Can I charge screening fees for my Short?
In this article we share some insights about the do’s and don’ts of charging screening fees.
We have been taking care of the festival distribution of several famous shorts in the past years, among them films that were nominated for prestigious awards, such as academy awards or BAFTA awards. These highly acclaimed films also received many requests for out-of-competition screenings. This can be used as an opportunity to discuss screening fees.
First of all: screening fees can only be charged by the rights owner of the film. If your short is a student film and the school owns the rights or part of the rights, you should discuss and possibly share any screening fees with the school. If you are in the lucky position to collaborate with a sales or distribution company for your short, you should clarify who is charging for screening fees at festivals.
Most of the festivals don’t pay screening fees for shorts in competitions, as there is a chance for the films to receive awards, which might even come with a money prize. Nevertheless, for curated out-of-competition programs many festivals have a small budget for screening fees. Some festivals run short film programs during the year, satellite events or best of tours. Your film might be invited to participate and receive compensation.Unfortunately, only a few countries have legislation that requires them to pay screening fees under certain circumstances, e.g. Canada.
Some festivals state in their rules and regulations that they do not pay screening fees, even at events or out-of-competition screenings. With a submission you accept this. Even if there is no such regulation in their terms, most festivals don’t mention screening fees when approaching the filmmakers to give consent to the screening. So it is advantageous to check first the regulations, and then politely ask.
There are occassions for out-of-competition screenings, where we agree to show the film without further charges, e.g. if the festival is quite famous and you can use it for marketing your film. If the occassion and the audience is perfect for your film and you can transport your films message, why not. If the screening is at special locations, as for example for some scientists at an Antarctic research station, it will be an amazing social media post.
Antarctic Short, Documentary and Animation Film Festival in Finnish Antarctic research station Aboa (73°03’S, 13°25'W), audience is 7 people, file transfer via satelite.
When we consider which amount would be appropriate, we check the following:
How long is the film? Screening fees can be a bit higher for 30 to 40 minute films than for films up to 15 minutes.
How many screenings are planned?
How big is the venue and the audience?
We start negotiations at around 50$ — 150$ per screening. You will need to bill for the screening fee. We created an invoice template for you here.
If there is still enough time, send the invoice first, and the files later. But we could see that all parties involved are really trustworthy. We never had any problems actually to receive the amount we agreed on even if we have sent the files first. Send the deliverables in the formats as requested by the festival.
Screening fees at other events
There are other screening occasions besides festivals, for which you might get approached to screen your film. Art institutions, schools or other educational institutes, embassies, etc. You can basically apply the same guidelines as the ones mentioned above. Fees can be slightly higher.
Reach out to us if you have feedback or questions!
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Last updated: May 2022
