Santa Fe Film Festival Goes Virtual with Local Streaming Platform, Giving Back & Supporting Local

SANTA FE, N.M. - EntSun -- The Original Santa Fe Film Festival is gearing up to go virtual for their upcoming 21^st edition of the festival which runs February 17-21, 2021 on their streaming partner, Xerb.TV, which is a local Santa Fe technology provider founded by Eric Streeper.

Xerb has reimagined the streaming experience by connecting communities and creators, giving filmmakers all the benefits of a cutting-edge video platform without the entry barriers of traditional streaming services. "We are very excited to be partnering with the Santa Fe Film Festival to help bring their yearly event to the world virtually. The SFFF has a special place in our hearts because it marked the beginning of a long legacy of festivals to come to the platform, said Streeper."

Supporting Filmmakers

Traditionally, Film Festivals are the vehicle for filmmakers to showcase their work, see the audience reactions first-hand, participate in panels, and network with entertainment executives, and hopefully, get picked for distribution. It is not a shared-revenue business model as there is a great deal of promotion by the festival to share the films and get people to purchase tickets, until now.

Nani Rivera, Santa Fe Film Festival executive director, is about the future, and with the impact of the pandemic slowing or stopping some projects, she wanted to make a change to support filmmakers.

"Filmmakers should make money when they attend festivals, they are contributing product that is creating a revenue, for most film festivals (like us) that is very difficult to do because of how expensive it is to create in-person film festivals, however, I believe as things are changing, future film festivals will be another portal of exhibition to serve as another channel for filmmakers to make a living off of their work," Rivera said, adding "I am sharing the revenue from sales with the filmmakers because I am hoping that they will make money with us this year and this becomes a trend for all festivals to do as well, especially when we are now online reducing the cost to host the festival. I plan to make this a policy for all online streaming of films that we do moving forward."

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Importance of Supporting Local

Not only does Xerb understand the challenges independent filmmakers face, but they have also made it easy for them to set up their own channel for free and share revenues as well.

"The Santa Fe Film Festival is committed to using local businesses as much as possible and it has proven to work. You should always shop local when you can and New Mexico has great options," said Santa Fe Film Festival executive director, Nani Rivera.

Another tech company based in New Mexico, AddMi, (https://addmi.com) is also used by the Santa Fe Film Festival as the ticketing platform for all of their events.

Venues and Sponsors

This year is a tough year for local businesses and the venues that were the mainstay of the Santa Fe Film Festival from the Santa Fe Scottish Rite, The Jean Cocteau Cinema, The Center for Contemporary Arts, The Screen, Teatro Paraguas along with the local hotels, restaurants, and other local businesses. To honor these local businesses, the festival will be sharing highlights of these businesses during the festival through mixed media, including streaming and social shares.

Diversity and Inclusion

Another important element of this festival is the diverse categories that support filmmakers in both traditional and inclusive areas from Narrative, Documentaries, International, Student, Afro Cinema, Animation, Latin Ciné, LGBTQ+, Native Cinema, Sisters of Cinema and along with a Spotlight on New Mexico.

For the complete list of films, synopses, and other special events happening during the SFFF 2021, please visit http://santafefilmfestival.com (http://santafefilmfestival.com/index/festivals/2021-santa-fe-film-festival/). For further information about the Santa Fe Film Festival, please contact Nani Rivera, director@santafefilmfestival.com (mailto:director@santafefilmfestival.com) or for press inquiries, contact Stephanie Piche, stephanie@minglemediatv.com.

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About the Santa Fe Film Festival

The Original Santa Fe Film Festival celebrates all facets of cinematic arts – here in New Mexico, regionally and globally. Our annual event honors everyone working both behind the scenes and on-screen to bring the best of film creation, production, and showings to the public. We constantly seek improvement in our respective crafts and provide filmmakers with resources to pursue their dreams. To that end, the Santa Fe Film Festival focuses on bringing together distinguished industry specialists and discriminating movie lovers through accessible screenings, panels, workshops, and parties.

The Festival will continue to grow as the leading exhibition and educational portal for all things cinematic in New Mexico. The Santa Fe Film Festival is a cultural, not-for-profit 501 (c) (3) organization. For more info, please visit http://santafefilmfestival.com.