Create Your Path to Sundance
Lessons from the 2025 Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival has long been a beacon for independent filmmakers, offering a prestigious platform to showcase bold, innovative, and boundary-pushing works, especially for indie short films. As the 2025 Sundance Film Festival takes place, I had the chance to talk to three filmmakers who are screening their short films in the festival’s animation section of the Short Film Program this year to try to understand the releasing strategies that led them to Park City, Utah.
Don’t Miss a Deadline, Even if It’s 90%
U.K.-based filmmaker Stephen Irwin succeeded with his haunting animated short A Round of Applause for Death, which is premiering internationally in the Animation Short Films section of Sundance’s Short Film Program, presented by Vimeo. For Irwin, aligning the film’s completion with Sundance’s submission deadline proved critical. “It wasn’t quite finished when I submitted—maybe 90% complete,” he admitted. Despite this, his willingness to submit a near-final cut exemplifies something crucial: the importance of meeting key deadlines in the festival circuit, even if the project is not yet polished to perfection.
Irwin’s strategy also follows a tried-and-true method: maximizing festival exposure before releasing the film online. He debuted A Round of Applause for Death at the London International Animation Festival in November before Sundance became its second stop. “I’ve submitted it to lots of festivals,” he shared, with several additional screenings planned in the months ahead.
You’ll Never Know Until You Try It
Director and screenwriter May Kindred-Boothby, also U.K.-based, submitted her first short, The Eating of an Orange and also got selected for the Animation Short Films section in Sundance. Kindred-Boothby’s journey to the festival was as simple as you can get. She candidly admits there was no calculated strategy behind her submission, yet her success offers valuable insights for aspiring directors hoping to follow in her footsteps. So, when in doubt, just go for it and submit your film, you never know what might come from it.
As a newcomer, Kindred-Boothby’s approach was refreshingly unguarded. “This is my first short, so I applied completely not thinking I’d get in,” she revealed. Her willingness to take a chance and submit her work, despite being new to the festival circuit, highlights the importance of taking a chance and embracing the unknown in the competitive world of filmmaking.
Focus on Your Niche, But Don’t Forget There’s More Out There
Jesse Moynihan’s Jesus 2 is a U.S.-produced short also screening at Sundance’s Animation Short Films section. Moynihan’s team adopted a broad submission strategy, targeting both animation-centric festivals and live-action events with strong reputations. The short premiered at Fantastic Fest, a significant genre festival, before being selected for Sundance. This two-part approach ensured the film reached diverse audiences and increased its chances of landing on the radar of high-profile festivals. So don’t forget to do your homework and search for festivals that are a good match for your short, as well as high profile events that might raise your profile as a filmmaker.
While Jesus 2 was made available online for the financiers who helped bring the project to life, Moynihan and his team kept public access limited to maintain its exclusivity during the festival circuit. By carefully controlling its availability, they preserved the film’s appeal as a fresh discovery for festival programmers. Moynihan emphasized the importance of building excitement among the general public while the short travels around the festival circuit. This approach not only boosts the film’s visibility but also prepares audiences for its eventual online release on platforms like YouTube and Vimeo.
In Conclusion
The journeys of Stephen Irwin, May Kindred-Boothby, and Jesse Moynihan to the Sundance Film Festival highlight that there’s a lot to consider when starting your short film’s festival run. First, keep an eye on deadlines and don’t assume only fully finished projects can be submitted. Second, believe in your film. You never know how people will connect with it, even if it’s your first piece. And finally, do some research to find festivals that match your film’s genre and themes, as well as the ones with the biggest industry buzz.
Hopefully, these tips will inspire you to put your work out there, whether it’s Sundance or another festival that could open the door to exciting opportunities in the film world!