As part of our series of interviews - catching up with Underwire alumni - we’ve been asking previous nominees and winners for their advice on submitting films to festivals. Here’s a collection of tips and wisdom from women across the crafts who’ve been there and done that.
Amy Coop, writer/director. Nominated for Best Writer at Underwire 2013 for Epitaph
“Be patient, persistent and make sure you factor in a festival budget to your overall budget cost. There’s no point spending all your money making a film and then not being able to submit it anywhere!”
Caroline Bridges, cinematograher. Nominated for Best Cinematography at Underwire 2011 for Recompense
“Keep going and believe in yourself. And don’t compromise the vision that you and the Director have for the film - be true to that vision.”
Carla Mackinnon, director/producer. Nominated for Best Director at Underwire 2013 for Devil in The Room
“Don’t let rejections get you down you never know what drives the decisions behind the scenes.”
Isla Ure, actor/director. Nominated for the BFI Future Film Award and winner Best Actor for her starring role in Passengers at Underwire 2012.
“If you love it - it’s worth it, however challenging at times…Work hard, strive for the best but don’t be afraid to work to your means - it may not be massive budgets and high-spec equipment but you learn such a lot on every project!”
Susan Everett, writer. Winner of Best Writer at Underwire 2010 for Mother’Mine
“Choose the best festivals for your film - work out which ones it might be suited to. The more you enter, the more idea you’ll get about the different programmers’ tastes, and then use that information for future festival entries.”
Abigail Blackmore, writer/filmmaker. Nominated for Best Writer at Underwire 2011 for Blind Date
“If you believe you have a great film, don’t give up.”
