SXSW Tips For Filmmakers (Travel) (When To Arrive) (Lodging) (Eating) (Distributors) (Press)

If you are lucky enough to have a film in the SXSW Film Festival, you are definitely going to want to attend. Not only is the town of Austin incredible, but the Festival experience can't be beat. This is true for short filmmakers as much as it is for feature filmmakers, as the perks are the same for both. Here are some things that we learned from our experience that might help you make the most of this Festival.

Travel - SXSW does not pay for any travel or lodging expenses, so you want to be smart about the way you get there, and where you stay. You will find out you are in the Festival with plenty of time to get a cheap flight through Southwest or one of the online booking places. If you decide you're traveling this way, and your schedule and budget are flexible, go ahead and book your trip for as long as possible. Internet tickets aren't very flexible, and charge you a lot of money to change them. I say this, because as soon as you're in Austin, you're going to want to stay as long as you can, and you will kick yourself if you book a return flight for any sooner than you absolutely have to leave.

If you decide to drive, like we did, you should know that free parking was pretty difficult to find in downtown Austin. There were garages, and the average cost was about $5, but a car quickly becomes a pain. Some hotels have free parking, and if you're within 15 blocks of downtown, it's best to leave the car at the hotel and just walk everywhere. If you're at the Dobie, you can drive to your screenings because there's a free garage with validation.

When To Arrive - The earlier the better, but probably no more than a day before the Festival officially starts. If you beat everyone to town, you have more opportunities to put your posters and postcards in prime locations, and you can also start arranging some on the spot publicity for your screenings by calling local radio stations and newspapers and seeing if they have time to do interviews. It seems like a lot of morning shows are looking for filmmakers to talk to, so be prepared to wake up early every day if you want to take advantage of this. Some of the shows will let you call in, that way you don't have to be at the studio at 6 or 7AM. Get the press list from the Festival and don't be afraid to call people.

Lodging - We split our time between a hotel for the first weekend, and a friend's house for the rest of the week. We decided to pay for the hotel during the first weekend, because we wanted to be close to the action. It allowed us to get into town earlier each day, and stay out later, without bothering our hosts. I got a suite, and we crammed between 6 and 8 people in, depending on the night, which lowered the cost per-person. If you don't have a friend in Austin that will put you up, another great option is to post something on Craig's List saying that you are a filmmaker and you are looking for a place to stay. There are a lot of nice people in Austin who are looking to help out filmmakers and musicians, and might offer you an extra bed in their home for a fraction of the cost of a hotel. You might even find that someone has already posted something on Craig's List advertising that they have an extra bed during the Festival.

Eating - Free food is abundant during the Festival, and if you play your cards right, you might not have to pay for food or drinks the entire week. We didn't know soon enough, and ate at restaurants the first few days, until we discovered that if we got food from the Filmmaker Lounge in the morning, and were able to hold off until about 8 or 9PM, we didn't have to spend any money. It's probably not the healthiest way to live, but there are bagels in the morning (get there early, everything is usually gone by 11AM) and there is finger food and sometimes more at night (once again, get there right as parties are starting). On some days there are even afternoon parties. Once we had this method down, we were good to go, and just dealt with rumbling tummies during the afternoon when we skipped lunch.

You will get a packet when you check in that will have all the times and locations of the official parties. These parties will almost always have good food and free drinks. Then there are other unofficial parties that may have more food and drinks, if you know where they are. Keep your ears open and ask around.

It's important to note that when the film portion of the Festival ends and the music portion starts, the filmmaker lounge closes, and there are no more official film parties with free food. You'll either have to pony up and buy food at this point, or you can do what we did, and sneak into the Embassy Suites, where they have free breakfast for people staying in the hotel. They check for your room card if you try and get eggs or pancakes from the line, but if you are OK eating muffins and bagels and fruit from the cold bar, you can usually get in, sit down for breakfast, and take some snacks for the road without anyone giving you a hard time. Since we actually stayed at the Embassy Suites for 5 nights, which cost over $1,000, we felt OK taking some extra breakfast while we were in town. Breakfast is only served until 9AM, so you have to get up early. You should be able to find music parties to attend in the evenings, where you can score free food.

Distributors - It seemed like most of the distributors attend the nightly parties, especially if they are representing the film that the party is being thrown for. If you want to talk to these people, it's a good idea to know what they look like. Browse through IndieWIRE's "On The Scene" section looking for iPop entries. You'll find a lot of the indie distributors in these pictures.

It's important to note that almost all the distributors leave town after the awards are announced, so if you really want someone to see your film, don't invite them to your final screening, because they will probably be gone. Everyone is very laid back and approachable at the Festival, so talk to them on the first or second night and let them know when your film is screening. If they are interested, they will try and make it, or perhaps they will ask that you send them a screener if they can't make it to one of your screenings.

Press - There are plenty of opportunities to get press at SXSW, especially with so many blogs and online publications. Don't be afraid to send out screeners and get in touch with people before the Festival. Talk to other filmmakers and ask them what they did that day, and see if they know of radio shows or public access TV shows that are looking for guests.

It's not a bad idea to spend a few afternoons hanging around the Filmmaker Lounge, which is conveniently located very near the Press Lounge. Stay visible, and spend some time walking between the two places, seeing who you can bump into. Sometimes press will be conducting interviews with other filmmakers in the Press Lounge, and you can piggyback and do an interview after they are finished. We got some good coverage just from being in the right place at the right time, but the right place was almost always somewhere near the Press Lounge.

The Filmmaker's Lounge has a few computers with internet access, so you can keep up with email and try and arrange coverage from there, but keep in mind that there are a lot of filmmakers all trying to use only 2 computers, so don't think you can sit on there all day. Use it to your advantage, but try to be considerate.

If you are concerned about getting press coverage, you shouldn't plan on seeing very many films during the first half of the Festival while the Filmmakers Lounge and Press Lounge are operating. Spend that time to arrange interviews and talk to other filmmakers. During the second half of the Festival, when the music takes over, you will have plenty of time to catch up and see lots of movies, but during the first weekend especially, you should hustle to get attention while you still can.

Always have plenty of postcards with you at all times, because you never know when you might come across a good place to set some down. Also, make sure to have some DVDs of your film with you, because you might run into a critic who doesn't have time to attend one of your screenings, but still wants to see your film. It's good to have some copies, just in case you need them.