Why You Should Write A Short Film

For an emerging filmmaker, writing a short film is an amazing way to hone your storytelling skills and potentially create a film that can advertise to others what you are capable of. Short films are more than stepping stones — they’re valuable creative tools and career catalysts. 

The reason for this is pretty obvious — a short film is shorter than a feature film, and therefore it takes less time to write, less time for someone else to read, and way less money to bring to the screen. With most film festival programmers begging recommending that short films be ten minutes or fewer, you’re looking at about ten pages of writing, compared to a minimum of ninety pages for a feature.

But that doesn’t necessarily mean that a short film is a precisely miniaturized version of a feature film in the same way that a poem is quite different from a novel. A short film is a special and surprisingly tricky medium. Let’s talk about it.

What Is a Short Film and Why Does It Matter?

A short film, by definition, really is just that: a short film. It can be one minute. It can be twenty minutes (please please please don’t make it twenty minutes — a successful twenty minute short film is the exception! More on that later.) When considering audience attention spans and film festival programming, it really is critical to keep short films, well, short.

Many emerging screenwriters and filmmakers will mimic the feature film model when making their short films. This means they will spend lots of time setting up the story, introducing the characters, and featuring expositional or tonal conversations. The truth is that a short film doesn’t need all of that. Modern audiences are smart and impatient — get the heck in there and then get out. 

One of my favorite examples is Whiplash. While the feature film devoted time to teasing the central relationship, introducing Andrew’s family and personal life, and hinting at Andrew’s hopes and dreams, the short film jumps right into a tense, high-stakes scene that gives it all to us. We never needed the fact that Andrew wants to be a drummer spelled out to us because the short shows us exactly what he’s trying to do and how hard it will be to do it. 

Short films are powerful, focused narratives that stand on their own. It isn’t as easy as it seems to create a concise story. In many ways it can be counterintuitive. But when it’s done right, it is magical — and it can earn you an Oscar or a greenlight for your feature length project.  

Why Short Films Are Essential for Emerging Filmmakers

There are a number of professional benefits for new screenwriters and directors when it comes to making short films, especially because they play so well at film festivals or online. And while it is generally always going to be expensive to make a film (whether in financial cost or time and talent), it is exponentially cheaper than a feature. 

Here are a few major benefits of making a short film: 

A Calling Card for Your Career

A short screenplay can be used as a tight writing sample to send to agents and managers — or for your reps to share with producers and industry experts who are looking to evaluate talent.
Meanwhile, the short film itself is something people can watch to easily get a sense of who you are as a creator and what you are capable of. 

Festival Exposure and Audience Reach

Short films can help filmmakers and writers gain recognition through festivals. It doesn’t have to be Sundance; there are incredible film festivals all over the world that play Short Film Programs — essentially two hours of shorts played back-to-back. These are often organized by genre, like comedy festivals or horror festivals, or maybe the programmers will group the shorts programs into thematic screenings. The people are attending are fellow filmmakers and industry professionals with an interest in filmmaking and meeting like-minded creatives.
This is a major reason why, when it comes to short films, shorter is better. A shorter runtime improves acceptance odds. Think about it this way. If you’re programming a one-hour program, you can only show three twenty-minute films, but you could show six ten-minute films or twelve five-minute ones.

I can also tell you from firsthand experience that judging film festival submissions can become very tedious — don’t count on your judge having the bandwidth that day to get through your opening credits, establishing shots, and random conversations that show the life of your character long before the action ever starts. 

Get in. Dazzle them. Get out.

Proof of Concept for Bigger Projects

When Damian Chazelle was hoping to make his feature film, Whiplash, he decided to start by filming one scene from the movie. You can compare the two and see how they are nearly identical except for budget. He made the short film which won the 2013 Short Film Jury Prize at Sundance, opening doors for financial backing (and, eventually, multiple Academy Award nominations and wins). 

Short Films Keep You Creative and Sharpen Your Skills

Shorts are a great medium for helping you grow as a storyteller, especially in structure and pacing. Recently I was in a short film program where we were meant to write a short film. I had, simultaneously, two hundred thousand possible ideas…and zero. What would I write about? Then we were given constrictions via locations where we could shoot our film. Once I saw that a morgue was listed, I began to think about what kind of story could take place just in a morgue. Six pages later, I had a screenplay I loved, one that felt meaningful, visually intriguing, and manageable if and when I choose to film it. 

