Our earlybird deadline for this season is July 10. Just a heads up- this is the best time to submit because our submission fees are at their lowest. Save yourself a few bucks and get your work in asap! Just click on the SUBMISSIONS tab for the details.
Don’t forget the newest step-child of the Festivus Film Festival is coming up! Laugh Track Comedy Fest happens July 23 and 24 at the Bug Theatre. The schedule as well as ticketing info has been posted on the Laugh Track website. It’s an awesome program. Loads of hilarious shorts and a really great lineup of stand-up comics as well. It’s going to be a blast!
At Festivus 2009 filmmaker Marc Havener won our award for Best Editing for his film And What Remains. A year later we’re still in awe of this 10 minute short. Not only was the editing absolutely incredible, but so was the cinematography, writing, acting, everything. A great example of a perfectly-crafted short film. Continuing on the festival circuit And What Remains has now screened at more than 40 festivals, winning numerous awards.
Marc- we’re so proud that you chose to screen at Festivus Film Festival, and wish you all the success you deserve! Check out a great article about the film on Lawrence.com.
Last season we had a remarkable number of world premieres, (14 actually) plus countless U.S. and regional premieres. It’s always great to get updates from our newest friends on the festival circuit. One of those new notables is Nathaniel Eyde. His short film Black Ops Arabesque had it’s world premiere at Festivus 2010. Since then he’s screened at a lot of top-notch fests, including SXSW, Atlanta FF, Sonoma FF, Dallas Intl, Ann Arbor FF, and more.
Nathaniel says, “Since our premiere at Festivus in January, we’ve had an absolute blast showing the film. The best part is seeing the audience reaction when we make our genre-bending shift from what looks like an action movie to something very different.”
Nathaniel, it’s awesome to hear you’re doing so well on the circuit! We’ve excited for you, and can’t wait to see what comes next!
Yep, it’s finally upon us. Submissions for Festivus 2011 are now open. Hard to believe it’s been 4 years since our very first Call for Entries! We’re all so proud of our first three seasons, and can’t wait until the fourth. We’ve created something that both filmmakers and audience members really enjoy, and we’d love for you to be a part of it. The earlybird submission period runs for just over a month, and offers our cheapest submission fees, so it’s your best opportunity to submit and save a few dollars. As always, don’t hesitate to contact us with any questions. We look forward to seeing your work!
One of the most exciting developments we’ve been working on during our down time is a spin off from one of our fan favorite blocks, the Laugh Track Comedy Shorts. It’s been so popular over the last three years that we decided to give it it’s very own festival! So coming up July 23 + 24, Denver will get the chance to welcome the Laugh Track Comedy Fest to the scene! This two day event will feature not only comedic short films but live stand-up comedy. With the Bug Theatre as our host, you’re not going to want to miss this one. Head over to the new Laugh Track website for more details. See you there!
Well folks, there has been a lot going on behind the scenes for the last few months here at Festivus. We’ve officially become a non-profit corporation, and our 501c3 application is currently being reviewed by Uncle Sam. Not only that, but we’ve picked our dates for Festivus 2011! It’s going to be January 13-16. We’ll be opening up for submissions again here in a couple of weeks, so keep posted for that. Filmmakers- remember it’s always cheaper to submit your work before the earlybird deadline! More to come soon…
It seems like just yesterday we were getting together to start planning out our third season. 10 months later, and it’s come and gone! Year three was a record year for Festivus in every imaginable way. We 
blew away our past attendance numbers. We had 12 WORLD PREMIERES, along with numerous US and Colorado Premieres. We had a filmmaker travel all the way from Turkey to present his work (thank you Savas!) Certainly a new record for distance-traveled. We had more filmmakers attend, stronger programming, far more media coverage, great filmmaker Q&A sessions, 
wilder nightlife events, and more supportive sponsors (without you this wouldn’t be possible!) When the Festivus family got together for the first time all those years ago and decided to start a film fest, this year’s festival was the one we always dreamed of having. Thank you to everyone who helped make Festivus FF one of the hottest young film fests in North America!
We’ll be posting lots of pics up here on the website, but until then head over to our Facebook fan page to check them out there.
Can’t believe it’s all over… what a ride! We’ll be posting lots of post-fest pics and follow-ups in the next couple of weeks. Here’s a little something to check out in the mean time: we’re on MetroMix! Special thanks for Josh Barret for the great coverage… there’s probably 50 pics up there from our Awards Blowout.
Online ticketing ends 12 hours before any screening, but don’t worry, there are plenty of TICKETS AVAILABLE AT THE DOOR. See you there!
Great screenings, great Q&A with some talented filmmakers, and a great show afterwards with The Knew. Tickets are still available for all Saturday shows, but get there early to make sure you get a good seat. Don’t forget- the awards blowout is tonight at the Sportsbook. You WILL NOT want to miss. See you tonight!
Thanks to everyone that came out to our opening night. Both screenings were a blast, and our shorts program even sold out! Great afterparty too- guess nobody told the Festivus folks it was a weekday! Anyways we have another great night planned for you. Tonight all screenings will be at the Oriental. Things kick off at 6:45, just check our SCHEDULE for details. Pre-sale ticketing has closed, but tickets will be available at the door. Stick around after the screenings and rock out with The Knew, starting their set around 10:30. See you there!
It’s finally here! Opening Night! All screenings tonight are at the Bug Theatre. (Don’t forget, the Bug Theatre is a cash-only venue.) Here’s the schedule:
Tickets will be available at the door for both screenings. For detailed information on the films, click on our SCHEDULE / TIX tab.
We love the Onion! So we were very excited when they called and asked to do a little Q&A with Johnathan McFarlane, our director. He shared some of his knowledge about how to fund an indie film. Check it out HERE.
Our closing film Race Walkers (Sunday Jan. 17, 7pm @ The Bug) was featured today on Colorado & Company. Check out the segment by clicking HERE. Always great to get coverage on 9 News! Don’t forget to get your tix to this one early, because it WILL SELL OUT!
Just a reminder- a screenings at the Bug Theatre will be cash-only for tickets at the door. Sorry for the inconvenience!
Of course we’re all excited about the films in Festivus… but don’t forget, we’ve got parties every night too! Here’s a rundown of each one, along with a link to the event’s schedule page (where you can find more details). See you guys there!
Festival director Johnathan McFarlane got the opportunity to participate in a panel discussion on LA Talk Radio’s Film Courage. Great show! Along with directors from Hollyshorts and EgoFest he discussed the film festival world, filmmaking in general, and what film festivals mean for the independent filmmaker today. Check out the 45 minute show available for podcast or download HERE.
Opening night is just around the corner! Hope you’re are as excited as we are! If you haven’t done it yet, create your own custom festival schedule on our schedule/tix tab. It’s very easy to do, and you can buy tickets from the same spot. Seen our second full-page ad in the Onion? If not you can check it out by clicking HERE. Or how about our 2010 poster? We’ve also been getting coverage from 303 Magazine, 5280 Magazine, Denver Post, Westword, Aurora Sentinel and the Onion A.V. Club. If you happen to see any of these great publications pick ‘em up and have a look.
…into some of our 2010 program.