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FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
QUESTION: Why are you only accepting movies created
outside of the Hollywood system?
SHORT ANSWER: Because “IndieWood” does not need our
help.
LONG ANSWER
QUESTION: My movie has stars, production value, and/or
has screened at one of the major film festivals.
Can I
still submit?
SHORT ANSWER: Yes.
LONG ANSWER
QUESTION: Then how do you define, “...outside of the
Hollywood system”?
SHORT ANSWER: As any movie made without the aid of the
Hollywood machine.
LONG ANSWER
QUESTION: Why should I submit my movie to the Maverick
Movie Awards?
SHORT ANSWER: Because even though we’re setting
boundaries, our goal is to eliminate yours.
LONG ANSWER
QUESTION: Why did you change your identity from the New
Haven Underground Film Festival to
the Maverick Movie
Awards?
SHORT ANSWER: To better help moviemakers gain exposure
and distribution.
LONG ANSWER
QUESTION: And why no screening events?
SHORT ANSWER: So we won’t blow your premiere status for
festivals that officially or unofficially require the
distinction of unveiling your movie to the world.
LONG ANSWER
Q: Why are you only accepting movies created outside of
the Hollywood system?
A: Because the vast majority of movies that screen at
the top domestic and foreign festivals are not true
independent movies and our goal is to help you, real
independent and underground moviemakers. You can argue
the powerfully flawed concept that “independent film” is
defined as any movie that is financed or produced
outside of the major studio system if you’d like but
that definition is about as outdated as the concept of a
major studio system. If you need proof, just look at
what’s screening at the big festivals and what the
so-called independent distributors are releasing. Need
more proof: consider the sad truth that the early films
of the moviemakers that helped build these “independent”
festival juggernauts and distribution behemoths would
never even make it past the first guard of interns who
decide if your movie even gets seen by the actual
decision-makers. If you think that David Lynch’s “Eraserhead,”
Kathryn Bigelow’s “The Loveless,” Jim Jarmusch’s
“Stranger than Paradise,” Spike Lee’s “She’s Gotta Have
It,” Richard Linklater’s “Slacker,” or Kevin Smith’s
“Clerks,” would get into Cannes, Sundance, or Toronto
today, then we have just one question for you: Where do
you get your crack?
Q: My movie has stars, production value, and/or has
screened at one of the major film festivals. Can I still
submit?
A: Look, we may be challenging the system here but we’re
not idiots; we know that there are legitimately
independent/underground movies that have stars and/or
respectable budgets made outside of the Hollywood system
that manage to muscle their way through the politics,
nepotism, and favoritism of the major film festivals and
markets so, yes, we want to see your movie, too.
Q: Then how do you define, “...outside of the Hollywood
system”?
A: The only moviemakers who need not submit to the
Maverick Movie Awards are those financed directly by or
through a Hollywood studio, production company,
distributor, agency, and/or management company. You know
as well as we do that you don’t need our help anyway.
And you can’t fool us so don’t even try. You’ll just be
wasting our time and your money.
Q: Why should I submit my movie to the Maverick Movie
Awards?
A: Face it: you’re not going to run into many
distribution reps anywhere other than the top ten
domestic or international film festivals. So why do you
submit to all the other film festivals? Because you want
to win an award to slap on your DVD screener and post at
your website. But do these awards really mean anything
to distributors? Well, go to your local multiplex or
Blockbuster and you’ll find that most of the film fest
honors on the posters, trailers, and DVDs are not from
Cannes, Sundance, or Toronto; they’re touting film fest
screenings and awards from all the rest. Chances are
you’ve never even heard of most of the film festivals
you’ll see plastered on any given movie’s promotional
materials so you can bet that your average movie-watcher
hasn’t heard of them either. Then why do distributors
include those fancy little laurel wreath icons on
everything from the trailer, to the poster, to the DVD
wraparound art? They do it for the same reason you use
’em to promote your own movies: because it sells the
promise of quality and, in the case of movies without
big stars, it serves to promote the movie’s validity.
The Maverick Movie Awards exists to help deserving
moviemakers achieve that same recognition by giving
forty-two (42) awards and anywhere between
one-hundred-twenty-six (126) and four-hundred-twenty
(420) nominations.
Q: Why did you change your identity from the New Haven
Underground Film Festival to the Maverick Movie Awards?
A: As NHUFF, our second primary objective was to expose
new audiences to new movies and moviemakers. Even with
two sold out years and consistently greater attendance
than any other Connecticut film festival we still did
not achieve this goal. After five years of screenings,
we came to the unavoidable conclusion that our audience
was rarely new. Yes, we had built a loyal following but,
seeing mostly the same faces every year, we had to admit
that we were preaching to the choir. Getting caught up
in the warm fuzzies we helped to create by coordinating
an event for so many cool, talented moviemakers to
interface directly with intelligent, receptive
audiences, it was easy to miss that we weren’t
effectively achieving our first primary objective
either: to help moviemakers gain exposure and
distribution. We decided that what started as a response
to the ultra-lameness of the long-since defunct New
Haven Film Festival needed a drastic overhaul to best
serve the needs of moviemakers. By shedding the
festival, we are no longer constrained by the time
limitations imposed by venues and screening schedules
that forced us to choose one deserving movie over
another. By reinventing ourselves as the Maverick Movie
Awards we significantly increase the number of movies
and moviemakers we can honor with an award or nomination
to promote in their quest for exposure and distribution;
hence, finally achieving our primary objective.
Q: And why no screening events?
A: Since we no longer host movie screenings, we cannot
and will not blow your premier status for the festivals
that either officially or unofficially require the
distinction of “breaking your movie.” Many festivals
will not select your movie if they cannot be the first
to screen it. And the festivals that claim they don’t
factor premier status into their decision to select
someone else’s movie over yours are lying. True, not all
festivals have an official rule that states worldwide,
national, coastline, or regional premiere requirements
but many do. We respect the festivals bold enough impose
this self-serving regulation. Well, we don’t “respect”
them but at least they’re giving you the information you
need to make an informed decision. Heck, even we did it
at NHUFF so, to be fair, we can’t vilify all film
festivals with this written or unwritten policy. Many
have to do it for the same reason we did: if it was a
choice between a great movie that had not screened
anywhere and another great movie that had already
screened at several film festivals, chances are we’d
pick the former over the latter in order to help a
moviemaker whose film deserved to be screened and
celebrated that opportunity. Sadly, many of the more
high-profile film festivals require your premiere simply
for bragging rights. Makes you wonder who these
festivals exist to serve, doesn’t it...the moviemakers
or the festival founders and directors. Don’t wonder.
They’re doing it for their greater glory, not yours. The
other reason why we decided to shed our screening events
is because the incredible amount of time spent
coordinating staff, volunteers, sponsors, vendors,
concessions, equipment, venues, as well as promoting the
screenings locally to increase attendance is time that
we deemed way, way better used in pursuit of promoting
your movies on a national and international level. We
have many goals for how to best achieve publicity and
recognition for winners and nominees of the Maverick
Movie Awards: some grass roots, some dependent on the
kindness of others, some dependent on if we can afford
ad space in the various trades. Help us help you by
submitting your movie and we promise not to let you
down.
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