Every year the same question comes up in our community: is it worth going to Cannes if you don't have a film screening? The answer is almost always yes — and the reasons go deeper than most people realize. Cannes is not a screening event. It is the single most concentrated gathering of decision-makers in the entertainment industry outside of a studio lot. Producers, financiers, sales agents, distributors, and buyers all converge in the same zip code for ten days with one shared purpose — to make deals. If you are a writer or filmmaker trying to get your project in front of the people who can move it forward, there is no more efficient place on earth to do it.
For writers specifically, the value is underestimated. The Marché du Film — the film market that runs parallel to the festival — is where producers actively look for material to option, develop, and package. Showing up with a strong script and a clear pitch puts you in rooms that would take months of emails to access from Los Angeles. Beyond the market, festivals create context. Being in a room where serious cinema is discussed at the highest level recalibrates how you think about your own work. You hear what buyers are looking for. You understand what the international market is hungry for. You come home a sharper writer with a clearer sense of where your project fits.
For filmmakers, the calculus is even simpler. Relationships built at festivals have a shelf life that email introductions never match. The filmmakers who keep showing up — year after year, with or without a film in competition — are the ones who eventually have a film in competition. In an era where the majority of meaningful independent productions are being financed outside the United States, Cannes has never been more essential. Show up. Be prepared. Have the conversation. The rest tends to follow.
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Film festivals are so important to the life of a film! They bring audience to build fans, press opportunities for buzz and more audience interest, and even distribution deals! Even more important the community at a film festival is like-minded and you build your community for when you do have a film in competition.
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Laura Hammer So true! It's not who you know...it's who knows you. And festivals are a great way to connect with fellow creatives, artists...you never know what's going to come out of it.
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I went to my first film festival last year because a script was an official selection. I didn't win anything but I got to hang out with so many incredible people who were just as passionate about this crazy ride as I was. I left feeling excited and connected in a way I had not anticipated. I cannot say enough nice things about HorrOrigins and it's companion Legendary Fest put on by the fine folks down in Tucson! I am definitely heading back again in 2026 even if I don't get selected again.
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The Omaha Film Festival shows films BUT it has a screenwriting contest which provides a free pass if the script makes it as a Semi-Finalist so I’ve gotten in free for the last 4 years. Get to watch new films and partake of the Q& A’s with producers and Directors and hang out at the nearby restaurants and bars with all the film people.
Any other festivals that can compare?
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My thing is they cost. And without a discount, they are expensive, and regardless of how good a film is, there isn’t a guarantee of a film being accepted. I believe there ought to be a discounted refund to all submissions whose film was not accepted.
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I've never been to Cannes. Sundance is a networking mecca. Markets are a different story. AFM and Toronto were for sales agents to sell their existing product. I never found them to be especially helpful or receptive to new ideas or scripts. Now, IFTA can't be more than 20-25 members...and outside of streamers, not many buyers. I think if you have a great script, Stage 32 is a better place to get it exposure. I write commercial romcoms and family films. Those genres don't transfer globally, and are not of particular interest to most film festivals.
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I'm going to be brutally honest with my esperiences with film festivals. A lot of them are great- a wonderful way to meet the people you need to meet, to meet and make new friends who are going through the same thing you are going through. And a lot of them can just be money grabs. I htink yoiu have to be really careful about which ones you submit to and spend yoiur money one.
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You can stay behind your computer, research contacts and send emails, or you can meet people, laugh with them, drink with them, and then, “Oh yeah, what are you working on?”
Face-to-face has, without doubt, worked better for me.
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Jack Vincent 100%!
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Geoffroy the piece most people miss is that the recalibration happens even when no deal does. You walk into the market hearing what buyers actually want this year. You walk out writing the next thing differently. That part cannot be replicated from email threads. The information density of being physically in those rooms changes the next project. The deal sometimes follows. The shift in your work is the guaranteed return.
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What a fantastic post and pitch to go to festivals.
I'm a Wall Street Journal Bestselling Author who has written or co-authored seventeen books. Nine are published and seven are number one bestsellers.
The adapted script for my award-winning fantasy novel has earned 44 awards and recognition, and while awards are appreciated ego boosts, I have a wall and closet full of them.
Festivals are also fantastic networking opportunities, and with a knack for selling ice cubes to individuals who live in igloos, they are beyond fun.
However, I'd rather focus on writing and publishing my next novel. And interested producers and studio executives appreciate the quick introduction to my entertainment attorney who creates the perfect win-win agreement everyone can say yes to.
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I think it's always beneficial to go to panels, network, and get inspired by the current films that are screening!
