Indie-fest
What is Indie-Fest?
Indie-Fest is an online film competition program affiliated with a live festival event. It is the American Idol of independent film. It is free to the viewer and extends the festival brand. Films are only available for viewing for a specific amount of time. Winners are usually announced on opening night of the festival.
Festival audiences have long felt that they want a piece of the programming action and now, with the launch of Indie-Fest hosted by IndieFlix, they can.
Audience members watch and vote. It’s completely free
The winning film screens at the festival. In some cases they also receive a cash award. All winning films receive a 90/10 non-exclusive, preferred distribution deal via IndieFlix and some or all of our 3rd party outlets such as iTunes, Joost, Netflix, Hulu, TiVo, Amazon VOD and VUDU.
The films in competition stream securely in HD and DVD quality video provided by IndieFlix and their technology partner .
Here’s how it works
The Basics
Q: Where did these films come from?
- The festival programmers choose these films from their annual submissions and invite certain filmmakers to participate in the online film competition of the festival. The festival does this to not only expand the number of films they can support with exposure and opportunity but also to include the audience and community in programming what plays in the theater during the festival.
Q: So, these films are not on the edge or the programmers are not sure about them?
- No. These films are great films. The festival has only so many theatrical slots available. They reserve one or two slots for the winning films to play at the festival as part of the prize and they want you to help them choose.
Q: Why did the festival choose indie-fest?
- There are other companies that are beginning to offer this streaming but indie-fest was the first and launched with the Seattle Int’l film festival in June 2008. Indie-fest is also a subsidiary of IndieFlix, a filmmaker first company. IndieFlix distributes over 1100 titles and participation in indie-fest does not require any film to be distributed by IndieFlix. The prize is completely optional and valid for one year from the date of the win.
Q: Why doesn’t the film festival do the streaming themselves?
- Film festivals could do it themselves but then the audience is limited and it is an awful lot of work. The indie-fest audience is year round and comes from all the festivals that have used the indie-fest sponsorship. All you have to do is register with your email and you can watch films from festivals around the world. It’s quality programming at your fingertips. t’s always free and you are supporting independent film.
Q: Where did these films come from?
- The festival programmers choose these films from their annual submissions and invite certain filmmakers to participate in the online film competition of the festival. The festival does this to not only expand the number of films they can support with exposure and opportunity but also to include the audience and community in programming what plays in the theater during the festival.
Q: What’s at stake?
- The winning film will be screened as an Official Selection at the festival.
- The winning filmmaker will be also receiving a 90/10 preferred distribution deal on IndieFlix and some of it’s outlets, such as iTunes, Joost, HULU, TiVo, Netflix & VUDU. It’s an awesome distribution deal for any filmmaker.
Q: Are the filmmakers worried about piracy?
Not so much anymore. These films are being streamed, not downloaded. It’s like watching TV with no VCR to record the content being played. It plays instantly because you monitor is simply a viewing device. Nothing is downloaded onto your computer. It’s streamed on the festival branded site for a very short period of time to festival registered users only and then the streams are cut.
Q: How do I Watch?
- Simply click ‘Watch the Film’ you can watch from a Mac or PC
- You’ll be prompted to load the Grid Networks connector which is a piece of code for High Quality screening if you don’t already have it installed.
- You might also be prompted to download the latest version of flash
- Click the Full Screen button, turn down the lights, and enjoy!
Q: How do I Vote?
- Voting is easy—after each film grade it from 1 to 5.
- You can only vote once. If you try to vote twice it will override your last vote.
- After voting period ends, grading for each film will be tallied and a winner announced.
Q: How do I Share?
- Share your comments about the films with the filmmakers after watching their work. Filmmakers LOVE getting feedback.
-Spread the word about your favorites with friends, family, everyone you know and help your pick win the competition. Filmmakers LOVE this too.
Q: I really liked this whole experience. How can I get alerts when a new festival is going live?
- You can click the “Invite Me To The Premiere!” button on the indie-fest hub page we will keep you posted on the upcoming festivals and soon we will be giving away passes to galas and screenings and trips to the festivals.
Q: If I uncheck the box so my email will not be shared with the filmmaker will they still get my comment?
- Yes, they will still receive your comments, country, gender, age range and zip code but not your email. The collected demographic data is invaluable to help secure and focus distribution. We at IndieFlix absolutely respect your privacy and will not share your email with them if you uncheck the box.
Q: Why share my email with the filmmaker?
- Filmmakers like to stay in touch with their audience and often times thank them for supporting their film. After the film, the audience is the next most precious aspect to filmmaking and filmmakers are a very grateful bunch and like to keep their fans informed.
Q: What technology are you using to stream the movies?
GridNetworks, based in Seattle, Washington, is a leading provider of managed Internet television services. Targeted primarily at media and entertainment companies, GridNetworks’ GridCasting technology allows media companies to cost-effectively and reliably stream full-screen, HD quality, and video content over the Internet. For more information, please visit http://www.gridnetworks.com
Want to know more?
Please feel free to email IndieFlix at info@indieflix.com anytime.
