It is one thing to be at home watching the latest animated film or playing the newest version of a video game or surfing the net to find a You Tube flick. It is a completely different thing to get the chance to go to an animation festival or market. Usually when you go to such a venue you will see what the rest of the world will see sometimes as much as two years in advance and usually on a big screen in a big theatre, using the most up to date viewing technology. I call it the "WOW" experience.
The Opportunity to See What Others Are Doing: Since animation takes so long to produce, the technology and the marketing machines are kicked into gear several years in advance. If you want to produce animation as a serious venture rather than a hobby, it really is to your advantage to go to film festivals, television markets and computer/software trade shows. You need to know who is creating and who is buying. You also need to know if a film with the same themes as yours is about to be released two months down the road. Lots of times many creative minds have the same theme of topic or style. Going to this type of event prevents you from inadvertently imitating someone else's work or the possible future legal problems as they shut you down from creating something you thought you thought of first.
Social Interaction and Business Connection: When you go to events like this you generally have access to real players in the business. You could end up being in line at the lunch counter with a famous animator, voice-over actor, producer or distributor. Remember also to be on your best behavior during these opportunities as the wrong click on a cell phone camera could put you on some social internet "oops" list.
Catalogue Listings: If you have a film that has been accepted into a competition, it will be listed in the festival catalogue complete with a description of you, the film, its length any other information and photo. In the grand scheme of things it is really good to be accepted into competition even if you do not win. Why? At a film festival there are often over a thousand entries in sometimes over fifty categories. If your film made the cut into the top one hundred films, you are already in great company and the festival is going to help you show your film under the best possible circumstances. The other advantage is that the catalogues are in the hands of producers and distributors who will go over the information in more detail (including your information) after the festival is over.
A Few Words about Awards: Awards are not announced in the catalogue listing. Obviously, that information would spoil the awards night. You should remember that awards are nice, but they do not pay the rent and more often than not can be a (slight) liability. A friend of mine, who had won of all things, an Academy Award when he was at school for his animated short, all but jettisoned his career. I asked him many years later how the award had influenced him and his response was that people thought he was now such a success and therefore very expensive and very few people hired him. "Where do you go from up?" he said.
My response is to just accept the award graciously, this was your moment and keep working on the next projects that make your heart sing. Just because you did or did not win does not diminish the real quality of your project or the three runners up.
Controlling Ego at a Competition: I have personally witnessed some of the most distasteful examples of ego at various film festivals. It may the pressure, the sudden attention that an artist craved or just petty jealousy. One filmmaker had been invited by a festival to attend because his film had been nominated. The organization had paid for his trip and accommodation. He was very nice for the three days until award night. Then award night came and he did not win. He was so angry at the organization committee because he had assumed that he had won because they went to the expense of flying him in. He threw a copy of his film in the trash and hurled insults at the committee for wasting his valuable time. He did not realize that they had flown in other filmmakers as well in support of all of the nominated filmmakers and to give them the chance to mingle with each other and the fans. As a note, he has not been in the business ever since.
Conclusion: If you get the chance to go to an animation festival or market, go. The bottom line is that you will see new things, get new ideas and meet new friends. It is not about comparing yourself to others but rather to be inspired by others, understanding the hard work it really takes to produce creative quality, and if someone likes your stuff, say "thank you" graciously.
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