How to spot a scam film festival

By Benjamin Craig | 08-Dec-2016

These days, it seems that every man and his dog wants to run a film festival, which is fantastic in many ways, not least because it provides a greater number of outlets for filmmakers to get their work in front of an audience. But sadly, the multitude of scammers and ethics-light opportunists who prowl the Internet also seem to have their dirty fingers in the film festival scene. Scam events now represent a risk to unwary filmmakers everywhere.

Scam film festivals tend to come in two flavours - film festivals and screenplay competitions - but many combine both. Most attempt to catch their victim's attention by using names which include prestigious-sounding cities (e.g. London, New York etc) or suggesting national or international pre-eminence (e.g. Canada Film Festival). Some have even been seen using names which are very similar to established and respected events (e.g. Alaska International Film Festival, which is a scam, compared to the legit Anchorage International Film Festival).



While these events are scams in the true sense of the word (i.e. dishonest schemes), it's unusual for them to be completely fraudulent (i.e. take the money and run). A scam by definition is not necessarily illegal, whereas fraud most definitely is. Typically, the underlying model behind the scam is to make money from submission fees for an event which nominally happens in some way, shape, or form, but almost certainly offers little to no value for filmmakers or writers who submit their work. More worryingly, many of these events use Withoutabox to collect their ill-gotten gains. This is unfortunate because the connection implicitly lends scam events an air of legitimacy. And sadly, Withoutabox seems to care little about scammers using its service; one can only assume because it too makes money from the submission fees collected.



Fortunately, scam film festivals and screenplay competitions are relatively easy to spot as they all share some tell-tale signs:



Long 'Call for Entries' Window. Probably the easiest way to spot a scam is to look at the length of time the event's call for entries is open. Most legit festivals don't want the hassle of managing submissions year-round and therefore tend to open their calls no earlier than three months or so before the event. However for scam festivals it's about making money, so the longer the call for entries is open, the more cash can be raked in. For example, scam events like the Cannes Independent Film Festival open their calls 12 months (!) before their next festival.



Generic or Prestigious Locations. Most big cities have film festivals which have been established for years. Plenty of legitimate new festivals pop-up all the time, but new national festivals or those in prestigious locations should be viewed with a healthy scepticism.



Lack of Verifiable History. Many scam events use language on their websites to suggest pedigree or history. Where a festival seems to suggest it has been running for a long period of time, it's easy to do a quick Google search to verify. Any legitimate event should have a Google footprint of some kind - a footprint beyond its own website and listing on Withoutabox. If a festival suggests it has a history, but you can't find any mention of previous editions online then it should be approached with caution.



Lack of Sponsors. By itself not an indication of a scam, since many festivals are not lucky enough to attract sponsors, but if a festival is claiming national or international pre-eminence, then you'd think it could rustle up one or two. That said, some scam events have been known to list fake sponsors so where a festival does list companies you haven't heard of, spend a couple of minutes checking them out to ensure that they are legit and have no obvious connections to the scam event (other than sponsorship).



High Submission Fees. Again, not an indication of a scam on its own, but obscure festivals which charge high submission fees should be viewed with scepticism. Most legitimate film festivals in Europe do not charge fees at all, particularly for shorts. Where they do, fees tend to be nominal. Fees in the US are normally higher, but again, even top festivals like Sundance don't charge $100 for a short film submission.



Administration Location. Almost all festivals are run locally, so be very wary of events which have administrative or submissions offices in states or countries which are different to the festival's location. They're unlikely to be legit. You should also be on the lookout for local addresses which have been 'embellished' to suggest a local connection. For example, the Alaska International Film Festival, a scam event, listed an "office suite" address in Anchorage for submissions. Yet a quick look on Google Streetview showed this "suite" to actually be a PO box at a mail centre. On further investigation, evidence suggested the event was actually run out of either San Diego or somewhere in Kentucky.



Large Number of Awards. Most legit festivals have a limited award-set. After all, the purpose of an award is to single out the best film in each category, rather than hand out as many awards as possible. Festivals which offer a lengthy award list, particularly where awards aren't well-differentiated, are likely to be scams.



Opaque Judging Process. Does the festival provide any information on the judging criteria it uses to determine winners or who the judges are? Festivals which are on the level will normally name their jury members or at least provide credible information on how the winners are selected. Festivals which only announce winners via email are definitely scams.



No Public Screenings. Events which do not screen films publicly are not film festivals. Period. Any event which calls itself a festival, but does not screen films to the public, is a scam.



Film festivals remain one of the best ways for filmmakers to get their work in front of a wider audience, but the days of easy off-the-shelf websites (and lax verification from Withoutabox) mean extra caution is required to ensure you are maximising the benefits of the money you pay for film festival submissions.

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