Film Blog: One Down. Many More To Go

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It came as little surprise to receive the following email yesterday.

Dear James,

On behalf of the Sundance Programming staff, I would like to thank you for submitting your film to the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. Unfortunately, we are not able to include it in our Festival program. We received more than 11,700 films for consideration this year, which obviously did not make our decision-making process any easier. We selected less than 180 films from around the globe, so the competition was stiff to say the least. Please know that your film was carefully considered by our team, and we truly respect your hard work and dedication as an independent filmmaker. We wish you the best of luck with the project and look forward to the opportunity to view your work in the future.

Sincerely,

John Cooper
Director, Sundance Film Festival

I’m not disappointed. It’s just part of the process of finding the film’s audience. How it will pan out in the future is a complete mystery to all involved, which is actually quite an exciting thing in itself!

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10 responses to “Film Blog: One Down. Many More To Go”

  1. dave avatar
    dave

    Tom

    each rejection mail takes you one step closer to the acceptance mail, so well done on your first step.

    Dave

    Reply
    1. Tom avatar
      Tom

      Thanks 🙂

      Reply
  2. Grace Johnson avatar
    Grace Johnson

    11,700 applications? Ugh. I didn’t even realize that Sundance showed outdoor films. You might try looking into the festivals which accepted mountain climber / photographer Jimmy Chin’s outdoor films since you probably stand a better chance of being accepted at them.

    Reply
    1. Tom avatar
      Tom

      Sundance supposedly take all genres, as long as they’re good enough! But when you boil it down, you’re still trying to break into a very tight clique.

      I ought to reiterate that Janapar is not an ‘outdoor film’!

      Reply
  3. Tor Ivan Boine avatar
    Tor Ivan Boine

    bummer! A while ago I read “the angry filmmaker” by Kelley Baker. Where he sent one of his shorts to a film festival. Perhaps it was sundance. Anyways, his movie got rejected. So he published it somewhere else. And later the film festival called him and asked if they could have his shortmovie at their festival. 

    So don´t worry that the interns at the film festival didn´t pick up your movie. I´m excited to see it 🙂

    Reply
  4. Andy Welch avatar
    Andy Welch

    I agree with Tim, their loss. Did they see just the trailer, or the whole thing do you know?

    Reply
    1. Tom avatar
      Tom

      They received the final cut of the film, and the 100 USD submission fee (theoretically) guarantees that their selection panel will view it in full…

      Reply
  5. Tim Moss avatar
    Tim Moss

    Their loss mate. It is a genuinely great film and it will find its home soon.

    Reply
  6. Katie Tibbetts avatar
    Katie Tibbetts

    I like your will-do attitude Tom! Keep casting lines and you’re bound to get something on the hook.

    Reply
  7. Kevin Shannon avatar
    Kevin Shannon

    Took a peek at the selected films for Sundance last night hoping to see your docu in there and was disappointed for you that it wasn’t.

    Better look with the others sir!

    Reply

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