Withoutabox: Electronic film and festival registration

Which filmmaker hasn't groaned from time to time over the stacks of paperwork needed to submit his or her film to a festival, brooded over the meaning of obscure questions or been irritated by text fields too small to fit in all the required information?

 

On the other side of the coin, it would be hard to find a festival employee who hasn't sometimes cursed the ever-growing deluge of loose papers, searched for applications that have been buried without a trace, or taxed his eyes trying to reconstruct what's written on unreadable faxes. Every year filmmakers all over the world fill out hundreds of thousands of application forms, and every year just as many forms are read by thousands of festivals, the data typed by hand into the computer and then imported into a database.

 

This gave two filmmakers from the U.S. a great idea. Joe Neulight and David Straus - known on the short film scene for their film "god@heaven" (directed by Joe Neulight and produced by David Straus) - put their heads together with IT and Internet experts and came up with an online system that relieves filmmakers and festivals of this annoying chore, or, more specifically, reduces their workload substantially: a centralized online registration for use in applying to individual festivals. They gave the company they founded in 2000 the telling name "Without A Box, Inc." The "Withoutabox" product is currently used by 13,000 filmmakers and 120 festivals - primarily in the USA.

The international outlook of the filmmakers, the system's applicability to other countries due to its Web basis, and plans for localising the system for other countries, such as Germany, are reason enough to take a closer look at Withoutabox and discuss the options available for paperless film registration and administration.

 

 

The paperless (festival) office

 

Ever since the introduction of electronic data processing, the promise of the paperless office has been awaiting fulfilment. Although in reality more paper is being printed now than ever, it can't be denied that recording and processing texts or numerical information has become a great deal easier.

 

The first and most common step that festivals take to limit 'paper consumption' is to prepare and distribute submission forms electronically. One software application offered by a certain company that has been spearheading the paperless office offensive for years makes it possible to distribute forms and regulations electronically throughout the world, without the need to physically transport pieces of paper. Once at their destination, however, these forms must still be printed out, filled out traditionally and sent back in paper form. For, even though it's possible by now to design forms with entry fields that can be filled out by the addressee on-screen, the technology does not allow to save the entered data and return it to the sender electronically. Why this should be the case is something known only to the acrobats at Adobe.

 

More than a few festivals have already gone one step further: they have Internet sites featuring interactive forms that can be delivered electronically. But in most cases these applications arrive at the festival in the form of an e-mail message in the festival's Inbox and are then still processed manually, just like paper application forms -- sometimes they are even printed out first! Why it should be this way is known only to the Webmasters and Internet Designers at the festivals -- or maybe not even to them, since it's not their job to know.

 

Thus, most festivals wind up sitting on top of piles of papers representing the current submissions, which are first slid by hand into clear plastic folders and then sorted into binders before their contents can be typed into the computer by hand, with ever more or fewer errors than the original, and transformed into thousands of data records to be published sooner or later in a festival catalogue (off- or online) or a film database.

 

 

Enter: Withoutabox

 

In the summer of 2000 Without A Box went public with their idea for paperless online film submission. Initially, they tried to interest film festivals in their concept and to enlist their commitment. Among the pioneers were the AFI Fest (2001), the Ann Arbor Film Festival and the Toronto International Film Festival. Within a period of 12 months, more than 100 festivals had joined the system. And in only 10 weeks, more than 3,000 filmmakers had registered as members! Only in the USA can a good idea lead so quickly to success. By now there's hardly a U.S. festival worth mentioning that doesn't take advantage of the Withoutabox service - including Sundance. The entrepreneurs anticipate that they will have gained 80% of the North American film scene as partners by the end of this year. 95% of the festivals that use Withoutabox take place in North America. But slowly the rest of the world is beginning to take notice. Today 10% of the filmmakers registered at Withoutabox come from countries outside the USA.

The consequences for the festivals - primarily short film festivals or festivals that also show short films - vary. The smaller festivals in particular have noticed a drastic increase in submissions. Withoutabox CEO David Straus believes this can be attributed to the fact that these festivals are suddenly 'visible' to 13,000 filmmakers. At the other festivals, however, the number of applications has remained more or less constant. They appreciate Withoutabox above all for the time and money it saves them in processing submissions (approx. 20 - 30 % savings according to Withoutabox) and the logistically uncomplicated system.

