Success from short films?

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  • Success from short films?

    Has it happened that a writer got repped/signed or got assignments due to a short film he wrote?

    There are plenty of directors that got assignments based on their shorts.

    Does the same happen to writers of those short films?

  • #2
    Re: Success from short films?

    Originally posted by Chief View Post
    Has it happened that a writer got repped/signed or got assignments due to a short film he wrote?

    There are plenty of directors that got assignments based on their shorts.

    Does the same happen to writers of those short films?
    The biggest value a short has to a writer comes from actually seeing it shot, and how physical production correlates to the words on the page. What's important, what's missing, and what's fluff. If you can't be present at the shoot, that value is obviously diminished.

    That said, a director gets WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more mileage out of a short than a writer does. Writing shorts has virtually zero impact on your career, with the exception of getting one in a prestigious festival and using it to network or anecdotally pad your resume.

    Even a good short is still like writing a good joke. It doesn't make you a comedian. Writing a feature is like having an actual "act," IMO.

    If you have any aspirations to direct in the future, I whole-heartedly recommend trying to direct any short you write yourself. They first few will likely suck, but be invaluable learning experiences.

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    • #3
      Re: Success from short films?

      One other way it could possibly help to write a short with or for a director is to give you an introduction into the collaborative nature of actual filmmaking that most writers working in a vacuum don't get.

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      • #4
        Re: Success from short films?

        Originally posted by ihavebiglips View Post
        The biggest value a short has to a writer comes from actually seeing it shot, and how physical production correlates to the words on the page. What's important, what's missing, and what's fluff. If you can't be present at the shoot, that value is obviously diminished.

        That said, a director gets WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY more mileage out of a short than a writer does. Writing shorts has virtually zero impact on your career, with the exception of getting one in a prestigious festival and using it to network or anecdotally pad your resume.

        Even a good short is still like writing a good joke. It doesn't make you a comedian. Writing a feature is like having an actual "act," IMO.

        If you have any aspirations to direct in the future, I whole-heartedly recommend trying to direct any short you write yourself. They first few will likely suck, but be invaluable learning experiences.
        Ditto. The only people who benefit from a short film are the director, the DOP, the cast, and sometimes the producer, the production designer and the music composer.

        There is no reason wasting your time writing shorts. Focus on features and then if you want to transition into film directing start considering doing a short.

        If you want to gain some practical insight into how films are being physically produced on set and in the office try to get a job as a set or office-based runner/PA. Then work your way up to other capacities while writing your scripts on the side. Actually, working as a runner is proper education, both on your attitude, which will come in effect later how to talk/treat cast and crew, but also on practical aspects of filmmaking.

        "Artificial Intelligence will never match the efficiency of Natural Stupidity"

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        • #5
          Re: Success from short films?

          Originally posted by ihavebiglips View Post
          One other way it could possibly help to write a short with or for a director is to give you an introduction into the collaborative nature of actual filmmaking that most writers working in a vacuum don't get.
          Yes - this.

          I have a short script that I wrote that was one of the 50 winning scripts chosen for the 50 Kisses project put on by the London Screenwriters' Festival.

          General Site: http://www.50kissesfilm.com/#/

          My script "Love": http://www.50kissesfilm.com/50-kisse...-by-rob-burke/

          Film based on my script: http://www.50kissesfilm.com/movies/l...ndstone-films/

          While it hasn't gotten me "noticed" by Hollywood, it has been an interesting and educational experience seeing the words transformed into a film and working in a somewhat collaborative fashion with the filmmaker. The rewrite process was valuable too - as all the winning writers were given a chance to get feedback by the producers as well as the film making/writing community and incorporate those "notes" into second or third versions of their respective short scripts.

          Of course, once a filmmaker became attached to a particular script, writers were encouraged to collaborate with those filmmakers - in many cases that happened and appears to have been a very beneficial process to the writers involved. There have been some very nice shorts shot. I'm on the West Coast and the filmmaker who chose to make my script is in London so we didn't get to have any face to face meetings - but e-mail exchanges did result in some changes that worked better that what I had originally wrote. In the end, I was amazed how close the film came to what had played in my mind as I wrote the script.

          I did get a nice mention of the script/film on the Tracking Board site as well as the Blacklist blog written by Scott Meyers - so that was some appreciated pub.

          Look, I know it's not an Oscar . . . it's not Nicholls . . .hell, it's not even a full length script - but overall, the process of writing the short script, being chosen out of 1800+ scripts, being involved in having it produced, and seeing my words transferred to the screen has been a nice part of my growth as a writer. Definitely was not a waste of my time.

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          • #6
            Re: Success from short films?

            As the writer in a short film writer/director team, I find that having produced shorts to show people has certainly helped me get reads for my solo feature scripts. The shorts are handy samples to show how my work translates to screen. They haven't got me a rep, though.

            Our aim with short films is to get experience, find some funding for bigger, more ambitious productions and eventually make feature. Plus, it's a hell of a lot of fun.
            TimeStorm & Blurred Vision Book info & blog: https://stormingtime.com//

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            • #7
              Re: Success from short films?

              I had a couple of shorts produced from my scripts a few years back - when the UK government still funded short films... They did help get a few meetings, mostly via networking at festivals, but the problem was everyone wanted to see my feature scripts - which at that point didn't exist. So if you went down the shorts route make sure you have some features ready to whip out if the shorts are a success.
              My stuff

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              • #8
                Re: Success from short films?

                Originally posted by Chief View Post
                Has it happened that a writer got repped/signed or got assignments due to a short film he wrote?

                There are plenty of directors that got assignments based on their shorts.

                Does the same happen to writers of those short films?
                Nope.

                Best,

                MB
                twitter.com/mbotti

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                • #9
                  Re: Success from short films?

                  IMHO Short films primarily tend to be a showcase for the director.

                  In terms of the festival circuit it's slightly different too. There's around 65-70 festivals that qualify a winning short for academy consideration.

                  I wrote and co-directed an award winning short a couple of years back that picked up a 'best international discovery' accolade at the Rhode Island Film Festival. This was one of the academy qualifiers and although it got me a few meetings it was ultimately about taking the next step into features - as both a writer and a director.

                  Martin McDonagh (In Bruges) wrote and directed six shooter which won an oscar for best short film.

                  It elevated his status and also his producer on the project Mia Bays who is now a well respected sales rep in Europe.

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