ DEATH HANDS OFF PRODUCTIONS

Bringing true indie films to Austin! The AUSTIN REVOLUTION FILM FESTIVAL was started by filmmakers who realized many festivals were only programming films with big stars. So they started their own fest, building a brand based on screening films and creating excellent networking opportunities for true indie filmmakers.

This festival, in its 4th year, captures the indie film vibe of Austin by screening some of the coolest indies from the world over in some of the coolest venues in Austin.

Go to http://www.austinrevolution.com and submit your film.

Matthew Toffolo recently chatted with James Christopher, Festival Director.

MT: What was the inspiration to start this festival?

James: We’ve been on the film festival circuit ourselves for years, playing all kinds of festivals all over the country. But the thing is, we hadn’t broken through in our hometown yet. We’d submitted to SXSW or Austin Film Festival several years in a row, but nothing. So, we’re on the circuit and we’d been exposed to all kinds of great films that also we’re being seen. So we started our own festival. We finally broke through into the Austin Film Festival, but we still felt like we should try to offer a real independent voice into this town. So we love AFF and SXSW. We’re not trying to be them. We’re trying to get this audience that loves in Indie film in Austin and get them in front of a different breed of indie film..true indies, if you will.

MT: How has the festival changed since it began to how it is today?

James: It’s night and day. It actually started as a Halloween party in my backyard and quickly grew from there. It morphed into a horror only festival before we made it a multi genre event. Now it’s 3 days at some of the best venues in Austin Texas including the Alamo Drafthouse and the Blue Starlite Drive In theater.

MT: What’s the current pulse of the Austin Film Scene?

James: It’s thriving at all levels. There are micro budget films like what we at Twitchy Dolphin Flix do and then there are indies and studio films going on. And the best thing about this town is the lack of ego. People are willing to help each other out just to get things moving. It’s very inspiring.

MT: How many films will you be showcasing at this year’s festival?

James: We’re going to show anywhere between 60-75 films. We’ve actually announced a few projects already. We really want to build a great program and continue with making it the most filmmaker friendly film festival around.

MT: Will there be a theme at the 2015 Festival?

We won’t have a theme. We actually don’t do themes. But every year, we honor a different filmmaker who has made an impact in truly independent films. This year, and this is breaking news, not announced anywhere else, our filmmaker of the year will be Ya’Ke Smith. He’s the Morgan Woodward Distinguished Professor of Film at University of Texas at Arlington. In his film career his short films and feature Wolf have received a wide variety of acclaim. We’re honored to have him as he’s meant so much to filmmakers in Texas and honestly, to my career as well.

MT: Of the films from all over the world that submit to your festival, what country stands out in terms of talent and overall strength in their Independent films?

I’m always shocked at all the good work we get from all over the country, not just the US and Canada where most of our films come from. We do our best to highlight films from all over the world.

MT: Where do you see your festival going in the next 5 years?

Just continuing to grow, but in a way that makes sense. We want its core to stay unchanged: an environment ideal for collaboration by filmmakers. We true indies have to stay and understand that, the last thing Hollywood wants is for us to realize we don’t need them. So we’re just continuing to work to keep this train moving.

MT: What is your personal all-time favorite film?

Jaws. Hands down. It’s perfect.

Read Festival Testimonials:

“…Is a breath of fresh air. A festival that focuses on the filmmakers as well as educating audiences to what a film festival is all about… Seeing great indie films…you can tell a lot of love went into this festival.”
– KYLE ROBERTS, THE POST HUMAN PROJECT

“If you are seriously about making a mark on the indie scene you should definitely enter the Austin Revolution Film Fest”
– TOMMY FAIRCLOTH, DORCHESTER’S REVENGE

“One of the most satisfying screening and festival experiences of my career. Peers become colleagues become friends become family. I can not recommend submitting to this any higher.”
– MIKE DONIS, “PETE WINNING & THE PIRATES”

“The mix of talented film makers, diverse films and stellar networking make it a rarity in a sea of subpar film festivals.”
– BRETT BENTMAN, ”ASH”

Excited to have the following sponsors:

Final Draft: All writing winners win a download of the best screenwriting program on the planet.

