Sure, there are already plenty of film festivals. But the digital revolution is well underway, and with digital video getting cheaper to produce all the time, there's a whole world of new people making movies. It used to be, you had to have a raft of connections and a huge budget to even think about putting on a festival; not so any more. We talked to Daniel DeFabio, Chair of the Ballston Spa Film Festival, which debuts this weekend, about putting it all together.

In 2006, DeFabio, an aspiring screenwriter and filmmaker, left Los Angeles for Ballston Spa, a town of 5,500 in upstate New York that locals call "the Village." There he met two other Hollywood transplants, screenwriter Nicole Coady and Eric Vollweiler, who'd worked on film festivals before. A year later, they're showing 28 short movies in four screenings, including nine world premieres and a BAFTA-winning short from the studio that made Wallace & Gromit.

STEP 1: THE MONEY
A major component, of course, is money. DeFabio knows that anyone at an established festival would laugh at their budget, but keeping it, as he says "down and dirty," they'll be pulling it off for around $10,000, $5,000 in cash and $5,000 in kind -- say, for space in a magazine. The key: he got involved in the local chamber of commerce, which liked the idea and thought it might bring some business to town. ("In the 1800s, it was a top tourist spot," he says. "Lately, not so much.")

So hit up local businesses, and remember, you may have to get creative; there's only so much you can offer a business in exchange for cash.

STEP 2: THE VENUE
Next, you need a place that will actually show your movies. Inspired by L.A.'s Cinespia series, which plays films on the side of a mausoleum in an old cemetery, DeFabio had spotted an open wall in the local park that he knew would be a perfect movie screen. This year, half of the movies will play at the outdoor screen, the other half at a local school, which offered its classic old theater. (More solid planning: screening outdoors is cheap, but make sure you have a backup.)

They considered a local drive-in, but hit a technical snag. To project there they'd need 35 mm prints, which would have been exponentially more expensive. Find a venue where you can use an LCD projector that projects from DVD. Rent a PA system and a projector, slap it on a ladder, and bang! Cannes comes to Canton.

STEP 3: THE MOVIES
Even with some money and a location, you still need movies to show. Student Filmmakers magazine has a website where you can post calls for submissions. (There are more expensive options, like Film Threat, but let's assume you're keeping it cheap. Er, I mean guerrilla). Craigslist, film blogs, MySpace, Facebook -- all of a sudden there are dozens of networks out there. Use them all. Local colleges, JCs, even high schools may have film programs, too.

Set up a panel of judges, or if all else fails, have the audience vote. A cheap entry fee helps with submissions; so do prizes, if you can swing them.

STEP 4: THE AUDIENCE
Next up, of course, you need bodies in the seats. It doesn't hurt to make admission free. Fine, you lose your only chance to make back any money, but let's face it, you don't go into this for the dough.

As for advertising, the Ballston Spa festival has TVs running a loop of film clips and sponsors' ads in store windows downtown, notices in the local paper, and, of course, old-school flyers plastered up throughout the area. Also, to drum up interest, there are parties all weekend; if they think you can bring in a crowd, a lot of bars and restaurants will happily host an event.

So far the weekend forecast for upstate New York looks like the weather may hold, but, of course, you can't predict everything. On August 1, the first night of the festival, Elvis Costello and the Police are playing just three miles down the road. Ouch.

So get planning, find a venue, and just hope that Led Zeppelin doesn't hit the road next year. Nobody needs that kind of competition.

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