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by Jason Guerrasio
January 16, 2013 10:32 AM
11 Comments
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An IW Investigation: The Dark Underbelly of the Film Festival Circuit, Part 1

Filmmakers aren’t the only ones who have grown suspicious of the legitimacy of these competitions. Well-established film festivals have been linked to them because of their similarity in name and have had to take action to make the distinction clear.

“We actually had the FBI look into them, but they said there was nothing they could do."
Tony Sheppard, president and founder of the Anchorage International Film Festival, first heard about the Alaska International Film Awards in 2008. Then calling itself the Alaska International Film Festival, it shared an acronym with the Anchorage fest, which caused confusion among filmmakers about which festival they actually were submitting to, according to Sheppard. That led to him looking deeper into the other AIFF.

“It had a P.O. box locally, but it says ‘suite,’ so it’s very misleading,” Sheppard says. “I also called, and I didn’t get a-hold of anybody.” Sheppard decided to put a notice on the Anchorage website that made clear that it had no affiliation with the other AIFF and that filmmakers should be cautious of engaging with it. “We actually had the FBI look into them, but they said there was nothing they could do,” he says.

Two years later, the Alaska fest gained attention again when Anchorage blogger Steven Aufrecht wrote a post on the difference between the two AIFFs that suggested the Alaska fest was a scam. In response, the Alaska fest’s attorney sent a letter accusing him of libel. Aufrecht’s attorney, Anchorage media lawyer John McKay, who also had assisted the Anchorage fest in its encounters with Alaska, sent a letter to Alaska’s attorney that Aufrecht posted on his blog stating that the threat of a libel suit is “without legal or factual basis.”

Sheppard says he also tried to get the Alaska fest’s listing taken off of Withoutabox but he was unsuccessful. However, his actions did force Alaska to change its name to “Film Awards,” though the web address for the site is still alaskafilmfestival.com.

Cohen and Sheppard both say they were never able to speak to anyone involved with the Alaska Film Awards. (Indiewire’s calls and e-mails to the competition were not returned.)

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TAGS: Festivals, IW Investigation, Filmmaker Toolkit: Festivals, Filmmaker Toolkit
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11 Comments

  • martha may | January 27, 2013 11:34 AMReply

    The Universal Film & Festival Organization was founded to support and implement best business practices for film festivals throughout the world.

    UFFO,is a global voluntary organization and is not-for-profit. It was created to bring together the highest quality of Film Festivals and the film making community by encouraging film festivals to become sound in best business practice. To date we have been very successful in this endeavor.

    This is the real deal for "best business practices for film festivals"

    The UFFO best business practices is completely voluntary, it is free and easy to implement. In addition it is a blueprint for filmmakers in deciding which film festivals to do business with

    UFFO is also an open international organization and membership is open to all creative individuals, filmmakers, film schools and film festivals

  • G. Slaight | January 25, 2013 1:38 PMReply

    Seriously, how naive is this writer? As if ALL film festivals aren't in it for the money. I suppose Sundance is one big charity organization right? I mean, c'mon. As a screenwriter who participated in one of the festivals mentioned in the article (and had a good time I might add), I'm insulted by the snobbery, ignorance, and elitism displayed in this hack piece. I'll submit my work whoever I damn well please, thank you. And you nor anybody else has a right to tell me my achievements or accolades I receive along the way are somehow any less "prestigious" or important because they don't happen to be from the top 5 biggest festivals in the world.

  • Laurie Kirby | January 21, 2013 12:55 PMReply

    Thank you for this article. The mission of the IFFS is to promote best practices in the film festival industry. This certainly exposes the seamy side that serves no one's interest but the unscrupulous purveyors of this nonsense. The problem needs to be addressed on many levels. As in all areas of life, there are those that take advantage of an otherwise positive experience whenever possible. That sadly, is the human condition.

    I would suggest the following:

    1. Filmmakers need to do their due diligence when applying for festivals. Seek recommendations, referrals, testimonials, etc. from peers and other festivals.
    2. Withoutabox has a responsibility to its customers and needs to find a way to rate and vet these unscrupulous festivals. Their monopoly will not survive if those who prey on innocent filmmakers are allowed to use their services continue to exploit filmmakers through the site. It is not enough to say they are just a conduit.
    3. We, as an industry, need to have a forum to alert others when we know or learn about this. It is our duty to do the best we can to assist naive filmmakers and should contact authorities when we see dubious practices, be it Better Business Bureau, State Attorney Generals, Withoutabox or the media in general.
    4. There are no easy answers but we owe it to our filmmakers to try and alleviate these terrible practices that cast a negative impression on our otherwise honorable industry.
    Laurie Kirby, Esq., Executive Director

  • martha may | January 27, 2013 11:32 AM

    Laurie Kirby is now "promoting best business practices for film festivals" this is the UFFO remit, a non for profit organization the is "promoting best business practices for film festivals" or their magazine that exposed fraudulent festivals and blacklisting festivals Universal Film Magazine.

    SO what is the IFFS doing about fraud? nothing, now the IFFS are jumping on the bandwagon and taking the high ground. What about the festivals that Laurie Kirby was involved in that went out of business and went broke owing thousands to contractors. Have they now been paid?

    Perhaps Laurie should apply best business practices to the submits the IFFS put on. The IFFS summit is Paris last year was a complete fiasco as the IFFS kicked off members of the panel for complaining about the running of the summit and hotel bills. Th4e Paris fiasco recently let directly to the forming of the Film Festival Academy who are now in direct competition with the IFFS

  • Chase | January 17, 2013 11:27 PMReply

    How is this any different from the Webby Awards ? A lot of contests give certificates for free but charge for trophies. This is an investigative piece? I was expecting something earth shattering.

  • Chase | January 17, 2013 11:25 PMReply

    How is this any different from the Webby Awards ? A lot of contests give certificates for free but charge for trophies. This is an investigative piece? I was expecting something earth shattering.

  • Chase | January 17, 2013 11:25 PMReply

    How is this any different from the Webby Awards ? A lot of contests give certificates for free but charge for trophies. This is an investigative piece? I was expecting something earth shattering.

  • Janeatte Walker | January 17, 2013 10:57 PMReply

    What kind of hit piece is this? My husband won an award (well deserved I might add) for his short film at the California Film Awards in 2011 and we attended the event. It was a lovely event and we quite enjoyed ourselves. My husband worked for over 3 years making that film and the recognition he received was well deserved and certainly appreciated by us. That's my 2 cents at least.

  • Roger Cohn | January 17, 2013 10:47 PMReply

    In other news, film festivals are a business. Shocker! How are these any different than any awards event? You forgot to mention that true independent films have absolutely no shot at getting into Sundance. Sorry, not everyone's gonna win an Oscar. So what if there are lower tier awards events. And...? If we don't like it, we don't have to submit.

  • Steve Aufrecht | January 17, 2013 2:06 AMReply

    Thanks for this piece and the link. Film makers work too hard to waste their money on phantom festivals. And The head of the Anchorage International Film Festival is Tony, not Tom, Sheppard. I posted a three part post - after the threatening attorney letter -
    1. What's a Scam?
    2. What's a Film Festival?
    3. A comparison of the authenticity of the Anchorage International Film Festival and the Alaska International Film Festival.
    You can find find all three at
    http://whatdoino-steve.blogspot.com/2010/07/whats-scam.html

  • kmf | January 16, 2013 3:05 PMReply

    thanks for doing this...about time....

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