It takes a lot of time, resilience, and support to make a film, let alone get it into the Sundance Film Festival.
This year, the Vimeo team was lucky to interview a group of Staff-Picked directors who had films screening at Sundance. The reality is, most of our interviewees have been making and submitting work for at least a decade before finally getting a film into the festival. And everyone’s journey and process are unique to them. We talked about the joys and frustrations of the work and gathered some great insights about what the road to Sundance actually looks like.
Here’s what we learned along the way.
Embracing uncertainty can result in real, beautiful moments
Aurora Brachman and LaTajh Simmons-Weaver come from two different filmmaking backgrounds — Aurora is a documentary director and LaTajh is a narrative director, but they came together to make “Hold Me Close,” a quiet, gorgeous documentary short about love.
The two directors dug into what you can learn from making a doc. It requires letting go of control, but something unexpectedly beautiful can come from trusting the process.
Get past your fear and just make something
How do you keep going during the long and arduous process of making a film? For Alex Heller, who premiered the narrative short “Debaters,” it’s staying in touch with the memory that made her want to make the film in the first place.
Creating something from a personal place can help you keep going and power through the feelings that your work has to be perfect. Don’t be afraid to make something not great, or even bad — it’s the making of it that’s the whole point.
“I love that Vimeo has the ability to replace video files and update an existing project so that you always have the most recent version available for film festival submissions.”
Friends can expand your vision
Joseph Longo and Sofia Camargo have been friends and collaborators since film school. And though they have different styles, they leaned into one another’s strengths to create the narrative short “We’re Not Done Yet” which starred both Joseph and his mother Barbara Sukowa.
This “family affair” of a production benefitted from those close relationships, and working together and screening a film together ultimately made the experience and the film that much more meaningful.
“I use Vimeo all the time, not only to embed my work on websites but also because it makes sharing links to my projects effortless. The ad-free viewing experience and the control it gives me over presentation make it my go-to.”
Find your community to find your confidence
Cole Webley has a number of short films under his belt, yet had never had any of them accepted to the top-tier film festivals. Putting his films on Vimeo gave him access to an audience and a community that he hadn’t expected — which ultimately led him to find the confidence to make his first feature.
With short films as a stepping stone, his feature debut “Omaha” offered a lot of lessons on what it takes to make a full-length film and how to know when you’re ready.
If you’re feeling inspired to make your next short film, check out Vimeo’s Short Film Grant: We’re granting five filmmakers $30,000 each, Nikon and RED gear, and mentorship opportunities. Apply by April 18 and maybe we’ll see you at Sundance next year (or the year after that, or the year after that! We believe in you).