 

Are these experiences transferable to Europe and other continents? First of all, multi-language versions of the system would have to be made available, according to David Straus (German, French and Spanish are already on the agenda). Perhaps servers in each country would also be necessary to help avoid maintenance problems and facilitate communication with customers in different time zones. As an Internet application, the system itself is by all means suitable for global use - with one restriction perhaps, since not all continents and countries are 'wired' to the same extent. An Internet connection is a prerequisite, and not all browser versions support the scripts running in the interface back-end. It's true that suitable browsers and updates are available free of charge, but the computers, operating systems and the required amount of memory are not ...

 

In Europe, moreover, there seem to be other obstacles: a general scepticism toward new Internet applications and perhaps reservations or at least a certain reserve with regard to technology itself. The festival's identity and the direct personal contact between festival and filmmaker seem to be at risk. And this goes for the flip side as well: there are surely filmmakers in Europe who would never think of registering their work online, since for some artists film submission in and of itself already represents a difficult step. And from my own experience I know that there are also filmmakers - ones whose work you would not want to do without - who prefer to deliver their film to the festival office in person ... and of course have not yet filled out the required submission form :-)

 

 

"One Form - Once!" - how Withoutabox works for filmmakers

 

Filmmakers who join the Withoutabox system open their Internet browser and log onto the server using their password. They then feed all of the data for a particular film just once into a kind of master entry form. The entry fields in this online form represent something like the sum of all questions that could possibly be asked on actually existent festival forms. Withoutabox therefore recommends setting aside about 45 minutes for filling out the form - but you have to do it just once and never again! This form does not yet constitute a film submission, however. It's more like a data sheet that collects all imaginable information on the film, video or "project", in the words of Withoutabox. These data are then saved centrally on the Withoutabox server and can only be accessed by the user who entered the data - for purposes of corrections or additions, for example.

 

After completing the entry procedure, the filmmaker can look through lists or carry out searches to find out information about suitable festivals, their deadlines and entry requirements. Applying to the selected festivals can then be done more or less at the touch of a button. From the available data, the system automatically creates the official application form for the chosen festival. Upon request, the system can also check the correctness of the application, especially with regard to its conformity with the criteria specified by the festival. If the permitted running time for the film is exceeded, or if there are any discrepancies between the film's format and production year and the stipulations in the festival regulations, an error message will appear. Once the filmmaker has confirmed the correctness of the application, it is registered in the system and is either submitted to the festival directly, or made available for 'pick up' by the festival. A confirmation page appears showing the information that has been recorded and providing a tracking number. Both are also sent to the filmmaker automatically via e-mail. The tracking number is used later as a unique link between the online registration and the materials that (still) have to be physically sent to the festival in a 'box', for example, preview cassettes, informational materials, screening prints, etc.

 

Following a free trial period of 60 days or two online submissions, using the system costs filmmakers a yearly membership fee of $79. While each film or project can be submitted to any number of festivals, additional fees are charged for further projects, on a sliding scale according to how many projects the filmmaker enters in the system. Whether or not membership is worthwhile for filmmakers depends, for one thing, on the perceived value of the service (savings in time and money, tips on festivals 'compatible' with a given film, supplementary services) and, for another thing, on how many festival submissions are planned, in relation to the costs of completing a normal application on paper. Many U.S. festivals now offer a discount on their application fees or extend their application deadline - as a way of showing their appreciation for the data entry work already done by the filmmaker.

 

 

More than merely electronic film registration

 

A few weeks ago Withoutabox launched a new service called "Online Press Kit". Now filmmakers can put together press kits for the films they register. These might include written materials (biographies, statements, dialogue lists, etc.), specially designed electronic publications (e.g. PDF files) or image files. Just like the registration, the material is stored electronically on the Withoutabox server (uploaded) and can be called up there at any time (downloaded). This saves the filmmakers the trouble of copying all of their materials and sending them per post, while the festivals have ready access to the material they need for their press work and publications, already digitized and ready for further electronic processing.

 

For the future Withoutabox also has plans to organize the actual physical submission of preview cassettes, i.e. to prepare video prints at the request of the filmmaker and send these off to the festivals. With the addition of this optional service, filmmakers would truly be freed from all packaging and shipping chores - without a box.

Nevertheless, the last step to achieving completely electronic festival registration with moving image has yet to be taken - although it's conceivable, there is simply no technically satisfactory solution just yet. Digital transmission of films will only make sense «when festival directors can view films at better-than-VHS quality on their televisions», in the words of David Straus.

