“As many of our filmmakers are making short films I interviewed producer Julien Féret – producer of one of this years Oscar Nominated Shorts – Butter Lamp (La Lampe au Beurre de Yak) about a photographer and his assistant who photograph the inhabitants of a remote Tibetan village on his best tips for short filmmakers. Make a great short and maybe you will be Oscar nominated next year!”
– Julia Verdin
Julia Verdin Interviews Oscar Nominated Short Filmmaker Julien Féret:
Q: What is the most important thing for a filmmaker making a short?
A: Great script, that can portray a good idea in a short time. Many shorts suffer from being feature film ideas squeezed down into a short format and are not so effective.
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Q: What other tips do you have on short screenplays?
A: It’s important that the story concept is fully fleshed out into a story with a beginning, middle and end.
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Q: What is the most important thing to bear in mind production wise?
A: Don’t go too big. Pick a story or come up with an idea that involves minimal locations and a small cast so you don’t end up putting too much energy into production rather than directing. Keep it simple and powerful.
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Q: What is the best length for a short film?
A: My film was 15 mins. The best length is 15 mins, it should be no less than 10 and no more than 20. Though 10-15 minute shorts work best for festival programming shots. Longer shorts tend to only get programmed if really exceptional as would have to be a stand alone rather than programmed before a movie as most are.
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Q: What was your hardest challenge?
A: Hardest challenge was to achieve the coordination between a Chinese director, a french production company and tibetan actors. The secret is not to limit yourself by what you don’t know how to do now, because when the time comes, you will surprise yourself what things you can do.
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Best take away advice: The only limit you have is the limit of your imagination.
