Film Festival in a Box offers an alternative to traditional distribution

By Sarah Sluis

There's something special about seeing a movie in a theatre, but there's something really special about seeing brand-new works exhibited in a film festival. Now that experience has been packaged for the home viewing market. Film Festival in a Box, a modest initiative from Indieflix, aims to bring that experience to small groups of viewers in their home. For about $15, people receive four short films on a DVD. The idea is to gather a group of friends, and discuss and vote on their favorite film. Like a real film festival's "Audience Award," the most well-received films can receive prizes of up to $1,000.

In a feature about Film Festival in a Box, the New York Times calls the viewing experience "ostensibly a game," a compelling allusion. What better way to cap a dinner party or make a gathering of friends special than turning screen-watching into a social and interactive experience? The idea also has parallels to that of a book club, and some kind of serial subscription could work, though it's not being currently offered. Right now, the founder says she has not yet recouped her costs for producing such groupings as "Powered by Women, "Pottymouth Comedies," "Zombies," and "Love," but over 2,000 copies had been sold. The focus on lowbrow comedy and horror suggests a teenage audience, which may work to draw in the YouTube generation of aspiring filmmakers.

What's most exciting about this project, though, is that it takes short films, a segment of the market deemed "commercial Kryptonite" by the article, and sorts them into genres in order to package them into something marketable. Having just returned from a film festival, I can attest that short films can be the most exciting part of a festival experience, and also one that brought me back to my days as a film student. Often student films or a first filmmaking attempt, short films have a rawness and level of experimentalism that can be rewarding. You can see people working out film form on the screen, and the short story arcs and small stories can have a big impact--and quicker payoffs than features.

Certainly there's a counterpoint for this in the alternative content market for theatres. A short film festival with a live component could easily fit into the slate of Fathom, one of the largest alternative content providers. Short films have such limited audiences, and small distribution efforts like that of Film Festival in a Box have the potential to bring little-known but quality short films to eager cinephiles.