4The Short Bible
1. Keep It Short
How short (or long) should a short film be? Back in the day, when I wrote my first short, the going length was 30 minutes. Festivals and distributors were more tolerant of that length and in fact wanted to see it. However, now with platforms tight for space and in the thick of Blip Culture (as McLuhan predicted) shorts really do need to be short.
Depending on the platform for which your short is intended, it can be anywhere from 2 to 15 minutes. And 15 minutes is pushing the outside time edge. That’s because if you want your short to play in festivals, it shouldn’t go over 15 minutes. Festival programmers are especially cramped for space and won’t slot anything longer than 15 minutes. In fact, the optimum time ...
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