Sundance Institute has launched a new educational platform for creators called Sundance Co//ab, which is a great resource to shed some light regarding the festival short film submission and selection process. As filmmakers to filmmakers, we gather you the most useful pieces of advice, tips, and myths. Read this article before submitting your short to Sundance.

Sundance Film Festival: More than 8000 submissions of short films

The Sundance Film Festival, a program of the Sundance Institute, takes place annually in Park City, Utah, is the largest independent film festival in the United States. Getting your film accepted, can open some doors, opportunities and even paving the way for the Oscar.

However, it’s far from being an easy task, since there are more than 8000 submissions and only 60 are accepted.

Sundance Co//ab as an educational source for the 2020 festival

Luckily, Sundance Institute has created exclusive new videos crafted with Sundance Co//ab (the new platform for creators) for filmmakers interested in participating in the 2020 Festival.

The goal of this platform (still in beta mode) is to educate filmmakers regarding the path of their short film in the complex selection maze and enlighten the process further. As filmmakers, we work hard to make our short film. However, after the short is sent it to Sundance, we feel it travels through a black hole since we don’t have any idea what’s happening backstage.

Sundance Co//ab offers a wealth of resources on all aspects of filmmaking, to provide a unique platform to learn, share, and connect with other like­minded creators worldwide. It’s an excellent place to get some useful info, even if you don’t consider to submit. However, before submission, you should give it a glimpse. 

Myths & Tips for Filmmakers

After reviewing some of the videos on the platform, we made a list of all the essential info regarding tales and tips that we think are relevant for filmmakers. We recommend that you read this before submitting your short.

1. Sundance receives over 8000 shorts each year. Only 60-80 are accepted, which means about 0.75% acceptation rate.
2. The film, not the filmmaker, is the essential factor in the selection process. It’s never about the filmmakers. It’s about the film!
3. Knowing the programmer(s) doesn’t help your film get selected: You don’t have to be alumni or know a programmer to get into the festival. Last year there were screened 70 shorts, and 60 of them have never been at the festival before.
4. Don’t over-complicate the story in your film.
5. The length of a short film should be dictated by the story you’re telling.
6. A believable world and authentic, strong storytelling performances will always outweigh fancy or complicated technical details. According to Sundance, the equipment being used is not so necessary. However, please find the charts below which show that most of the selected film (80%) were shot on high-level cinema cameras like RED, ALEXA, and Panavision. We wrote an in-depth article about the cameras being used on Sundance’s selected films.
7. Do not try to replicate a feature by making it short.
8. Acting is a crucial factor! According to Sundance, you don’t have to hire talents but hire good actors.
9. Music: Use your original music. Get some friends that can create original music, or hire a band.
10. The festival gets unfinished films all the time. Therefore, it’s OK to send incomplete versions. But don’t send rough cuts.
11. Your film doesn’t have to be a high production value or a celebrity based to make it into the festival. Of course, the production value is great, but it’s not the main factor. According to the festival, new and fresh voices are far more critical. The festival claims that it looks beyond the celebrity in the film.
12. You can submit your short even if it was played at other festivals. Sundance has no premiere policy!
13. The programmers watch all the submitted films. It takes about 6-7 months to view all those submissions entirely.
14. Sundance does not provide feedback on your short film when it’s not selected. However, There is a dedicated feedback program for that. 

Cameras are not crucial factors (?)

According to Sundance (see section 6), the gear is not the dominant factor. Of course, we all have heard about selected films being shot on iPhones. Nevertheless, when examining the 2019 selection, we can notice more than 80% of the films were shot on high-end cinema cameras. The dominant camera was the ALEXA Mini. The math says it all. Look at the chart below to explore the statistics (click on the image to get a larger view). 

Summary

To sum it up, we made you a neat and straightforward guide dedicated for filmmakers that consider submitting their short to Sundance. Feel free to share it with other filmmakers.

I submitted my film to Sundance 2017. It was not accepted. However, I could use those tips and myths. Do you consider to submit your short? Let’s know your opinion regarding those insights.