 

 

A service for festivals

 

From their public demeanour, the look and feel of their website, and their way of speaking, one notes with pleasure that the makers of Withoutabox are obviously filmmakers themselves. The way they present their services, from the FAQs to the instructions for use, but also the way in which they advertise and publicize their project are clearly geared toward film submitters. By the way, we recommend that the curious go ahead and give the "2-Minute Tutorial" a try (www.withoutabox.com/tutorial). The services provided to festivals take a back seat somewhat, and are unfortunately also less transparent - what's in that Black Box anyway?

 

The system is of benefit to festivals especially when they can integrate it seamlessly into their own data processing system, or when they can 'dock onto' Withoutabox. Withoutabox offers various options here, which can be adapted individually to the structures of the relevant festival. The simplest connection to the system consists of calling up the web pages with the festival submissions and downloading these data to the festival computer via Web browser. This 'passive' service - from the point of view of Withoutabox - leaves to the festival the task of processing the data it calls up. The service must merely ensure that an export file is generated that can be read into the festival's own application. The festival itself must check that the data are up to date, keep an eye out for new submissions and process the data further in accordance with its needs. One aspect that is perhaps not unimportant here - in particular for festivals with correspondents and staff at other locations - is the possibility of accessing the password-protected submission data from anywhere in the world.

 

A more advanced variant involves the use of the online "FestivalMakers" software developed by Withoutabox. This server-based software is designed to enable the festivals to carry out online all film data management tasks. This includes complex searches, consolidating the data according to specific criteria (e.g. lists) and exporting data. The software can be flexibly adapted to a festival's own proprietary database system. As a rule, a server-side interface adjusts the software to fit the festival's own system conventions and database structures - no matter what type or platform. Thus, for example, the entry fields and field names used in the festival's system can be matched to corresponding fields in FestivalMakers to ensure a 1:1 data exchange.

 

Withoutabox recommends "FestivalMakers" as a stable, proven system that is substantially less expensive for a festival than creating its own isolated solution, since - as with widespread commercial applications - development and maintenance costs do not have to be borne by a single proprietor, but are instead amortized over many users.

 

According to David Straus, this offers additional advantages as well: «Besides receiving a well-thought-through system from us, festivals also have a very direct way of marketing their festival to filmmakers from all over the world who are actively looking for the right festivals to which they can send their films. As a result, we save festivals time and money from both a system convenience perspective and a marketing perspective.»

 

Furthermore, these tools are to be developed more fully in future, enabling, for example, correspondence with filmmakers via the system, festival programming (programme blocks, scheduling cinemas and showtimes, etc.), online jury voting, managing transport logistics for film prints, and much more. It is important to Withoutabox that these tools and the individual elements are available for use, but do not have to be used - either by the filmmakers or the festivals.

 

Average fees for a festival's use of the system run from $1,200 to $5,000 a year, depending on the extent of programming and integration that needs to be done. As an incentive in connection with the system's introduction onto the European market Withoutabox is offering the first five festivals to participate one year of free use and testing.

 

Incidentally, festivals that decide not to join Withoutabox can still place a listing in the festival index at no obligation and no cost.

 

Withoutabox has now found a cooperative partner in Germany to localise the system and take care of on-site maintenance tasks: OnlineFILM AG - a corporation of filmmakers, formed out of AG DOK, whose main aim is to create a German film database for the purpose of selling film rights. C. Cay Wesnigk, chair of OnlineFILM AG, cited multi-language capability as the first development project to be undertaken for localising the software, «which we deem absolutely necessary for the success of Withoutabox software in Europe. If our cooperation in Germany is successful, we can also provide exclusive services in other European countries.»

(www.onlinefilm.org)

The first festival to sign on in Germany is the Hamburg Short Film Festival.

 

For festivals it is no doubt worthwhile to explore whether or not this kind of system can be integrated into their work. Not only cost and compatibility issues are at stake here, but also questions as to the festival's unique identity. In the most 'extreme' case, a third-party supplier might step between festival and filmmaker and take on a central role in communications and the flow of information. But this latter scenario - for Withoutabox as well - certainly does not represent the last word. From complete outsourcing (external host), to integrating the service into the festival's own website (mixed concept) or simply downloading external data onto the festival server (internal host), plenty of different architectures are conceivable.

 

 

Reinhard W. Wolf

 

 

Comments and contributions on this topic are welcome: editor  shortfilm.de

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