“I spent $100s on film festival fees and all i got were a bunch of rejection letters."

It doesn’t have to be like this.

Take control of your film’s festival run. Play more festivals. Be an indie film badass. 

Remember when you finished your film? Months – maybe years – of work, finally ready to show the world. 

You probably thought to yourself, "the hard part’s over – time for the reward!"

Then you started submitting to festivals and new questions began:

  • How do you narrow down the thousands of festivals out there to the ones that are right for your film?

  • How do you decide which festivals are worth the submissions fees they charge?

  • How much should you budget for those fees, anyway?

  • Your movie didn’t have a big budget or any recognizable actors – does a film like yours even make sense for film festivals?

  • What if you don’t know anyone in the industry? Are you just out of luck?

  • Why on Earth won’t someone tell you why your film wasn’t accepted?

At some point you looked up and decided there had to be a better way than making best guesses and deadlines. That’s when you ended up here at the Film Festival Secrets Vault.

The Film Festival Secrets Vault is your library of expert festival knowledge for $6 a month. 

1 Month: $15
3 Months: $30 (Save 33%)
12 months: $72 (Save 60%)

The Film Festival Secrets Vault collects 12+ years of film festival expertise in one place.

Why Join?

Here are just a few of the things you’ll be able to do with access to the Film Festival Secrets Vault:

  • Identify the right festivals for your film to increase your acceptance rate

  • Understand how festivals work and what they want

  • Make the most of your festival budget

  • Submit with confidence that your work is worthy of festivals

  • Use your time at a festival to accomplish your goals

  • Meet other filmmakers like you 

  • Get answers to your film industry questions from festival experts and your peers

The Film Festival Secrets Vault is the best collection of film festival advice ever compiled. 

In the Vault you’ll find a vast array of ebooks (including my flagship book, Film Festival Secrets), tip sheets, audio lessons, online courses, and interviews with festival programmers about what happens during the film selection process. 

If you’re ready to take your festival submissions to the next level, this is the motherlode of insider info that will get you there. 

Included in your membership:

  • More than a dozen ebook files, including Film Festival Secrets: A Handbook for Independent Filmmakers, The Film Festival Starter Kit, and the Better Film Festival Submissions Toolkit. Read them on any device that can open a PDF (including phones and tablets).

  • 5 hours of audio and video, including interviews from programmers at SXSW and Sundance, a master class seminar on crowdfunding, and quick-hit audio lessons that will expand your festival knowledge in a hurry.

  • Once you join you’ll have instant access to all the materials, including downloads of the ebooks. You sign up for just one month or continue your membership for ongoing access to the videos, Facebook group, and updates to the existing materials.

Complete list of Film Festival Secrets Vault contents

  • Film Festival Secrets: A Handbook For Independent Filmmakers (PDF, Kindle, and iBooks formats)

  • Film Festival Starter Kit (PDF, Kindle, and iBooks formats)

  • The Better Film Festival Submissions Toolkit (PDF)

  • 10 Simple Secrets for Saving Money on Film Festival Submissions (PDF)

  • Submissions Tracking Spreadsheet (CSV, Excel, and Numbers formats)

  • What You Should Know About the Music in Your Indie Film (PDF)

  • Filmmaker’s Networking Cheat Sheet (PDF)

  • 6 Essential Things to Do After a Film Festival (PDF)

  • 7 Things You Must Have On Your Film’s Web Site (PDF)

  • Networking at Film Festivals Webinar (video)

  • Crowdfunding Blueprint Webinar (video)

  • Sundance Programmer Trevor Groth (video interview)

  • Indy Film Fest Programmer Lisa Trifone (video interview)

  • Indie Film Journalist Jette Kernion (video interview)

  • Independent Film Festival of Boston Programner Brian Tamm (video interview)

  • Your Film’s Music Rights & Festivals: What You Need to Know (audio lesson)

  • What To Look For on a Festival Web Site (audio lesson)

  • Negotiating with Film Festivals (audio lesson)

  • Narrowing Your Film Festival Choices (audio lesson)

  • Stop Waiting on Sundance! (audio lesson)

  • SXSW Programmer Jarod Neece (audio interview)

Bonus for members who pay annually! The complete online course 7 Days to a Film Festival Strategy, normally $49.

Who created the Film Festival Secrets Vault?

I’m your instructor Chris Holland, and I’ve been in the film industry for 20+ years. I’ve been on staff at 4 film festivals and I’ve helped hundreds of filmmakers like you make the most of the festival circuit. The Vault is the result of all of my experience during that time, and I designed this membership program to be the best money you’ll ever spend on your festival journey.

Questions and Answers

  • How does the subscription work? 

    Subscriptions are paid in advance for the term you choose, and automatically renew when that term is over. If you want to cancel your subscription, just visit your Gumroad library and cancel before your current term ends. 
     

  • Isn’t some of the stuff in the Vault available for free on your site? 

    Yes. All of my free resources as well as some of the books and courses I charge for are included in the Vault. The advantage of this is that you don’t have to hunt for them on the site, and I’ll post updates to those free resources in the Vault first. You’ll get email when each resource receives an update so you’ll never miss something new.
     

  • Why wouldn’t I just pay for one month of the Vault, download everything, and then cancel? 

    You can do that if you like. In order to get new downloadable resources and have ongoing access to videos, however, you’ll need to remain a member. 
     

  • What if I’m not happy with my Vault membership? 

    Contact me here and let me know. I’ll make it right. 
     

  • I have a question you didn’t answer. 

    Email me. 

The Better Film Festival Submissions Toolkit has a very simple purpose: to help you improve the way you submit your work to film festivals.

Divided into 7 core tasks with a discussion of each task, the 16-page Toolkit is designed for quick reading and gives you concrete, actionable tasks to make your film submissions package better. Best of all, you'll get the insight you need to better understand what programmers look for and how to submit with confidence.

Download it for free.