I Submitted to a Lot of Festivals. Is That Good?
Short answer: it depends on why you did it and what you expect to happen next.
Submitting to a lot of festivals isn’t inherently good or bad.
Festivals are a tool. And like any tool, it can either help you build something… or just exhaust you.
Let’s break it down in a way that actually helps you moving forward.
Submitting ≠ Progress
Submitting to festivals feels like your film is going somewhere.
But submission volume alone doesn’t move your career.
Submitting to 50 festivals where your film doesn’t belong is not more strategic than submitting to 10 where it does.
When Submitting to a Lot of Festivals Is a Good Thing
You’re Still in the Learning Phase
If this is:
- Your first or second short
- Your first time navigating FilmFreeway
- Your first time researching film festivals
Then yes — broad submission can be educational.
You learn:
- How different festivals organize themselves
- How rejections feel (and that you survive them)
- What types of festivals program your work
Think of it as market research.
You’re Testing the Film, Not Expecting Miracles
Smart students treat submissions like a research paper.
If you submit widely and:
- Hear nothing → that’s data
- Get genre-specific interest → that’s data
- Get regional acceptance → that’s data
What matters is whether you analyze the results.
Look for patterns that keep showing up and this will help you for the next go around.
You Budgeted Emotionally and Financially
Submission fatigue is real.
If you went wide knowing:
- Most festivals will reject the film
- Acceptances would be limited
- Rejections aren’t personal
Then you did it the healthy way.
If you expected validation from every submission you are going to need to start looking for a therapist because that’s gonna do a number on your mental health.
When Submitting to a Lot of Festivals Isn’t Helping You
You’re Using Submissions to Avoid the Next Step
I see this a lot from filmmakers early in their career. Submitting becomes a stall tactic:
“I can’t start my next project yet. I’m waiting to hear back XYZ festivals(s).”
Yikes! That’s dangerous.
Festivals should overlap with your next project, not pause your creative momentum. This way when you get the inevitable question “What are you working on next” you can tell them about your current exciting project.
If submissions are delaying growth, it’s stopped being useful.
You’re Submitting Without a Strategy
If your list includes:
- Festivals that don’t program student work
- Festivals outside your genre
- Festivals with zero shorts programming
Then you just donated your entry fee to a festival you will not and cannot get into. I am sure they appreciate your support but that’s as far as that relationship is going to go.
You’re Measuring Success by Acceptances
This is the fastest way to feel like you’re failing.
Student films compete against:
- MFA thesis films
- Seasoned indie filmmakers
- Films with full teams and budgets
Acceptance does guarantee you a long successful career as a filmmaker.
Rejection does not mean your career as a filmmaker needs to be over.
Festivals are events running 1-2 weeks. You are working on something to last a lifetime. Let’s keep that in perspective.
The Student Filmmaker Advantage
Here’s the good news.
Student filmmakers are not expected to be perfect — they’re expected to be interesting.
But this only helps if you submit to festivals that actually embrace emerging filmmakers.
Not all do.
A Smarter Way to Think About Festival Volume
Instead of asking:
“Did I submit to too many festivals?”
Ask:
- What was I trying to learn from this run?
- What patterns am I seeing in responses?
- Which festivals felt like a good fit — even if they rejected me?
- What does this tell me about my style, genre, or audience?
Submissions should generate data (back to that research paper), not more questions.
What Matters More Than Submission Count
These things move your career more than 100 entries ever will:
- Making the next film faster
- Improving one specific weakness each project
- Building relationships at festivals you do attend
- Learning how to talk about your work clearly
- Understanding where your film belongs
Festivals do a really good job giving you a place to accelerate what you are already working on.
To button it all up, If you submitted widely and:
- You learned something, that’s good
- You got a few yeses, that’s great
- You got mostly noes but kept going, that’s still good
- You’re already planning the next project is best possible outcome
The only real “mistake” is assuming festivals are the final destination rather than one of many milestones in your storytelling career.