Sometimes, thinking small can really help you focus.

Practice Genre and Style

Maybe you’ve always written drama and you want to try your hand at comedy. Or maybe you love Halloween and you want to release a spooky horror film. A short film is a great way to experiment with tone, format, or genre.

Shorts are also a great way to take creative risks. They will take less of your time to write (if you average about four pages an hour, you’re looking at a mere morning’s worth of time to write a first draft) and to film (depending on how complex your film is, I tend to estimate 1-2 hours per page on-set). 

Build Confidence Through Execution

A blank page is daunting. It always is. Completing a short script gives writers the satisfaction of a finished piece. It helps build that muscle that drives you all the way to “The End” — and this is true of writing it and filming it.
That said, I encourage every writer to treat short films as standalone works, not just “practice.” You can still look back at the work of different writers and directors to see how they developed their unique voice via their short films. The craft may have been early and unrefined, but the story is still an opportunity to explore what makes your voice as a writer special. It’s also your chance to say what you want to say in this world. 

The Strategic Power of Short Films

In a highly saturated world, shorts can open doors and keep writers relevant in the industry. If you are clever, you can film one tonight with your cell phone and upload it online tomorrow. This is a moment where begging someone to notice you, to read your work, to hire you is just defeating…but entertaining people will get them knocking on your door.

Short Films are Easier to Produce and Promote

Shorts have lower budgets, fewer locations, and simpler logistics. In other words, they are easier to make than a feature film. And the truth is, there is so much that you don’t know until you know it about making a film. Every time I make a short film, I learn so much through the process that I have outgrown it by the time the thing is finished and I’m sharing it with others. It means they always make me wince a little bit — but less and less so as time goes on and I apply my lessons learned. What a world of pain I’d be in if I’d invested $500,000 in that lesson instead of $5,000.
This is why I strongly encourage writers to think about realistic production early in the writing process. I know you want to make a Star Wars film, but how clever can you be with your production design and the story you want to tell so you don’t rely on an expensive VFX space battle? 

One of my favorite short films ever was the first one that Mark and Jay Duplass played at Sundance, This is John. They filmed it with their family video camera in their own kitchen. It’s just Mark talking — one man struggling with what should have been an easy task — with Jay finding unexpected and intimate camera angles. There is something so human about it. It didn’t need a flashy location, fancy lighting, or expensive sound. It just needed to be true.

Shorts Can Attract Funding and Talent

Shorts can be used to pitch feature ideas or attract investors. They can serve as a proof of concept for something bigger. Even a short screenplay with a cut trailer can help sell a larger idea. Add your short to a pitch deck or a business plan to gain confidence from other team members or investors you are looking to recruit.

Awards, Recognition, and Representation

Look, we’re artists, we’ve all got egos running rampant in our hearts. So, yeah, it’s alluring to know that short films can be eligible for major awards such as Oscars or Emmys. There is a short film category at the Academy Awards and there are Emmy awards for short-form content. These are the biggest stages in the world when it comes to entertainment accolades. 

Not only that, but reputable film festivals offer awards, cash, and prizes for great shorts. That kind of award recognition can lead to career breakthroughs.
In earlier stages, writers can submit to short film contests, grants, and programs that support short scripts. You can earn funding to bring your film to production, finishing funds to submit it to festivals, or just a cash payment to pay your own rent as you pursue your craft. Winning these prizes is great (because, yay, prizes) but the accolades can also be used to advertise to others that you’ve been recognized by a reputable entity. All of this makes you more desirable to work with and get that next great opportunity.

Final Thoughts: Use Us as a Launchpad

Short films are worth the effort for any filmmaker. Watch some great films and notice what makes them exciting for you, what makes them interesting. What risks did they take? What questions did they pose? How much do you think it cost to make them?
From there, consider what you want to say and then write a script that is bold, honest, and uniquely yours. A short film gives you more control to create something that is all yours.
Many acclaimed filmmakers started this way — and you can too.