The 2015 Los Angeles Film Festival is looking a lot closer now that we’re on this side of the New Year! The official submission deadline is today, but if your film still isn’t quite ready, there’s still some time before the late deadline on January 30, so send us your movie! (And if you need even more time, Film Independent Members get the exclusive late deadline of February 10.)

Ten of the films from the 2014 Festival have already sold, and many others have been making the rounds on the festival circuit. We caught up with three successful alumni from last year’s Festival to hear about the current status of their films and what advice they would give the next generation of LA Film Fest filmmakers.

Kerem Sanga’s film The Young Kieslowski, which won the Audience Award for Best Narrative Feature at last year’s LA Film Fest, was picked up by Mance Media for theatrical and digital distribution, to be released in early 2015. In the past few months, the film has played a number of festivals, both domestic and international.

In your experience, what is one “do” and one “don’t” of working a festival?
Do: Get to know the other filmmakers. Don’t: Miss out on the actual movies (easy to do).

Are there any lessons about working a festival you learned the hard way?
Our experience was pretty blessed—the LA Film Fest was the best place to premiere our film, no question about it.

How long have you been on the road with this film?
My on-the-road journey will start now—I am a native Angeleno.  But I’ll be out of town for the next two months.

What’s your most successful or exciting festival moment to date?
Certainly the night of the premiere—having everybody there, the support of LA Film Fest, my family, everybody who helped make this film—that was a trip. Of course, winning the Audience Award was pretty great too.

Dave Boyle’s Man From Reno won the Narrative Award for best narrative feature at the 2014 Festival and has now gotten a Spirit Award nomination for the John Cassavetes Award. Boyle said the film should be out everywhere early this year, and that he has been very busy fulfilling Kickstarter rewards for the film’s 600 backers—“spending lots of time at the post office!”

In your experience, what is one “do” and one “don’t” of working a festival?
Do: Think about and decide for yourself what your goals are. Lots of valid reasons to bring a film to a festival—be sure you’re focused on the ones that make sense for your project. Don’t: Overspend or lose track of the big picture. Remember that a film festival is about introducing the film to the filmmaking community and not necessarily to John Q. Public. The reaction you get there is from a very specific slice of the population.

Are there any lessons about working a festival you learned the hard way?
At times I’ve definitely been guilty of getting too caught up in my own stuff and not taking the time to get to know other filmmakers and their work. It’s hard to manage everything at once, that’s for sure.

How long have you been on the road with this film?
On and off for about eight weeks. Once we have a US release date set in stone there will be a light at the end of the tunnel…

What’s your most successful or exciting festival moment to date?
Winning the Best Narrative award at LA Film Fest was really crazy. None of us had any idea it was coming, and in fact I almost didn’t show up to the awards thing. It definitely felt good, especially since I was just trying to make a unique and fun mystery—not some sort of awards-bait drama.

Seth Grossman’s Inner Demons was acquired by IFC Midnight and was given a limited theatrical and DVD release in October. Grossman says they decided to premiere at the LA Film Fest because “we suspected it would be a good market for buyers (we were ultimately proven right) and because it’s our hometown festival, so it made it a lot easier for all the principal players to attend.”

In your experience, what is one “do” and one “don’t” of working a festival?
The best thing about film festivals is getting to know other filmmakers, so my big “do” is do go to as many events, parties, mixers and talks as possible, and get to know your fellow filmmakers. They’re great sources of information on cast, crew, financing and distribution, and these relationships also can turn into lasting friendships. LA Film Fest is unique in this respect, because the retreat is such an incredible opportunity to mix with other filmmakers in a laid-back and booze-fueled environment.

In terms of “don’ts”—having been to dozens of film festivals with a few different features and shorts, I would warn filmmakers not to expect a positive festival review to translate into legitimate, real-world acclaim. Festival reviews skew positive, and many times I’ve read breathless praise of a project that premiered at a festival only to be disappointed when distributors finally weigh in. Take everything you hear at the festival with a grain of salt.

How long have you been on the road with this film?
We haven’t been on the road with the film—we premiered here, sold here, and now IFC Midnight is handling any other festival play.

What’s your most successful or exciting festival moment to date?
We premiered the night that the LA Kings won the Stanley Cup, so the streets surrounding our theater were thronged with ecstatic fans, and it was easy to slip into the belief that they were celebrating the premiere of Inner Demons.

Mary Sollosi / Film Independent Blogger