Austin Film Festival Research

1. What time is your interview scheduled and who will you be talking with when you call/skype?

I have a phone interview with Director Barbara Morgan on Thursday, September 19^th at 8am.

2. Who started it and who runs it?

Barbara Morgan co-founded Austin Film Festival in 1993 with Marsha Milam and has served as the sole Executive Director since 1999. This October will mark its 20^th anniversary. Nick Westfall is a co-director.

3. What is the mission of the festival/conference? (copy and paste the first paragraph)

Austin Film Festival furthers the art and craft of filmmaking by inspiring and championing the work of screenwriters, filmmakers, and all artists who use the language of film to tell a story.

Austin Film Festival recognizes the writer as the heart of the creative process of filmmaking and strives to uncover outstanding, emerging filmmakers; serve as a creative catalyst for legendary, contemporary and rising talent; foster their development through panels, workshops and master classes conducted by professionals; recognize, encourage, and challenge the skills of these new filmmakers and provide outreach opportunities to writers and filmmakers.

4.

How does this compare with their actual programming choices from the past two years? Be specific in describing what they program (mode, categories within mode, niche, Political? Global? Local? Gender? Sexuality? Race? Any themes that you see? Etc...)

The main goal of AFF is to champion the process of story telling, on the page or on the screen. The categories include narrative and documentary, feature-length or short, student shorts, and animated short. From the actual program, I can see that the mission statement does hold true, specifically its mission to provide outreach for young filmmakers. The student short category, the discounted student badge, and the summer film camp (ages 9-18) can be viewed as hard evidence. Also, the decision to include awards for the horror/sci-fi genre, the 60+ minute film, and screenplays/teleplays shows their dedication to every method of visual/written storytelling.

5. Where is the event?

1801 Salina St. Austin, TX 78702

6. When is the event? (Give dates from last year if not current)

October 24^th- 31^st

7. How do you submit? Snail mail, online, withoutabox, through their site, etc...

You are able to submit a film/screenplay/teleplay through their website (online entry), mail submission, or through withoutabox. Submit a teleplay or screenplay by mail with required submission forms, fees, and other materials.

8. When are the deadlines to enter? Early? Reg? Late?

Film: Early Bird Deadline – May 1^st ($50 fee)

Regular Deadline – June 15^th ($60 fee)

Late Deadline – July 15^th ($75 fee)

Screenplay: Deadline – May 1^st ($40 fee)

Late Deadline – June 1^st ($50 fee)

Teleplays: Deadline – June 1^st ($30 fee)

-They do not waive entry fees!

10. Who’s eligible, what are the guidelines to enter?

Films:

Films must have been completed after April 1, 2012. Narrative and Documentary films with U.S. distribution (obtained prior to being selected for AFF screening) or films produced, financed or initiated by a major film studio or television network are ineligible for competition, but may be considered for a special screening. Films that have been screened in any major theater or television network prior to festival dates are also ineligible. Feature-length narratives must be 41 minutes or longer. Narrative shorts must be 40 minutes or less. Animated shorts must be 40 minutes or less (any form of animation). Documentary feature-lengths must be 41 minutes or longer, short documentaries, 40 minutes or less. Dark Matter entries should be a feature-length narrative, 60 minutes or longer. These entries must also be part of the horror genre or a particularly dark suspense, thriller or sci-fi film. All of the categories above are open to anyone who wishes to enter.

Screenplays & Teleplays:

The Screenplay Competition is only open to writers who do not earn a living writing for film or television. Screenplays/Teleplays must not have been optioned or sold prior to October 26, 2013. Screenplays/Teleplays must be the original work of the applicants. If based upon another’s life story, applicant(s) must attach a statement attesting to their rights to make such adaptations. Neither the Festival nor its jurists investigates or attests to the authenticity of an applicant’s statement of authorship or rights. Screenplays/Teleplays that have previously reached the Semifinalist level and beyond are not eligible for resubmission. If a submission involves two or more writers as applicants, the award will be divided equally among them. Applicants may submit more than one screenplay/teleplay in any chosen category. Each entry requires an application, payment and script (excluding the Enderby Entertainment Award and Sci-Fi Award – no additional script will be required for those). No Refunds for any payment! No revisions or missing pages will be accepted once entry has been received.

