Film Festival Submission Planner & Press Kit Builder
Getting a finished film in front of the right festivals and financiers is its own project. The Story Maker's Festival Strategy tool helps plan a submission timeline and target list, and the Press Kit (EPK) Builder assembles an investor- and festival-ready electronic press kit — pulling from the concept art, pitch deck, and production details you've already built.
What's included
A strategy, not just a list of festival names
Festival Strategy planning accounts for submission timelines, budget for entry fees, and realistic targeting based on your film's genre and scale — not just a generic list of well-known festivals.
Your press kit reuses what you already built
The Press Kit / EPK Builder pulls from concept art, pitch deck materials, and production details already in the platform, so you're assembling from existing assets rather than starting a marketing document from a blank page.
Strategy is mostly sequencing
Festival planning looks like a list of deadlines and is really a sequencing problem. Premiere status is the constraint everything else bends around: many major festivals require a world, international or national premiere, so accepting a smaller festival first can quietly disqualify you from a larger one later.
Working out the order before submitting — which tier you are realistically aiming at, which festivals to hold for, which are safe to enter early — is the part that actually affects outcomes.
Deadlines, fees and what post has to hit
Submission windows have early, regular and late tiers with escalating fees, and the date that matters is not the deadline but the date your film has to be finished to make it. That runs backwards through delivery, the mix, colour and picture lock.
Planning the festival run against the post schedule rather than separately is what stops a film missing a deadline by three weeks for reasons that were visible months earlier.
Tiering your submissions honestly
The most common festival mistake is submitting everywhere at once. Fees add up quickly, premiere status gets spent on the first acceptance, and a scattergun run produces a worse outcome than a sequenced one.
A realistic tiering — which festivals are genuinely plausible for this film, which are aspirational holds, which are safe early entries that do not burn premiere eligibility — is worth more than volume. It is also the plan that keeps submission fees proportionate to the film's budget.
Building the list around what the film actually is
A realistic festival list starts from the film's own characteristics rather than from prestige: running time, genre, language, whether it has a recognisable cast, and which programmers have historically supported work like it.
Documentary, genre, regional-language and student work each have circuits that are far more likely to programme them than the handful of festivals everyone names first. Films that do well on the circuit usually did the unglamorous research about where they fit.
What happens after an acceptance
Acceptance starts work rather than ending it. Festivals require deliverables to spec and on deadline, plus press materials — stills, an EPK, a director's statement, a synopsis in the right length. Missing those is an avoidable way to waste a slot you earned.
Planning the run alongside post and the EPK means those materials exist before they are urgently needed rather than being assembled in a panic the week of the screening.
Frequently asked questions
Does the festival planner suggest specific festivals?
It helps you plan a submission timeline and strategy accounting for entry fees and your film's genre/scale — treat it as a planning tool for your own target list, not a guarantee of festival selection.
Can I reuse assets from earlier in production for my press kit?
Yes — the Press Kit / EPK Builder pulls from concept art, pitch deck materials, and other production details already built earlier in the platform.
What does premiere status mean in practice?
Many major festivals require that your film has not screened publicly before, in a defined territory or worldwide. Entering a smaller festival first can therefore make you ineligible for a larger one — which is why sequencing matters more than the individual submissions.
Does this submit to festivals for me?
No. Submissions go through the festivals' own platforms — FilmFreeway and similar. This is the planning layer: which festivals, in what order, against what deadlines, and what post has to deliver to hit them.
How early should I plan the run?
Before picture lock, because the deadlines run backwards into the post schedule. A festival strategy decided after the film is finished is a list of things you already missed.
How many festivals should I submit to?
Fewer than most first-time filmmakers do. Fees accumulate fast and premiere status is spent on the first public screening, so a sequenced run through a realistic tier list generally beats submitting everywhere at once.
What do I need ready before submitting?
A finished film to the festival's spec, plus press materials — stills, a synopsis, a director's statement and usually an EPK. Planning the run alongside post means those exist before they are urgently needed rather than being assembled the week of the screening.
Start free with 2,500 credits — no card needed.
Pay-as-you-go credits, not a subscription. Every tool shows its cost before you run it.
Start FreeWhat we're learning, once a week
Real numbers on making films with AI — costs, workflows, and what actually works. No pitch, unsubscribe anytime.