I sat down with Roberta Suid to discuss the mission of her unique Trailer Festival, a format that trully stands out from the crowded film festival circuit which I have been following for over 20 years. Our websites: filmfestivals.com and fest21.com maintain the most comprehensive directory in the world , rich of about 6000 festival entries.  

HI ROBERTA, CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT THE FESTIVAL'S BACKSTORY?

Although the International Movie Trailer Festival has a big reach, it's run by a small group: my husband, Murray Suid, Ronald Sallon, Chris Shining and me.

We launched our site (http://www.internationalmovietrailerfestival.com/) to support independent filmmakers and to honor the art of the movie trailer.  My husband and I were especially interested in trailers for films not yet made because we had produced two such trailers ourselves.

We wanted to create an online festival at which indie movie trailers could be viewed 24/7 around the world. Currently, indie filmmakers, students, and serious hobbyists from 28 countries share their work on our site. We have a user-generated blog where the filmmakers can tell their stories. Plus we‘re now partnering with a distributor who can get niche indie films into theaters in the USA.

WHAT'S NEW IN THE CONTEST?

Our mission is to find ways to help get attention for independent filmmakers.  This year, we have included trailers for books and web series, as well as narrative films and documentaries.

We're persuaded that the web series format will become incredibly popular in the years ahead. We have a number of highly original and entertaining web series trailers in the 2012 contest.

HOW ARE THE WINNERS DETERMINED?

A jury of industry professionals choose our $5000 Grand Prize plus the $500 prize for the best student entry and the $250 awards for the best trailer in each of our four categories: fiction movies, documentaries, web series, and books. What drives viewers to our site is the People's

Choice Award of $1,000. Our deadline this year is March 31, 2012 and anyone with a trailer is invited to enter. Because our Festival is open to the world, trailers must be appropriate for general audiences and must have English subtitles if needed.

WHAT ARE YOUR COMING ATTRACTIONS?

This spring, we're sponsoring a smartphone contest: "Lights, Cameraphone, Action" related to trailers made on smartphones. To find out more, go to our website: http://www.internationalmovietrailerfestival.com/

Interview by Bruno Chatelin

The International Movie Trailer Festival (IMTF) aims to build an innovative online community for indie moviemakers, giving them a venue for sharing their creativity while providing online entertainment for fans around the world.

At IMTF, filmmakers will vie for prizes, awards and fame by exhibiting trailers for movies, web series, and books-completed or still in the dream stage. The Festival's tag line-"Preview Your Dreams"-reflects the truth that every movie-even a trailer-starts with imagination.

But there's more here than competition. IMTF-through its parent company IndieFilmConnect-has partnered with producers and distributors who can help moviemakers distribute their work.