Another place to get feedback is from friends and family, of course. You could even host a premiere for your film with a little feedback box so when people leave, they can leave a short sentence about your film. Afterwards, you get to choose what you use for promotional purposes. (Don't forget to get their names and where they're from when you ask them for feedback!) Just getting other people to talk positively about a project, and then giving that out with the copy of your film as a clear statement of “see, these people liked it, you should check it out too!” can do wonders. And there's nothing wrong with being your own insistent PR person for your own no-budget film.
Yet another way to go is, of course, film festivals. There are many online avenues, from people’s private competitions to places likeFilmFights.com and OurStage.com that let films compete and then award the winners with anything from a simple diploma award to a cash prize! Videomaker.com and Sony partner up each year to host a short film competition, the winner of which receives one of many prizes based on the category they win. The best part of these types of festivals is that they’re free! On the other hand, the more traditional route is to actually send your film out to festivals around the country and the world, which is by all means an effective way to promote and spread the word about your project. This can be difficult, but with the use of sites like Withoutabox.com, you have unlimited (free) access to film festivals around the world that are accepting entries, including anything from 30-second advertisements or Public Service Announcements to feature-length narratives and documentaries.
On Withoutabox, you only have to submit all the information about your project once, and then you can submit it to as many festivals as you want, and the site will include all that information each time. Remember here, though, be as good a PR person as you can be; if the PR is weak, the project won’t generate interest. Withoutabox asks for three different length synopses about your project, even different language versions, as well as all kinds of cast and crew, budget and fund raising information, any and all screenings and premieres and all sorts of other information that might be interesting in a promotional package for festivals considering your project. There’s even an “Audience Page” option that you can create to advertise your project to the site’s community and the general public in a pre-formatted site that includes a blog, screening and festival listing, information about the project, synopses, photos, videos, etc., all in an effort to make your promotional ventures that much easier and free. The festivals from this site do cost money to enter, but they are often the ones attended by people already in the business, from actors to agents to producers and private financiers. However, there are free festivals online that have celebrity panel judges for their own promotional value and their “industry experience and insight.” So, if you’re willing to shell out some cash for some more exposure, then go ahead and go the route of Withoutabox. At least get an account and figure out how the site works, since it’s a lifesaver when you don’t have the time to dedicate to harder methods of looking for film festivals to submit to. A lot of this DIY filmmaking business is just finding the right avenues to promote your project and then pursuing them. The hardest part of that is usually finding the avenues, but with these tools, it's ridiculously easy.
