How short films make money is a question I’ve heard countless times. We’ve championed short films since day one at Raindance a quarter century ago. Short films are the laboratory of cinema. It’s the place where filmmakers experiment and learn.
I’ve noticed a seismic change in short films since I started Raindance. Firstly, the digital revolution has made production costs significantly lower. Secondly, everyone wants content but so few are paying for it.
The demand for short films has never been higher. Bloggers, new digital platforms, major media companies and brands are crying out for quality short films that can be streamed in order to build prestige and earn them distinction and drive traffic to their social media.
Can short films make their filmmakers make money? Are the shorts deemed good enough to screen rom between the 7-9,000 entries that arrive at Sundance, SWSX and Raindance good enough to earn anything for the filmmakers?
Three different ways short films can make money
First thing that seems to happen when a filmmaker is accepted into a major film festival is a rash of offers from new websites. If you’re brave enough to sign a contract with a website you’ve never heard of, beware the non-exclusive contract.
Don’t forget new VOD platforms are launched every single day When we started Raindance.tv in 2007 Youtube was just two years old. Then there was Dailymotion.com and Joost.com. A year later Babblegum.com. Only Dailymotion survives from that lot.
Second thing that happens is filmmakers can get offers for decently paid work in advertisements and/or music videos. Making a short and having it screen at a really high profile festival like Raindance and SWSX really gets you noticed.
Thirdly, not one filmmaker I have ever met thinks that making a short film for money is a good idea. Think of it as a proof of concept for a larger project, or a pilot for a series of shorts usually released as a web series.
For some great war stories from award winning filmmakers like Gabriel Miller whose short “The Procedure” played Sundance and SWSX this year read this terrific article on Indiewire.com
Of course I’ve missed out ways you can make money with a short film.
Enter your experience in the comments box below.
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Photo Credit: Bertie Watson
I founded Raindance Film Festival in 1993 because the British film industry was closed, polite, and congratulating itself while shutting new filmmakers out.
I co-founded the British Independent Film Awards in 1998 because British indie film deserved more than a shrug, a pat on the head, and a Tuesday night screening.
Raindance didn’t start as a brand. It started as a rebellion: film training without gatekeepers, a festival without permission, and a community built by filmmakers who weren’t waiting to be invited in.
Later, we took it global: Toronto, Vancouver, New York, LA, Berlin, and Brussels, because independent film doesn’t belong to one city, one class, or one accent.
I’ve produced 700+ short films and seven features, including Deadly Virtues (2014) and ALICE, which won the SXSW Grand Jury Prize (2019) not because someone “discovered” us, but because the work earned its place.
I’ve written three books used by filmmakers worldwide because too many courses taught compliance instead of survival.
In 2009, I was awarded a PhD for services to film education, ironic, given that most of my career has been about tearing down the rules that education insisted you follow.
I don’t believe in waiting for permission.I believe in making work, building systems, and forcing the industry to catch up.
Specialties: Independent Film (the real kind) · Producing · Writing · Film Education · Festivals · Breaking Broken Systems
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