The Short Films

A short film is any motion picture not long enough to be considered a feature film. The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as “an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits”.^[1] The term featurette originally applied to a film longer than a short subject, but shorter than a standard feature film.

The increasingly rare term “short subject” means approximately the same thing. It is an industry term which carries more of an assumption that the film is shown as part of a presentation along with a feature film. “Short” is an abbreviation for either term. Short films are often screened at local, national, or international film festivals and made by independent filmmakers for non profit, either with a low budget or no budget at all. They are usually funded by film grants, non profit organizations, sponsor, or personal funds. Short films are generally used by filmmakers to gain experience or prove their talent in order to gain funding for future films from private investors, entertainment companies, or film studios.