What's a good universal average length for a short?

xyouthx

xyouthx

Well-known member
So we are well into the Pre Production stages of a Senior Independent Study (short film) in my undergrad program, and basically we're using our IS capabilities and free equipment(lighting, etc) to make a full on short film involving a large crew, full sets, set designers, etc.

Ultimately we think this will be something that we'll be always proud of, and want to enter it in many film festivals in the upcoming spring. We're thinking it will be 8-13 minutes in length, but what is the universal standard for a short typically shown/entered at film fest?

It seems like anything over 15 might cause a short film audience to lose interest, but I could be wrong. Any advice would be appreciated!
 
Well, assuming all things are equal (meaning let's assume it's good)....

I would say your chances greatly increase with anything below 10 minutes.
I don't think its so much a matter of losing an audiences interest
(because if your film is good that shouldn't be an issue)
but just a matter of the finite amount of time in any festivals programming schedule.

They only have so much time alotted for short films -
so for every 20 minute short they accept, that's two 10 minute shorts that aren't getting in.
So if you were a festival programer - what would you lean towards?

Yes - I can hear the barrage of responses that if it's good no one is going to care about the length, and that's true -
but that simply means a 20 minute short needs to be twice as good as every 10 minute short entered.

Of course, and I shouldn't even have to say this, you need to make sure the story you're telling is being given the time it needs.
So that means you should try to construct a story that can be told, and told well, in under 10 minutes -
not simply take the story you have and cram it into a smaller space.

Just my 2 cents.
 
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