Important Disclaimer
Festival Shmestival provides strategic consulting and administrative support only. All programming, selection, award, scheduling, and eligibility decisions are made independently by each film festival and remain entirely outside our control. No festival consultant can guarantee that a film will be accepted, screened, nominated, awarded, reviewed, distributed, purchased, or considered by any particular festival, programmer, distributor, publication, or industry representative.
Festival Shmestival makes no promise, representation, or warranty, express or implied, regarding the outcome of any consultation, strategy, submission, campaign, outreach effort, or festival run. Recommendations are based on professional judgment, available information, the filmmaker’s stated goals, and the circumstances existing at the time the services are performed. Festival policies, deadlines, personnel, programming priorities, eligibility requirements, and submission fees may change without notice.
Any professional relationships, festival knowledge, previous selections, prior results, waiver requests, or outreach undertaken as part of the service do not imply influence over a festival’s decision-making process or guarantee access to any programmer or organization. Past outcomes, whether involving the consultant’s own films or those of another filmmaker, do not predict future results.
Fees paid to Festival Shmestival compensate for the time, research, advice, administration, and other services included in the selected package. Fees are not contingent upon festival acceptance or any other campaign result. An unfavorable festival outcome does not, by itself, mean that the agreed services were not provided.
Festival Shmestival fees cover only the services specifically described in the selected package. Festival Shmestival does not pay for, reimburse, subsidize, purchase, or otherwise provide festival submission fees, platform charges, travel, lodging, publicity, deliverables, shipping, screening materials, or any other third-party costs or services. All such costs and arrangements are entirely the filmmaker’s responsibility. The filmmaker is responsible for providing complete and accurate information about the film, securing all necessary rights and permissions, supplying technically compliant materials and deliverables, providing timely submission and expense approvals, and making all final decisions concerning the film and its festival campaign. The filmmaker must meet deadlines for materials and decisions required from them. Festival Shmestival’s submission and deadline-monitoring responsibilities are those included in the selected package.
Additional consulting or administrative services outside the expressly stated scope of the selected package must be agreed upon in writing and may be subject to additional fees. This does not include the third-party costs, expenses, or filmmaker responsibilities described above, which remain solely the filmmaker’s responsibility.