Hello, Hello!    In this episode, Chris joins the Creative Director of the Nashville Film Festival, Lauren Ponto, and Filmmaker Ava Leigh Stewart on a panel to discuss the best practices and pitfalls of deploying your film across festivals nationwide. We talk about the role of Film Freeway, what an “Oscar qualifying” festival actually means, how Creative Directors program festivals, the role of alternate film festivals, the value of in-person festival attendance compared to virtual, and why you should use pitch contests as practice for your big studio pitch, and much more. Enjoy!   Listen+Subscribe+Rate = Love   Questions or Comments? Reach out to us at contact@bonsai.film or on social and the web at https://linktr.ee/BonsaiCreative   Love the MAKE IT Podcast? Become a True Fan!    www.makeit.libsyn.com/podcast   #MAKEIT   Shownotes: Toronto International Film Festival SXSW Film Festival Venice International Film Festival Sundance Film Festival Cannes Film Festival Nashville Film Festival Heartland International Film Festival Chicago Film Festival Palm Springs Film Festival New Orleans Film Festival Hot Docs Film Festival DOC NYC Festival Film Freeway Defy Film Festival Dycee Wildman (filmmaker) Fetish (short film) The Bee Gees: How Can You Mend a Broken Heart (documentary) O Brother, Where Art Thou? (film) Willem Dafoe (actor) Armageddon (film) Deep Impact (film)