Posted by Michael Raben at spider-wo074.proxy.aol.com on August 18, 2001 at 03:18:47:
In Reply to: Question for Vincent (or anyone else who knows)... posted by TKD27 on August 17, 2001 at 21:59:19:
: Why do indy filmmakers make shorts? The way it seems to me (and I know very little about the culture of indy, shorts stand close to a 1% chance of ever being picked up for distribution.
: Do filmmakers just do it to get their name out there? And does it really help? Do filmmakers NEED distribution to get people to take notice? It seems that way... but again, I don't really know.
There's a couple of reasons why someone would do a short, whether prior to a feature or instead of one. Oftentimes the MONEY/time/"size of project" issue comes into play - not enough money, time to commit, ability to commit to something the scope of a feature. Sometimes an idea isn't really appropriate for a feature; a short being better used to tell a quick story, joke, etc. A director, DP or producer might opt to hone their craft on a smaller project for practice.
Another major point to consider however is that in this digital age, accessability to entertaining short media is relatively easy, due to the internet. Think about if you put together a kick-ass ten minute short (like say, oh, "The Spirit of Christmas" or "Troops" among others); think of the response AND the doors that could/would open. I'm a firm believer that the cream does rise to the top. If a cool project is out there to be seen, word of mouth will put it into the spotlight.
Ultimately, a director/writer/producer wants to create their visual stories for an audience. As an aside, please save me any sort of "art for arts sake" arguments or the like - the point I'm leaning towards is that filmmakers WANT their material to be seen and most would prefer to make gobs of money and get some fame in the process. THAT takes, among other things, MONEY. The money people will only give it to you if they think you're going to make something interesting with it (re: something that'll make them money).
So there you have it. Oh, and incidentally, that 1% figure you threw out there is only accurate, if you're rounding up, and by factors of 10.
Always,
Michael Raben