A Festival You Don’t Want to Miss! – Interview with
its Founder
Throughout the last decade, the festival landscape has
been changing – in a big way. Festivals such as Sundance, SXSW, and Toronto have evolved into
film market showcases that primarily show films with sizeable budgets and major
celebrities. These films qualify as “indie” due to the fact that they are made
by the “independent arm” of a major studio or they use alternative funding (e.g.
private equity). Often the budgets of these “indie” movies are upwards of 30
Million dollars. With the exception of foreign films and documentaries, the
dramatic features almost always have major celebs attached as actors or often
producers/directors. The majority of a big festival’s lineup is negotiated behind-the-scenes
by film reps… And those blind submissions? Sorry. The unfortunate truth is that
many of those films are not even looked at, especially if they aren’t sent in
time to make the early bird deadline. This fact has been confirmed by a
personal contact that is high up in the Submissions Dept. at a major festival.
Many films are actually put into the filing cabinet unwatched (But of course,
they first remember to remove the $50 check from the application).
The bottom line is that as changes occur in any area
of the entertainment industry, new options must arise to satisfy the market. An
up & coming festival, Action on Film Festival, is going beyond
satisfying the void. They are upping the ante!
Action on Film Festival (AOFFEST), which was founded
by a longtime IndieClub.com member, is getting it right: They are embracing the
first-rate aspects that have made the major festivals so popular, AND they are
retaining a high level of respect for all filmmakers, which some of the major
festivals seem to have lost along the way. AOFFEST is getting great recognition
in the film community for doing so. (& they promise to watch all
submissions!)
IndieClub.com Administrator Hallie Shepherd gets a
chance to chat with Del Weston, founder of the 4th Annual Action on Film
Festival.
INTERVIEW
Hallie: Hi, Del!
Thanks for talking with us about the Action on Film Festival. We're really excited to see how much the
festival has grown in just four years.
It is really impressive. How did the festival come into being? What was
the inspiration back in 2004 to get a new festival going?
Del - Well, we had been to a number of festivals that
really didn't honor filmmakers or the films themselves for that matter and we
thought that we could do a great job at putting together a great festival that
not only would show contemporary work but challenging works as well. We started in Long Beach
as part of the Long Beach Internationals which ran for three days, but we've
now moved to an established theater chain in a really incredible city, Pasadena.
Hallie: So you guys just moved to a new location?
Del - We didn't just move, we made a decision to give
filmmakers what they wanted and that was a place to showcase their projects in
a friendly city at a major theater with lots of support from the
community. Pasadena is that place. All of the businesses that we have dealt with
there; like Courtyard by Marriott, Twin Palms Restaurant, The Pasadena Winery,
Manny's Pizza, The Vertical Bar, Gordon Biersch, Mojitos,
etc., have all been great. It isn't just
a move, it is a change of experience.
Hallie: One thing that really seems to set AOFFEST
apart from other festivals is that it's really clear to me how hard you work to
support the filmmaker, to give extra benefits & perks, and to build up the
filmmaking community in way that's going to extend beyond the one week that
festival takes place. Can you tell me more some of the great things that the
festival offers to its filmmakers?
Del - The AOF is huge when it comes to supporting
filmmakers. We have waived fees, reduced
fees, flown filmmakers out to the shows, paid for room, given away a lot of
cash, negotiated free subscriptions with partner sponsor, Hollywood
Scriptwriter Magazine etc., But some of the biggest things that we've heard
back is that we have literally legitimized the work of a number of
filmmakers. When you speak to guys like
Stan Harrington, and Mark Mahon,and a number of
others it's clear that they have progressed in their careers because of the
work of the AOF. This year we are bringing a number of sales agents like Sean
Halley and distributors like Bauer Martinez to the festival to begin our
distribution arm. There is a lot going
on and our hope is to build an army of filmmakers with a great body of work
that serves the public's desire for good independent projects and the needs of
the filmmakers to have a great place to show.
Did I mention the free parties and great Black Tie Award Show and
Dinner? We'll we have those too.
Hallie: Sounds awesome! For a relatively new festival,
you have a lot of sponsors and supporters behind you - including IndieClub.com,
of course! What do you think really excites sponsors to support your festival
when there are already so many events in the L.A. area? What makes AOFFEST stand out?
Del - Well, again, we work just as hard for our sponsors
as we do for our filmmakers. We are all
here basically for the same reason; Great Film and Video Projects, why not make
sure that everyone in the loop is rewarded for putting their efforts in. I'll give you an example, one of our sponsors
wrote a check for the festival. About a week
later we went in and booked a party with them that will return twice the money
we received. It is really a give and
take process. One of my favorite
sponsors, Altadis out of Florida gives us a huge supply of High
Quality and very expensive Cigar Products.
We feature them at every one of our mixers. Now, a number of guests and filmmakers don't
even smoke but they look at the products as a collector's item or a sentimental
gift from their AOF experience. We
promote Altadis and Altadis
supports the film maker. Even if you
don't use their products there is still a great friendship there. Win-Win situations
for everyone. Also, we sponsor two
charities, The Will Rogers Foundation and the 2nd Harvest Food Bank. I think people love to see that what they
sponsor, sponsors someone else. It's a
good thing.
Hallie: How is the film submission going? What does
your selection committee look for when it comes to selecting a film?
Del - We, we are unique in a number of ways. Unlike some of the more political festivals out
there, we don't have ties with anyone and we are not dependent upon submission
fees because of our sponsors so we are autonomous when it comes to being able
to just show good, fun, dramatic, scary, challenging, contemporary, animation,
film, video, You get where I'm going here?
We can show what we want no matter how challenging the piece might be
and we want to give all filmmakers a place to showcase their work. If you look at the front page of our site at www.aoffest.com
you will see trailers for projects that range from westerns to sci fi to love stories to docs
and of course urban and action projects.
Hallie – And am I right that you guys are also spreading
the love to writers?
Del – Yes! In regards to scripts and screenplays, the AOF
has a huge heart for the written word and we honor scripts just as much as we do
the moving image. This year, we are
doing something very special for the nominees for our written word categories.
No other festival does it and we are very anxious to
see how the public and our writers respond.
Hallie – Sounds intriguing. I think I better get this
interview up on the website so our members can read all about your great festival
and start submitting their films! Thanks for chatting with me, Del!
Del – Thanks, IndieClub. We
couldn't do what we do without people like you!
