Black Hills Film Festival

Name

Black Hills Film Festival

Legal name

Black Hills Film Festival

Website

https://blackhillsfilmfestival.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Film Festival and Independent Cinema Events

NAICS

Motion Picture and Video Exhibition (51213), Performing Arts, Spectator Sports, and Related Industries (711)

SIC

Services-Miscellaneous Amusement & Recreation (7990)

akta.pro primary industry

Film Festivals & Festival Organizers (MPADAKAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Cultural Festivals & Events Organizations (BPAGAHAG)

Keywords

• Independent film festival
• Film screenings
• Filmmaker networking
• Festival sponsorships
• Film awards

Headquarters

HQ city

Hill City

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others, Personnel

Pricing tiers

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Black Hills Film Festival organizes an annual independent film festival held in Rapid City, South Dakota, featuring film screenings across multiple regional venues, free filmmaker panels, networking mixers, and award ceremonies including the signature Bronze Fedora awards. The festival supports independent filmmakers by providing exhibition, audience exposure, and industry recognition while also offering tiered sponsorship opportunities, VIP passes, and branded merchandise.

Product overview

The Black Hills Film Festival is an annual independent film festival organization offering a core film festival event with associated sponsorship products, award sponsorships, filmmaker services, and branded merchandise. The main product is the annual festival featuring screenings across multiple venues. Supporting products include various sponsorship tiers (Presenting Star, Director, Producer) and award sponsorships (Bronze Fedora, Rising Star Student, REEL SD Film). Filmmaker services include panels and networking events. Additional revenue streams include VIP passes, merchandise (pins, shirts, books), and film sponsorship opportunities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Annual Black Hills Film Festival Annual independent film festival held in Rapid City, South Dakota featuring film screenings across multiple regional venues, filmmaker panels, networking mixers, and awards for independent filmmakers from around the world.
• Bronze Fedora Award Sponsorship Sponsorship opportunity at $600 per category allowing sponsors to present the Bronze Fedora award to winning filmmakers in categories including Best Short Documentary, Best Feature Documentary, Best Short Film, and Best Feature Film. Includes 2 VIP Passes.
• VIP Pass Premium festival pass priced at $100 providing enhanced access to festival events and screenings throughout the annual Black Hills Film Festival.
• Presenting Star Sponsorship Top-tier sponsorship level ($5,000-$10,000) including logo recognition in program and website with link, preview video, posters and flyers as Presenting Sponsor, and 6 VIP Passes.
• Supporting Director Sponsorship Mid-tier sponsorship ($2,500-$4,999) including logo recognition, inclusion on preview video, and 4 VIP Passes.
• Contributing Producer Sponsorship Entry-level sponsorship ($1,000-$2,499) including logo recognition in program and on website, preview video inclusion, and 2 VIP Passes.
• Feature Film Sponsorship Sponsorship of feature-length films (40 minutes or more) at $500 per film including 2 tickets to the screening, program listing, screen intros, website recognition, and live introduction at the film screening.
• Short Film Sponsorship Sponsorship of short films (under 40 minutes) at $250 per film including 2 tickets to the screening, program listing, screen intros, and website recognition.
• REEL SD Film Award Sponsorship Award for the best film with scenes shot in South Dakota at $250, encouraging film production in the state. Includes 1 Full Festival pass, program listing, screen intros, website recognition, and opportunity to present the award to the winning filmmaker.
• Rising Star Student Film Award Sponsorship Award sponsorship for student filmmakers at $250. Includes 1 VIP Pass and opportunity to present the award to the winning student filmmaker.

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Telluride Film Festival: Annual independent film festival held in a small mountain town. Telluride is a near-direct comparable to BHFF in scale and format (small-town regional film festival with awards, panels, and curated indie programming), though with significantly larger brand recognition.
• Nashville Film Festival: Long-running independent film festival in Nashville with annual screenings, awards, panels, and filmmaker networking. Operates in a single US region with a similar mix of sponsorships, tickets, and filmmaker programming.
• Cleveland International Film Festival: Mid-sized US city-based independent film festival featuring curated screenings, filmmaker panels, and sponsorships. Comparable in structure and programming mix to BHFF though operating in a larger metro.
• Austin Film Festival: Independent film and screenwriting festival in Austin, TX featuring submissions-driven programming, awards, panels, and sponsor tiers. Closely comparable business model with multi-tier sponsorship offerings.
• Cinequest Film Festival: Independent film and creativity festival with annual screenings, awards, and filmmaker events. Comparable in offering structure (fest pass, sponsorships, awards) and indie filmmaker focus.
• Savannah Film Festival: SCAD-hosted annual film festival featuring screenings, panels, and awards. Comparable as a regionally anchored film festival with educational and indie filmmaker programming.
• Woodstock Film Festival: Independent film festival featuring curated indie films, panels, networking events, and awards. Directly comparable in structure (tiered sponsorships, awards, panels, passes).
• Traverse City Film Festival: Annual independent film festival held in a smaller US city with curated programming, filmmaker events, and sponsorships. Directly comparable small-city indie festival model.

Broad incumbents

• Sundance Film Festival: The largest US independent film festival and the benchmark for indie film exhibition. While far larger, it sets the structural template (submissions, awards, panels, sponsorships) that smaller festivals like BHFF operate within.

Regional players

• Fargo Film Festival: Annual independent film festival in Fargo, ND. Comparable as a small Upper Midwest regional film festival with similar audience demographics, but operating in a different geography.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@blackhillsfilmfest
• Facebookfacebook.com/BlackHillsFilmFestival
• Instagraminstagram.com/blackhillsfilmfest
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/black-hills-film-festival

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Black Hills Film Festival