Touting for films

[Albert Noble]

I have just had an email from a film festival inviting me to enter.
They said that they noticed a film of mine on the festival circuit and
invited me to enter it in their own festival with a 50% discount !
Is this touting for films normal practice?
It's the first time this has happened to me.

[Dave Watterson]

I have not heard of this practice before ... but I can see it makes sense for a festival trying to grow.

[TimStannard]

I have not heard of this practice before ... but I can see it makes sense for a festival trying to grow.

Or just trying to con someone into parting with cash (oh, what a cynic)

[Michael Slowe]

I get two or three of these mails daily. It followed my success in various festivals with my film Danny's Red Box. Some mails are quite persuasive and offer various inducements by way of discounts and if the festival sounds reasonably prominent I do enter the film. They are however, as has been suggested here, mostly attempts to attract fees.

[Willy]

Touting for films... I didn't know the word "touting". On the internet I found: "promoting or advertising films in an enthusiastic way." Taking part in discussons on the forum can also be useful to improve my vocabulary".

The last few months I received many FilmFreeWay messages, but yes, perhaps they are attempts to attract fees. I didn't know there were so many festivals in the USA. Every day I receive at least one advertisement, mostly from America. Maybe it is also wrong of me not to trust them, but my messenger account has already been hacked a few times. Nowadays, quite a lot of strange things happen. Don't we take any risks when paying for entry fees for festivals? I mean for festivals that we don't know?

I have thought of taking part in the Edinburgh Film Festival. But that would not be a problem, because it has already been advertised on this forum, I remember, or in "Film and Video Maker".

[fraught]

Yeah this is very common. I get these emails on a daily basis also. Sites like Filmfreeway have your details and festivals can tap into that list of emails for a fee. Even when festivals mention my actual film by name, I still take it with a pinch of salt. I also get fests contacting me via my social media accounts, offering discounts. If they really want your film in the competition, they'll give you a code for free entry.