What is a short film?

A short film is a film that has a duration of 10 to 15 minutes in the UK but in the US it is considered to being up to 40 minutes long.

A short film has no consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn. Short films are screened at local, national, or international film festivals and made by independent companies.

Short films are usually by filmmakers to gain experience or to prove their talent in order to gain funding for future films from private investors, entertainment companies or film studios.

Short films usually have low budget or no budget and are for non profitable purposes.

The difference between short films and feature films is that a short films duration is about 15 minutes long whereas a feature films duration is 70 minutes and above. Feature films have a relatively higher budget than short films.

Finance - Types of funding and research

Finance

An important part of pre-production process is to assess the financial viability of the proposed production.

Sources of finance

Requirements – expenditure

SOURCES OF FUNDING

Funding

•          TV channels
•          BBC, ITV and channel 4 all support short filmmaking
•          Sometimes funding is direct

•          Sometimes funding is “in kind”
•          Commissions (e.g. BBC3 original shorts, it’s my shout) – BBC commission some short films to be available on the BBC iPlayer.
•          Development (e.g. channel 4 director development programme)
•          Screening support (e.g. ITV and Odeon anti-bullying shorts)
•          Competitions (e.g. BBC3 the Fear)
•        Government funding
•          Is not available at a national level
•       British films institute directly funds feature length projects

·         BFI does not fund stand -alone shorts directly

·         Regional

BFI funding partne

•       Creative Scotland
•          Film Agency for Wales
•          Northern Ireland Screen
•          Film London

Local government funding

London Borough film funds (e.g. Wandsworth, Croydon, and Camden)

Private funding

Cinema Companies

•          Odeon
•          Curzon
• 
  

Media companies

•          SONY
•          VIRGIN MEDIA
• 
  

Other

•         BMW

Scenario

A newly launched "shorts" TV channel is calling for work in the short form. My aim is to produce a short drama and sell it as a DVD. I will need to research and plan my short film in order for the production.