Another sign of a scam fest is one that has the announcement date less than two weeks after submissions close - it takes time to view all the submissions and make a final decision. You want to avoid festivals that clearly have just one or two judges since it is unlikely they watch all submissions in their entirety. Not all legit festivals have this, but it is a very good sign if they do.
How do they judge submissions? Look on their website to see if they post a FAQ or any information about how they judge submissions. If the festival is a non-profit, you should see some public groups or grantors there too. You want to see a good assortment of local and national sponsors. Keep in mind that the majority of these sponsors are providing product or promotion. Who are their sponsors? Look for their website Sponsors page. If you keep seeing the same director names over and over, likely this is a festival that screens mostly their friends’ films and isn’t much interested in quality. Whose films do they screen? Look on their website to see previous films screened. Do you only see tight images in front of a step & repeat banner, or do you see a variety of photos of various events, lots of different people, different venues? What do their events look like? Look on their social media for event photos. This all helps promote your film and proves that the festival is committed to supporting their filmmakers. Even better if they include the film’s social media links. Look for festivals that give each film its own page including synopsis, trailer, director/producer. How do they showcase their films? What information do they post about each film on their website? If they only list a film title and director name, you likely won’t get much out of the festival. Do they promote just the festival, or can you find promotion of specific films and interviews of filmmakers? 
See what kind of promotion they provide filmmakers - check their website, social media and youtube. If you see an insanely high number of stellar reviews for a festival you’ve never heard of, they are likely buying reviews and should be avoided. If all you can find is generic info about the festival, few followers and limited commenting, they might not be worth it. See what their social media presence is and how many followers they have on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Read the reviews and Facebook comments. Sure, it’s cool to get an award, but legit distributors know which fests are awards mills and if they see laurels from those, they’ll assume your film is junk. Count the number of awards they give out - if the number is more than 20 or so a year, it is an awards mill and is not worth your time or money, particularly if they charge for each category (you should not have to pay to submit your film for “Best Actor”). Another sign of a potential scam fest is a notification date that is very close to the festival date - a legit festival needs at least a month after notification date to put together schedules, gather films and test them, print programs and arrange details. #Submit final print to film festival movie
A real movie theater should have at least 85 seats. Again, go to their website and Facebook, maybe find their ticket purchasing site or event listing and see where they screen and then google it and see how many seats. Don’t just accept it if the FilmFreeway entry says “Film Festival with Live Screenings” – some say that but only screen a tiny handful of films, or screens at a local bar. Make sure the festival screens in a real theater.There’s no way they could screen all those films. Another hint that something isn’t right is if the Festival only lasts for one day yet gives out hundreds of awards. If the description on FilmFreeway doesn’t specifically say that, go to their website and look for schedules from previous years. Make sure the festival screens every selected film.How do you choose which festival is right for your film? Everyone says you must do your research before submitting, but what exactly should you be looking for? Here’s what you should check out about each Festival:
Right now there are 2600 or so festivals accepting submissions via FilmFreeway. Small and medium festivals should not be ignored - they can give you an audience, recognition, fantastic networking and the chance to get your name out there for future projects.
Everyone wants to apply to SXSW, Sundance, Toronto and the other big boys, but be realistic - unless your film is high budget and includes celebrities, your chances of acceptance is virtually zero and you likely are wasting your submission fees. In general, you want to apply to a collection of festivals including large and small, local and far away, genre and non-genre. Hooray! You finished your film and it’s fantastic! Time to send it off to film festivals and get it seen!
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