The Film Festival Rejection Letter

Director Jack Truman and Writer/Actress Opal Dockery

2013 Sundance Film Festival

Let's talk about when your film gets rejected by a film festival.

You've worked your ass off to make your no budget movie. Sent it off to 20 film festivals to start out with. You finally start hearing from the festivals. And you start getting nothing but rejection letters.

It happens. Get used to it. I'll be honest. As an independent filmmaker, you will get rejected from a lot more film festivals than accepted. That's just the nature of the beast. Even if you have a great film that plays a ton of festivals on the film festival circuit. There's a lot more festivals your film will get rejected from before it has the ton of fest screenings under your belt.

That being said, as a filmmaker, you have to have this mentality of being thick skinned, positive, arrogant and sure of yourself. You have to have the attitude and mentality that it's their loss. If they're not going to screen your film, it's that film festival's loss. Their audiences are going to suffer from that festival not giving them the chance to see your film.

That's the attitude I had when I was an actor and didn't get cast. But I got the lead in a lot more shows than ones I didn't get cast in.

The same goes true for moviemaking. Take my films, for example. They've screened at over 300 film festivals. But they've also been rejected from over 300 film festivals. That's just the way it goes.

You can't take it personally. If you do, don't submit your film to festivals. Because that's a part you have to accept.

I look at it as a reflection of the sales jobs I've had in the past. When you're in sales, more people you're trying to sell to are going to say no verses the people that say yes. If you're a good salesperson, you have the mentality and drive that each no is that much closer to the person that's going to say yes.

The same goes true with a filmmaker getting his or her film accepted to a film festival. Each festival rejection is that much closer to the one that's going to say yes.

The positive outweighs the negative. The festival acceptances, screenings and buzz of your film where it does screen far outweighs the many film festivals your movie gets rejected from.

Just accept it.

Make your movie. Submit it to festivals. When a festival rejects your film, look at it as their loss, and you're that much closer to a festival acceptance.