Yes, attending film festivals can be productive. Watch as many films as you want. But for God’s sake, don’t waste your time sitting through Q&As. The real business happens at the mixers and the bars. Especially the bars. You don’t need to have a film in the festival — you do need to be ready to exchange contact information, network with purpose, and follow up.
I think it’s beneficial to go because of the networking. Agree totally on it’s not who you know but who knows you. We can sit at our keyboard and write or watch the events and get details from professionals here and broadcasters, but that does not get you in the mixers and face to face to those in the industry. Does it cost? Yes, it does . It’s been said to make money you have to spend money. How much do you believe in your film or screenplay? The answer should be 1000%. There are a lot of fish in the sea but investing in yourself and making those mixers, talking and making an impression narrows down the field to what bait and fish you are after and vice versa. We come from different backgrounds and financial situations.If you believe you will find a way to make it happen. No race was won by someone wishing they could afford the track shoes. Nothing is guaranteed, but for us dreamers, we don’t stop. Higher is always in our reach . Keep the faith ! Write on!
Film festivals absolutely matter.
But here’s the conversation people in this industry avoid having:
Not all film festivals matter equally.
Some festivals genuinely move careers forward.
Some create distribution conversations.
Some generate press.
Some attract buyers, managers, agents, producers, and financiers.
Some become long-term credibility markers on a project forever.
And some are essentially expensive networking mixers with laurels.
There’s a difference.
The festivals that consistently carry real industry weight are still the ones with established pipelines, press presence, acquisitions history, and actual executive attendance.
The major conversation-driving festivals include:
• Sundance
• TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival)
• Cannes
• SXSW
• Tribeca
• Telluride
• Venice
• Berlinale
• AFI Fest
• Fantastic Fest
• Austin Film Festival
• Slamdance
• Annecy (animation)
• SeriesFest (television)
• Bentonville Film Festival
• Sitges (genre/horror/fantasy)
And yes, there are regional festivals that absolutely matter too when they have strong programming reputations, press reach, or genuine industry relationships.
The point isn’t “small festivals bad.”
The point is understanding the difference between:
career momentum,
industry access,
audience building,
and vanity validation.
A good festival strategy should align with the actual goal of the project.
Are you trying to:
• build industry credibility?
• secure representation?
• attract distribution?
• develop audience awareness?
• test proof of concept material?
• network locally?
• create press assets?
• position a future feature or series?
Those are all different strategies.
For me personally, the very first project I ever placed into a film festival was at the Austin Revolution Film Festival, where my SAG New Media proof-of-concept trailer won Best Trailer.
That single placement changed the trajectory of my career.
It opened doors.
It led to meetings.
It helped me land with Vanguard before eventually moving on to CAA.
So yes... the RIGHT film festival absolutely matters.
Because sometimes one legitimate festival placement can do more for a project than fifty random laurels ever will.
The industry notices credibility.
And credibility still matters.
Here is an even better idea for the future of the business. Just a hypothetical process:
Basically, my idea is for this thing called THE SCRELLICE. So, the scripts for plays and films: they are prosetry, a combination of poetry and prose. The poem is poetry, the novel is prose, the screllice is prosetry.
What I'm saying is that screllices are literature: that is a fact. They CAN be published on the literary market as a mass medium. The market has to be created for that, but that has been the case with all products. If the demand was created through marketing for a screllice in filmic form (a movie script, essentially), and if that writer's screllice(s) were popular with readers, then producers could pick that writer as the writer of movie scripts to get made.
This would be a far better system of hiring writers than the very stochastic system that exists today, which no one likes, but latches onto, because the screllice as a mainstream literary medium has not become a thing.
What do you think about this? Would love to talk more.
My screllice is called Clean Break, and here is a link to it.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D6...
Feel free to buy a copy as well; only 12.99!
I couldn’t agree more. For creators developing complex cinematic universes, attending festivals provides crucial insight into how buyers evaluate IP, narrative architecture, and franchise potential. It’s a rare chance to understand how large-scale, multi-platform concepts are perceived and what resonates in today’s market.
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Plus these days, there are great festivals in every territoriy
I think festivals are valuable even if you don’t have a project screening yet — especially for understanding where your work fits in the market.
From what I’ve seen, it’s less about immediate results and more about perspective. You start to see what kinds of stories are getting attention, how people talk about projects, and how relationships are built over time.
For writers, I feel festivals can shift your mindset from just “writing a good script” to thinking about how that script can actually exist in the real world — who it’s for, how it can be made, and where it belongs.
Even being part of conversations around events like Cannes helps in understanding the bigger picture.