White Wolf

Yesterday, I wrote about finding a better path forward after the Kickstarter fell short.

Now that path is becoming a real plan.

Over the next few months, I plan to submit the official White Wolf / Lobo Blanco trailer to six film festivals. Every one of them has a dedicated trailer category, and based on the rules currently published for those categories, none specifically prohibits AI-assisted submissions.

That matters because White Wolf is not a traditionally produced studio film. It is an independent New Jersey action thriller built largely by one filmmaker, using generative AI as part of the production process while keeping the writing, direction, editing, sound, color, pacing, and final creative decisions under human control.

Why the trailer comes first

The trailer is not replacing the movie. It is protecting it.

Submitting the full feature right now would mean rushing work that still deserves more time. I want better continuity, stronger shot matching, more consistent color, cleaner dialogue, stronger sound design, and a final edit that feels deliberate from beginning to end.

The trailer can represent the film now without forcing the full movie across the finish line before it is ready.

There is also a major financial difference. Feature-film festival categories can become expensive very quickly. The trailer submissions for these six festivals should total roughly $95 at the current standard rates, or around $78 with FilmFreeway Gold, allowing me to give the project six real opportunities without the funding I had hoped the Kickstarter would provide.

That gives me more time to keep improving the feature and to save toward licensing “The Wolf” by Whiskey Myers—the song I have always envisioned for one of the film’s most important sequences. I do not want to make that decision out of panic or compromise the rest of the movie just to reach a deadline.

Why these six festivals

Each festival gives the trailer a different kind of opportunity. Some are inexpensive monthly competitions. Others are established in-person festivals, including two here in New Jersey. One explicitly accepts films made with substantial AI content as long as it is disclosed, while another has dedicated awards for AI filmmaking and the creative use of AI.

For every submission, I will be completely transparent about how White Wolf was created. I am not trying to hide the tools. I want the work judged for what it is: a human-directed story made possible through a new kind of independent production.

Here is the current submission and notification timeline:

Festival	Planned submission	Posted notification date
TMFF – The Monthly Film Festival	August 24, 2026	August 31, 2026
Yule Film Fest	August 31, 2026	November 9, 2026
Purgatory Film Festival	August 31, 2026	September 1, 2026
Garden State Film Festival	September 1, 2026	February 1, 2027
New York–Istanbul Short Film Festival	September 5, 2026	October 11, 2026
Bergen International Film Festival of NJ	November 10, 2026	June 22, 2027

These are the dates currently posted by each festival and may change if a festival updates its calendar.

What I hope this creates

I am not expecting six submissions to turn White Wolf into an overnight success.

I am giving the trailer six legitimate chances to be seen by people who are already looking for independent films, unusual production stories, and filmmakers attempting something outside the normal system.

If the trailer earns selections, nominations, awards, laurels, or even a little word-of-mouth, that creates a stronger foundation for the full movie. Instead of releasing the feature cold in early to mid-2027, it could arrive with people already aware of the title, the story, and the work behind it.

Maybe that buzz helps the movie reach a more receptive audience. Maybe it creates new conversations, new support, or opportunities that did not exist during the Kickstarter. Even if the trailer does not win anything, the time is not wasted, because the feature still gets the extra months it needs to become a better film.

The road to 2027

Between now and then, the plan is straightforward:

• Lock the festival trailer master, captions, credits, and AI disclosures.
• Submit to all six trailer categories on schedule.
• Keep refining the full feature’s edit, color, continuity, dialogue, and sound.
• Continue saving toward the music license and final finishing costs.
• Share every selection, rejection, nomination, and result honestly with the people following this project.

The Kickstarter did not fund. That changed the budget.

It did not change the film.

Six festivals. One trailer. More time to make the movie right.

Let’s see which doors open.