Short film to market feature script

[Gohanto]

Working on a film at the moment that I'll be shooting in October with the intention of showing it to investors as a promotion of what a feature version of the same movie would be.

My questions is though, should the short be complete within itself? Like use the same ending I would use in the feature, or leave it more open ended where people are left wanting more?

 

[clang]

I'd go for a self-contained mini-plot (i.e. a few scenes which together have a dramatic beginning middle and ending) from within the full film, but left open-ended - you don't want potential investors thinking 'great short film, so why bother making a feature length version?' Depending on the full film, you may be able to deliberately leave off any ending at all, just introduce a few characters, put them into an interesting highly dramatic situation and stop just as the viewer is desperate to see what happens next.

The best 'investment teaser' I've ever seen is the opening scene of Sin City, which they made just to show people what the film would be like and prove they had the technical skills to make it. Interestingly, it tells the viewer almost nothing about the full film's plot, but works perfectly in introducing the look and atmosphere of the rest of the film.

 

[SISUMAN]

Trailers For Investors

Trailers For Investors

Aside from having a story to invest in, you should probably show the work of the DP, the Director, the talent, the settings. I can't see anyone who knows the business and has money just investing in a short film story without know who is going to work on it. A demo reel is a good place to start and I would suggest that you get all of your talent to work on a 'trailer' for the movie showing the film style to be used.
A great way to get investor dollars is to rent a theatre to show them either the 'trailer' or the demo reel of the DP and have the principle actors there when you make your presentation. Investors go ga-ga over real 'Movie Actors'.
Always have a detailed budget and a script as the basics for handouts. But most important of all is this;
HAVE FAITH THAT YOUR MOVIE IS GOING TO BE A BLOCKBUSTER!
If you don't believe in yourself, no one else really should.
Good Luck!

 

[Jim Brennan]

Doing something like this can be a good idea, but:

1) Make sure that you have the rest of your house in order. Budget, Script, Schedule, marketing materials, all of that.

2) Make sure that the short is as good as you plan on making the feature. Investors will not understand any caveats. They may say they will, but if you are shooting HD, or 35mm,, or RED, shoot the short the same way. If the short looks sub-par, they will think that's as good as you can do, no matter what you tell them.

That being said, you could probably get as much attention from a great DP reel, an amazing script, having the rest of your homework done (see point number 1) and a confident sales pitch. Investors are looking or they are not. It's usually not a question of convincing them to invest in a film, but a question of them choosing YOUR film.