Miralot represents a democratizing force in the festival ecosystem—a data-driven solution that finally gives independent filmmakers the strategic advantage previously reserved for established distributors and major studios.
Insiders whisper that festival submission fees have become a hidden revenue stream for gatekeepers, with some smaller festivals accepting films primarily to collect fees from hopeless applicants. Miralot's curated approach could expose just how many of these competitions exist as money grabs rather than legitimate showcases.
The platform currently lists more than 5,500 curated festival competitions across 80 countries while there are over 15,000 festivals worldwide. Miralot was founded by Moritz Schneider and Justus Timm in Berlin, with backing from former Netflix CMO Joe Pawlas, former Disney Germany chief Roger Crotti, and Dennis Ruh, former director of the Berlin Festival's European Film Market.
With this much industry firepower behind it, Miralot isn't just another submission tool—it's a direct challenge to the fragmented status quo that has allowed festival gatekeepers to profit from filmmaker confusion. The real question: will established festivals embrace transparency or fight back?
The film festival circuit has always been a labyrinth of insider deals, expensive gambles, and brutal rejection letters. Now, a coalition of entertainment heavyweights is betting that the industry's dirty little secret—how brutally broken the submission process actually is—could be their biggest opportunity. Berlin-based Miralot launched this week ahead of Cannes' Marché du Film, positioning itself as what founder Moritz Schneider calls much-needed "infrastructure" for filmmakers drowning in a fragmented global festival landscape.
The platform combines festival discovery, matching algorithms, and direct submission capabilities into one streamlined system—and it's backed by names that make industry insiders take notice. Roger Crotti, former Disney chief for Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, sits on the advisory board alongside Joe Pawlas, who served as Netflix's chief marketing officer for Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Dennis Ruh, formerly director of the Berlin Festival's European Film Market, rounds out a brain trust that reads like a who's who of European entertainment power players.
"There are more ways to reach a global audience than ever, and almost no map for any of them," Justus Timm, Miralot's operations and finance executive, told Variety. That gap is precisely what the platform aims to close—with filmmakers uploading projects and receiving tailored recommendations based on genre, runtime, language, premiere status, and previous festival selections before submitting with a single click. The numbers are staggering.
With more than 15,000 festivals worldwide and submission fees continuing to climb, Schneider argues that filmmakers routinely spend thousands navigating competitions that are fundamentally wrong fits for their work. "Most filmmakers don't struggle because their films are bad," he emphasized. "They struggle because the festival landscape is fragmented, expensive and extremely difficult to navigate without industry experience." Miralot currently boasts more than 5,500 curated festival competitions across 80 countries—from prestigious international showcases down to regional and genre-specific events—and already counts users from over 50 countries spanning Europe, North and South America, Asia, Africa, and Oceania.
The backing speaks volumes about the opportunity these insiders see. Crotti, who also serves as president of the Zurich Film Festival and holds a seat on Constantin Film's supervisory board, called Miralot "a true paradigm shift in how films connect with festivals, buyers and audiences worldwide." Ruh, now heading the Seriesly Berlin festival, framed his involvement as the realization of goals he's championed throughout his career: helping filmmakers understand that festival strategy requires precision positioning rather than blind submission spray-and-pray tactics. Whether this concentrated power behind a single platform ultimately serves filmmakers or creates new forms of industry gatekeeping remains to be seen—but with this much talent and capital converging, Miralot has already guaranteed it will reshape the conversation around festival access.
