Chris Gore's Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide, 4th edition: The Essential Companion for Filmmakers and Festival-Goers (Chris Gore's Ultimate Flim Festival Survival Guide) [Paperback]

Chris Gore (Author)

Book Description

Release date: September 1, 2009 | ISBN-10: 0823099717 | ISBN-13: 978-0823099719 | Edition: 4th

The guerrilla guide to marketing and selling an indie film.

Some people are just there for the loot bags. But most of the people at a film festival are trying to market and sell an independent film. Don’t be just one of the horde. Use Chris Gore’s Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide to help your indie film stand out! Entertainment Weekly loves Gore’s book, calling it a “treatise on schmoozing, bullying, and otherwise weaseling one's way into the cinematic madness known as film festivals.” The newly revised and updated fourth edition includes full listings for more than 1,000 film festivals, with complete tips and contact information, plus in-depth analysis of the Big Ten festivals. With detailed, fresh how-tos for marketing, distributing, and selling a film and using websites to build buzz, plus interviews with top festival filmmakers, step-by-steps on what to do after your film gets accepted, and explanations of how to distribute a film, Chris Gore’s guide tells filmmakers exactly how to become a player in the indie world. Chris Gore’s Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide includes complete listings for more than 1,000 festivals—find the best for indie, documentary, short, student, digital, and animation, and a CD-ROM!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chris Gore is a writer and filmmaker. He has travelled the world to over 100 film festivals and finally ventured into filmmaking as the writer and producer of My Big Fat Independent Movie.

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Watson-Guptill; 4th edition (September 1, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0823099717
• ISBN-13: 978-0823099719
• Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.9 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.9 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #379,519 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chris Gore is a writer, comedian, author and television personality who has built a solid reputation as a hilariously outspoken voice in the entertainment world.

As a teenager, Chris founded the brutally honest magazine Film Threat, which began as a fanzine while he was a college student in Detroit. As Film Threat evolved into a respected national magazine, he relocated to Los Angeles. The print magazine was retired in 1997 when it was re-launched as a web site. FilmThreat.com found a huge audience online and was named one of the top five movie web sites by the Wall Street Journal. Chris sold Film Threat at the 2010 Sundance Film Festival to former editor Mark Bell.

Chris has appeared as a film expert on MSNBC, E!, CNN, Travel Channel, and Reelz Channel. Chis has also hosted shows on FX, Starz, and IFC. Chis is currently a host on G4TV's Attack of the Show where he is the show's film expert. His weekly movie review segment DVDuesday is among the most popular on G4. Chris also appears in sketches and comedic segments and occasionally guest co-hosts Attack of the Show.

Chris is also an author, having written The 50 Greatest Movies Never Made (St. Martin's Press) and The Complete DVD Book (Michael Wiese Publications). His book The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide (Random House) is considered the bible of the industry and is required reading at film school. A 4th edition was recently released along with a companion web site UltimateFilmFest.com. As a writer, his opinionated stories have appeared in magazines, online and in trades such as The New York Times, The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Video Business, Total Movie, Spin, Details, Suicide Girls, ChinaShopMag.com and Playboy.com.

Chris is well-respected in the festival world, serving on several festival advisory boards. He was also named one of the 25 most influential people in independent film by Film Festival Today magazine. Chris began his own independent filmmaking career with the cult short Red starring Lawrence Tierney from Reservoir Dogs. Chris wrote and produced the feature comedy My Big Fat Independent Movie.

Though his career spans a diverse spectrum of jobs affiliated with the world of movies, Chris prefers to describe himself as a "Nerdlebrity." He lives in Los Angeles but his home on the web can be found at ChrisGore.com.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

2.0 out of 5 stars DO NOT BUY THIS BOOK USED November 7, 2011

By Karen Rousso

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

Unlike the other editions of this book, this edition's guides to the individual festivals is only available online -- using the serial number printed in the book. If someone else has used your serial number, you will not be able to access the most valuable information the book has to offer. I've owned a previous edition, and was expecting to be able to access the same information, only updated. Now I'm out of luck. I wish the book description had included this caveat.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Invaluable guide for filmmakers thinking of entering festivals September 11, 2012

By Gregory Willihnganz

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I am a 66-year-old filmmaker who teaches filmmaking at the Delphi Center of the University of Louisville. I work with a group of younger folks who are considering making a short film to enter in film festivals and I read Chris Gore's book to find out how to do this effectively and what to expect. The book was entertaining and highly informative. The interviews with other filmmakers about their experiences on the film festival circuit are invaluable. After reading this book, I feel like I have attended 100 film festivals just like Chris has. The documentary "Official Rejection" available from Netflix, is also a wonderful resource and well worth the hour and 47 minutes it takes to view it--you get to see, hear, and feel what life on the film festival circuit is like.

3.0 out of 5 stars Not bad April 30, 2013

By webfusion

Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase

I've not finished it yet but so far one of the major websites listed leads to a non existent site. I found the listings for festivals within the book helpful as was some of the other information. I've nothing to compare it to that I have read but it's ok.