Award Rules for Screenplay/Teleplays:

Entry fee and entry forms are required for each submission. No photocopies of signatures!Make checks or money orders payable to “Austin Film Festival.” Only US money orders will be accepted. Online submissions will require an additional $5 processing fee per entry.

Example: If you are entering your script into both Comedy and Drama categories please include two copies of your script along with two entry fees and two completed entry forms.

Enderby Entertainment, Horror, and Sci-Fi awards—Screenplays must be entered in either Drama or Comedy categories for consideration. You must indicate submission on your entry form. An additional $20 entry fee is required for EACH submission.

Teleplay Awards:

Open to all writers on all levels. The Teleplay Competition welcomes spec scripts for any currently airing network or cable program AND original pilot scripts. Spec scripts for programs canceled prior to the current television season will be disqualified and no refund will be provided. No bibles, treatments, or reality show formats will be accepted for the teleplay competition. Submissions must be accompanied by a $30 submission fee PER ENTRY and a completed entry form including authors’ original signatures.

Formatting Guidelines:

Screenplays/Teleplays should be formatted according to current industry standards. Font size must be 12 point and in Courier type. Screenplays must be narrative feature length (approximately 90-120 pages). Teleplays should be the appropriate length depending on the format (approximately 22-40 pages for sitcoms and 45-70 pages for one-hour shows). Pages must be numbered in the top right hand corner.

Submission by Mail:

Pages should be two or three hole punched, bound between card stock covers and fastened by two or three metal brads. Pages may be double sided. Only the TITLE of the screenplay should appear on the front stock cover (written or typed). A second title page with all contact information (TITLE, AUTHOR, AUTHOR’S ADDRESS, PHONE NUMBER, E-MAIL ADDRESS, and a BRIEF SYNOPSIS) should be included but kept separate from the script. The author’s name must not appear elsewhere in the script in order to preserve anonymity in judging process.

Online Submission:

Scripts must be in PDF format under 5MB. Only the TITLE of the screenplay should appear on the front cover page.

*A second title page with contact information is not required for online submissions

The author’s name must not appear anywhere in the script in order to preserve anonymity in the judging process. NO REVISIONS OR MISSING PAGES WILL BE ACCEPTED ONCE ENTRY HAS BEEN RECEIVED. Online submissions will receive a conformation email.

Other Notes: Screenplays/Teleplays will not be returned at all. Notification letter will be send by postal mail by August 31. Semifinalists will be contacted by phone around this time.

*Feedback will only be provided to writers who advance to the Second Round of judging or higher.

11. Is there a Student category?

There is a student shorts category. Films must be short narratives of 40 minutes or less. This category is only open to students. The film must be the work of a current student or completed during the time the filmmaker was a student.

12. What formats do they except for jurying? DVD, Vimeo, Flash drives?

You will be able to submit either a DVD copy (please double check to be sure that it works and that it is formatted as a DVD that plays on DVD players, not a data disk) or as an online screener (through Withoutabox.com). *Must be FlashVideo or quicktime, under 2GB. They cannot accept Blu-Ray, Beta, HD-Cam, Mini-DV or anything that cannot be played on a standard DVD player.

13. What formats do they except for exhibition/screening?

N/A

14. How many films screened at the festival last year?

About 180 films.

15. How long is a typical shorts block or paper presentation block at their event?

Blocks usually last 70-100 minutes.

16. How many films or papers do they program per block?

Most film/paper blocks include 5-9 entries, but can include more or less based on the time above.

17. How do people register to attend? Is there a cost to attend as a guest?

Film pass for 8 days of screenings--$50. There is a choice of 4 different badges, the Lonestar Badge ($100), Weekend Badge ($250), Conference Badge ($400), and Producers Badge ($625).

There is also a 20^th anniversary package this year ($1500).

$195 Student Conference Badge—Must be enrolled in at least 9 credit hours in high school/college.

18. Look at sponsorship page and see what businesses. Grants and private entities give money to the event. Figure out how many of each kind and note any leads that might be useful to us.