Ink Tip: InkTip helps writers sell their scripts and get representation. Producers have made more than 200 films from scripts and writers they found through InkTip. All screenplay winners win a listing of your script on InkTip so that producers and reps can find you.

Underdogs.com: A distribution company for true indies. All film winners win placement with his nonexclusive distribution company.

7 Questions with FilmFreeway.com Founder Zachary Jones

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Today we are in conversation with Zachary Jones, the Founder of FilmFreeway.com, the new alternative submission center for Film Festivals and Filmmakers/Screenwriters. A startup from Canada that launched in February 2014 that is already becoming stiff competition to the dominance of withoutabox for over 15 years.

Matthew Toffolo – First off, congrats on announcing 1250 Film Festivals in your database as of this interview. That’s amazing in such a short time. What has been the key to your success so far?

Zachary – Thank you so much! The secret is really quite simple. We set out to re-invent festival submissions with modern technology and a fair business model. FilmFreeway offers a simple, user-friendly service that is always 100% free to filmmakers and writers. We back that up with friendly, reliable customer service from real people who care and are happy to assist our customers anytime.

MT – What motivated you to begin this start up?

Zachary – Festival submissions have been dominated for far too long by a company with grossly outdated technology, a miserable user experience, excessive fees and an overall predatory business model. It was about time somebody changed that.

MT – There have been many other startups attempting to compete with the competition, but almost all have failed. Why do you think your company has succeeded so far over the rest?

Zachary – We created FilmFreeway to be incredible simple and easy to use for both filmmakers and festivals. We added to that by offering the service 100% free to filmmakers. Our mandate when building FilmFreeway was to make it fair and simple. That seems to be the magic formula that has resonated with over 85,000 filmmakers and counting so far!

MT – Bottom-line, why is your site better than the competition?

Zachary – FilmFreeway is lightyears ahead of Withoutabox when it comes to the user experience we offer. Our online screeners play in beautiful, crystal-clear HD. We also integrate with Vimeo and YouTube. The days of paying $3 each time to submit a pixelated, standard definition online screener are over. With FilmFreeway, filmmakers can have their project added and ready to submit in under 5 minutes. Also, our search engine for discovering amazing festivals is powerful and fast. It’s a night and day experience when compared to Withoutabox. Here what filmmakers are saying on Twitter: https://filmfreeway.com/pages/love

MT – The main issue with film festivals is that you were forced to use the main submission source in order to succeed because that’s where all the filmmakers were submitting their films. But, because the company took so much commission from the festivals, it was impossible for most of them to not to lose money and therefore many festivals have been forced to shut down. Or, they were forced to raise their submission fees to stay in the black, which takes more money from the filmmakers themselves, which in the end forces them to submit to less festivals than they want and therefore gives them less opportunity to get their film out there. It has been a vicious cycle. How are you going to be different while still being profitable for your own company and site?

Zachary – You’re exactly right! We’ve already heard from many festivals that have told us that thanks to FilmFreeway they can once again afford to operate their festivals and stay in business. We are actually helping the industry thrive, rather than suck the blood out of it like Withoutabox. We offer optional paid marketing services for festivals which helps to pay our overhead and make sure that FilmFreeway will always remain 100% free for filmmakers and writers.

MT – What was the first film festival to sign up to your website?

Zachary – The wonderful Food & Farm Film Festival was the very first to sign up:https://filmfreeway.com/festival/foodfarmfilmfestival

MT – What is FilmFreeway’s ultimate goal?

Zachary – To simply provide the best film festival submissions experience in the world for filmmakers and festivals alike. You can expect to see continued improvement and added features as we grow and develop as well. We’re always listening to the feedback of the community to make FilmFreeway even better. Thank you again for all of your support!