Filmmaking / Directing : How long is too long for a short? by Desiree Middleton

Every festival has its own rules, so you need to look them up individually. As a general guideline, a short will only be accepted into the short category if it is less than 30 minutes.

Typically (not always) film festivals structure showings into two hour screening blocks. Generally the filmmaker/Director/Actors are available for audience questions at the end of the showing. Generally 'kid friendly' films are shown in the morning screenings, moving into more meaty fare as the day progresses. The majority of ticket sales are for individual 2 hour blocks (there are day and festival passes too) The point is to maximize the filmmaker exposure so the goal is to show the greatest number of films per block. So; a 120 minute, consisting of 10 min films with 10 min post showing Q & A with a 5 min downtime between showings works out to 4.8 films per block (5 and even 6 is not uncommon). This is a long-winded way of telling you that a 30 minute film is hard to work with - it's just to damn long.

Since last May when I was submitting to festivals for my short film, I noticed that a lot of film festivals had a 20min cap for short films. I think that generally it can go up to 40 even. But under 20mins is the best cap in my opinion. That way you will be eligible for more festivals' short sections. Also, on a side note, just make sure the story and pace is how it should be and that you don't lose the audience's attention (prioritise the strength, not the length).

Hope this helps.

Yad

The truth is that no short film should go past 5-7 minutes. Think about it this way, the festival has only so much time for each film and they have loads of submissions. If they program your 30 minute short , it means they have to say no to six 5 minute shorts. Meaning they would have to really, really love it to say no to all those other short films.

What I'm being told by people I know and trust, who are submitting, is much the same as what's being said here - anything over 10 minutes is tough. Online festivals, I'm told, tend to be a bit more lenient with durations. In the last few years, online fests have gained a lot of credibility (e.g. Tribeca's TMFF).

A number of film festivals will run FL films; usually in the evening hours. I know we have.

The AMPAS definition of full length is forty minutes. Therefore, less than that is a short. At one time sixty-nine minutes was minimum feature length.

How about this? Go to YouTube, and watch a bunch of shorts. You may find that 10 minutes is ideal after viewing many, many shorts. Most people whom have done this have felt 10 minutes is optimal.

My short film is 40 pages. I have been able to submit it to at least 10 reputable film festivals as their page limits were all 40 pages or under, so you'd be in good shape with 30!! Good luck~

Thank you for the feedback.

You are safe around the 0-15 minutes. Once you go above 20 minutes festival's get reluctant due to trying to fit as many films on the schedule as possible so everyone gets more or less screen time. Hope I've helped.

Very few festivals will screen a short that's more than ten minutes long. Most that are worth getting into probably wouldn't even have time to screen it... they get a LOT of submissions, and it's a lot harder to find a slot for a 30-40 minute film than for a ten minute film.

So sure, you can submit a film that long... but do your research; if it's over 10 minutes, it's going to be a hard sell if you're not already known or have a well-known actor in it, or a well-known director directing it.

i agree, most shorts are 5-10 min. But everything is relative. I believe most film festivals categorize films as under 60 min, shorts. And films over 60 min. are Features. But see the specific Film Festival rules for proper submissions. My short films are 3-15 min. My feature films are usually 1 hr 30 min. (90 min). Best Regards, Mark Schaefer