2013 Sponsors: Stars Digital Media, Writers Guild of America West & East, Invodo, John Paul and Eloise DeJoria, Stella Artois, Chipotle Mexican Grill, Topo Chico, The Salt Lick, The Naked Grape, Barefoot Wine & Bubbly, Texas Film Commission, Austin Film Commission, KUT 90.5 FM, Shweiki Media, KVUE Austin (ABC), Prarie Vodka, Bullock Texas State History Museum, Southwest Airlines, Galaxy Theaters, The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, Texas Commission of the Arts, Alice Kleberg Reynolds Foundation, City of Austin Cultural Arts Division.

There are many local news/radio stations, as well as sponsorship from state organizations. Maybe we should look into this?

19. What are their sponsorship levels and incentives for each level?

Incentives include opportunities for marketing and product placement, including:

(Range from $500-$10,000)

Weekly AFF Newsletters, AFF Website, Badges, Registrant Gift Bags, Commemorative Program Books, Film Pocket Guide, AFF Exhibit Hall, Festival Trailer/Banners, Paramount Theater, AFF Parties, Film Showcase, Audience Awards, Awards Luncheon, Film and Food, & Film and Screenplay Competition.

*Contact Allison Frady for sponsorship opportunities

20. Did they have a kickstarter or indiegogo? What incentives did they have for each level of donor?

Did not have a kickstarter or indiegogo.

21. What kind of non-traditional film/video events have they had before? Things like Installations,

'Visual Soundwalls,' VJing etc.

N/A

22.Are there ways in which they have expanded the typical film screening event? How have they branched out from sitting in a dark room in front of a screen? Our website is our virtual face. Every day our site has incoming traffic, nationally and Internationally. It's important that visitors are able to find the information that they need without being sent on a wild goose chase through our pages. We want visiting our site to be easy and painless, and for our visitors to have as good of an experience virtually as they would actually attending the event. Our goal is for the Visions site to be easy to navigate, to be aesthetically pleasing, and to easily the information our audience is looking for without overwhelming them. The following exercise will help you see how important all of these things are to a first time (and hopefully a future repeat) visiting our site.

Answer the following questions about your experience with your assigned festival’s/conference’s website:

23. Is the layout easy to navigate? What makes it easy?

Yes, I would say that AFF's website is one of the most organized websites that I have visited with hopes of research. Most current/updated news about the conference, and more specific information concerning the Festival and Conference is located just below. Also, there is a very specific site map located at the bottom of the home page. Since this is a film/screenplay/teleplay competition, and there are specific guidelines for each submission, it would be very easy for disorganization and confusing clutter. However, the site has very specific tabs for each category, along with blocks above for submission, rules, FAQ, and awards. The use of FAQ was also very beneficial in my navigation. The tabs in the upper right were very simple, dividing the website for its possible visitors-- 1.Attend 2. Festival and Conference, 3. Submit, 4. News, & 5. Events. The site map at the bottom of the page made it easier for me to specifically locate contacts/staff, sponsorship info, and historical information about the festival and conference.

24. Is the layout difficult to navigate? What makes it difficult?

Not difficult at all! I would recommend this kind of setup for a festival site. The information of past conference’s/awards was also very accessible.

25. Can you find the information you are looking for on the homepage or via a link on the homepage?

Yes, either on the homepage or via link.

26. Aesthetically, what catches your eye? What's cool about it?

I enjoyed the photographs from past conference’s—it wasn't TOO much to make the pages cluttered, but enough of statement to show the success and reputation of the festival. Also, the quotes from previous filmmakers, writers aided the website in this respect. The different colors used for the various tabs also stood out visually.

27. Aesthetically, what doesn't fit in? What makes it look bad?

There is a lot of white on each page of the website. Maybe a different base color choice? Something a little easier on the eyes.

28. Should there be more information? Is the page too bare?

The page isn't bare at all.

29. Should there be less information? Is the page too busy?

With a festival like this, you need to have all of the information available in the most organized way. Most information is kept within the tabs, which helps in organization and fighting busy-ness.

30. What would you do differently if you were to redesign this website?

I would include a tab or link on the main page for past schedules/programs and award winners (to find programming notes and previous entries).I was able to find this information, but after a bit of digging.

31. What would you keep the same if you were to redesign this website?

I would keep most of the organization exactly the same. I would change some of the coloring for aesthetic purposes. I would also include a photo-gallery from previous years and the Festival’s Mission statement on the main page. I did have to search for the mission statement as well.