by Shannonn Kelly
3:53PM, EST December 16, 2009

Normally I don’t talk about Entrants submitting their films or screenplays to ReelHeART, but today I will.

We’ve had amazing entries all season long and especially over the last 10 days because we’re coming close to our final deadline. Famous A-listers through to D-listers and beyond. As well, we welcome back a few Alumni.

Filmmakers either find us through word-of-mouth, our advertising, on-line communities and through extensive research that starts in July after the end of ReelHeART.

Since 2004, I’ve done exhaustive research for films and documentaries to premiere at ReelHeART that we think might match our mission statement or if the filmmaker has never approached us we let them know what we’re all about.

I’d say I either see or read about 1500 indie films a year. Of those, there’s a select group that if they haven’t entered, we send them an “Invite To Submit” their film.

Not a waiver mind you, but a greatly discounted rate off our partner’s entry fee.

Every season, we get 300-500 requests to waive fees. It’s not just our film festival, but all film festivals.

As a non profit film festival we can’t afford to waive fees. As a non profit film festival your funding bodies want real facts and figures about your marketing. That includes email marketing. That includes our “Invite to Submit” which is a marketing tool. Think of it that for every effort where we can show tangible proof we sent a letter or an email or ran a press release as part of our marketing efforts, we get a quarter from our funding bodies. Yep. It works out to 25 cents.  In this economy, that quarter is now a nickle.

But we don’t do it for the 25 cents we might make from our funding bodies. We market because we’re in a city that has 75 other film festivals. And you have to make your voice heard.

We don’t have the horsepower of the other 2 huge film festivals in this city. We have our great year-round volunteers, a skeleton staff and since our inception in 2004 … me.

We market to bring one-of-kind films to premiere at ReelHeART before they screen at one of the 74 other film festivals. We market to offer indie film fare that’s affordable to the audiences we want to reach. Audiences that see everything from quirky underground and experimental films to thought provoking documentaries to polished productions with budgets of a few million.

Our “Invite to Submit” contains links, information and clarifies that our email is not a waiver, but an invite to check us out and see if we’re a good fit for their film.

While 2-3 filmmakers we’ve encountered this season (who’ve made 1 or 2 short films) can’t appreciate that as a non-profit film festival we DON’T give waivers they feel compelled to trash us on the Internet. Yet, they fail to realize that we do give specific waivers to inner-city film groups for youths under 18 and to disabled filmmakers of any age.

Today, we’ve come across an entry from a charming, eloquent 13 year old, disabled filmmaker who did not receive an “Invite to Submit”. They found us on their own. They sent a comprehensive and engaging cover letter, 4 screening DVDs to go around and had just an amazing and pleasant attitude.

This filmmaker is eligible for a waiver because of their disability. But may have decided that it would be against their ideas about “pity based fund raising”. They never asked for the waiver they are entitled to, instead paying the rather hefty late deadline fee at our partners website.

What this young person could teach the ‘bashing filmmakers’ who didn’t get a waiver about building bridges in this industry instead of burning them. This young person could also teach those bashing filmmakers how to write an email or a letter that compliments rather than condescends.

The professionalism and HeART of this 13 year old who is “passionate about harnessing the power of film to open people’s minds” is my new Hero…