Walk through a video store and count the short films. The ones you do find will likely be either (a) Compilations created by the same director (b) Compilations put together by a film festival. In either case they seem to be rare at my local video store.

Being able to sell them to cable television or something like that might be a better option since they always need to fill time. Still, from what I can tell short films tend to be used primarily as calling cards to get notice for larger projects.

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

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Originally posted by devilry

Hi, i was wondering how likely it is for a short film to hit a straight-to-dvd market? Do a lot of short films get distributed?

From what i've researched so far, it looks like there's a lot of distributors out there and that you have a lot of chances getting your movie bought, is this true?

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I'll add another question to RJ's reply.

How many short films on DVD to you own or rent?

I have a couple on DVD. But I think it's kind of a chicken and egg problem: if the DVDs don't exist you can't buy them and if people don't buy them the DVDs won't exist.

I could imagine that if someone was to collect together some decent shorts with a related theme and stick them on a DVD, there would be some kind of market for it.

What amazes me is how bad most shorts that get distribution are: British TV used to show collections of shorts late at night, and I only managed to sit through three or four of them before giving up completely. Most of the shorts they showed were just awful, I'd seen many better ones myself.

That is true, that not many people would actually own short films. But, from what i've researched, there is a market out there for short films, it's just that it's not so 'mainstream' as most feature-length films.

Also, from what i've seen lately, there are quite a few short films that are getting released on dvd's and doing quite well.

If these facts aren't true, then how can a short film make money? What are all the choices you have to make some profit's out of your film?

I think you should use the short film to get financing for a full length movie. Than you can sell them both on the same DVD (well the short will probably be a free-be on the DVD but it'll get out that way).

RJSchwarz
San Diego, CA

The reason I ask is because if the makers of short films don?t buy short films, then who do we think the market is? It would seem that it?s us - the filmmakers - who would buy the less mainstream product.

I?ve done a little research but it seems you?ve done more. I can?t find companies who distribute short films. I think it?s because they can?t find people who will buy short films.

If you have seen that quite a few short films are getting released on DVD and doing well, then you have better info than me. What are the companies you have found that are releasing short films on DVD?

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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)

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The reason I ask is because if the makers of short films don?t buy short films, then who do we think the market is? It would seem that it?s us - the filmmakers - who would buy the less mainstream product.

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That's an interesting point you've made instigator. I can only hope that filmmaker's aren't the only ones who'd buy these short films, rather people who like to be entertained. I think there's this growing independent market that are catching the eyes of a lot of people now n days.

I have done research, but not a whole lot. I've only read a couple of books and read things on the internet about distribution deals. It is 'said' that there is a huge 'supply and demand' market out there, that only people who are involved in that field know about. I havent found any companies who buy short films. I've only seen a couple of short films that have made it's way to dvd's.

http://www.whatisbroken.com/
http://www.kazeghostwarrior.com/index.htm

These two are the ones that pop into mind right now, i've seen other ones and i'm sure there's even a lot more out there.

And to rjschwarz, that is another one of my plans to do with this short film. Actually that's the main goal, and im sure that goes for every other filmmaker out there.

quote:

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Originally posted by devilry
That's an interesting point you've made instigator. I can only hope that filmmaker's aren't the only ones who'd buy these short films, rather people who like to be entertained. I think there's this growing independent market that are catching the eyes of a lot of people now n days.

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I would like to see a larger market, too. But if you ask the average movie watcher/renter/buyer how many short films they watch/rent/buy you'll be met with a blank stare.

If us filmmakers have no desire to watch short films I can't see that people who want to be entertained would want to watch short films. They find their entertainment elsewhere.

I hope I'm wrong. Mostly because I would buy short film collections if I could find them.

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The aim of an argument or discussion should not be victory, but progress.
Joseph Joubert, essayist (1754-1824)