By Thomas Stephenson
For as long as I can remember, I’ve loved movies. Watching them at home or in theaters, making them with my sister and friends on our family video camera, engaging in impassioned debates about what makes them work—or not—and everything in between. Throughout most of my life, the majority of my movie consumption was focused on feature-length films. It wasn’t until much later, as my film knowledge grew, that I fully grasped the significant impact that short films have had on me and the culture as a whole.
Like most kids growing up in the ’90s, the first short I ever saw was a Pixar film. Some of my earliest memories are of classics such as “Tin Toy”, “Knick Knack”, “Geri’s Game”, and “For the Birds.” Wallace and Gromit’s epic adventure to the moon in “A Grand Day Out” kicked off my obsession with its titular characters. To this day I remain a massive Wallace and Gromit fan and it was a joy to relive my childhood at the World Premiere of their latest adventure, “Vengeance Most Fowl” at the AFI Film Festival this year.
Growing up, I always dreamed about working in the film industry, but wasn’t sure where I fit in. I was never interested in writing or directing, and didn’t feel I had the experience to go into production. My passion for film won out in the end; this time last year, after more than seven years of working in public relations and marketing for biotech companies, I decided to take a risk that millions have before me: I chased my love for movies across the country from Boston to Los Angeles to pave a new career path that I truly loved.
The moment I arrived in LA, I was thrilled to be surrounded by film culture. Every other billboard advertised an upcoming movie release or “For Your Consideration” ad, party conversations revolved around what we had all seen lately, and it seemed as if everyone was involved in or trying to join the industry.
What I didn’t expect was the overwhelming number of short films being developed. Suddenly, I was constantly hearing from friends about short film projects left and right. Whether it was their work, a friend’s colleague’s, etc., there always seemed to be a passion project in development.
Wanting to get involved, I volunteered to help out as an extra on a few short films, and was stunned to see how much effort and work goes into each stage of these small but mighty projects. The fundraising, casting, equipment rentals, location scouting, and so much more… It was overwhelming. I’d heard plenty of stories about the complex nature of working on these projects from my sister and friends, but it wasn’t until I witnessed it all in action that I fully understood how much blood, sweat, and tears goes into a short film.
To me, the most exciting part of shorts is the potential they contain for everyone involved. Each member of the cast and crew is there to show what they can do. It can be a showcase of their talent for their reel or resume, a proof of concept for a feature they’d like to make, or just evidence of their talent and style. What’s more, short films are often entirely self-financed and/or crowd-funded—this leaves the creative direction and storytelling entirely up to those involved. The stories feel deeply personal and from the heart.
Equipped with this new appreciation for the craft, I began consuming more shorts in my free time. Suddenly, there was an entire library of incredible projects that opened up to me and I couldn’t get enough. I started attending local festivals, hunting for shorts online, and diving deep into #FilmTwitter to ingest as much as I could. However, I couldn’t help but notice that a majority of these projects were contemporary.
Where were all the older shorts?
Since I’m not a director myself, I turned to my sister, Madeline Stephenson, to comment on her own personal struggles with keeping a short film relevant in the crowded media space after its premiere. I asked Madeline to comment on what makes it so difficult to maintain a strong interest in short films once they’ve premiered:
“A short film can be a little like a time capsule. You work on it at a certain point in your career, give it a festival run if you can, and then usually leave it on your website or relegate it to the “vault.” Many festivals request short films that have been finished within a certain timeframe, as they are aiming for something that is current. While there are plenty of timeless short films out there, you won’t find too many platforms that distribute them to a wide audience.
In this current climate, the ideal outcome of a short film is it becoming a career launchpad; if seen by the right person or company, it is a sample of what you are capable of with a limited runtime and resources. It can also be used as a proof of concept for a larger idea like a feature film. But I think it’s a shame not to see a short film as a work of art that can hold up on its own. So much time, effort, and money can go into even the simplest concepts, and a festival run can feel very short-lived and anticlimactic after all that effort.” – Madeline Stephenson, Writer & Director
I also spoke with a friend, Max Neuens, about his experience with getting the shorts he’s been involved with out to a wider audience over a longer period of time.
“One of the biggest challenges in maintaining interest in a short film project after its initial release is the lack of a clear avenue for the work to be continually seen. As filmmakers, producers, and people involved in the process of making short films, we invest so much time in creating these compact stories for people to enjoy, but often the only viewers are those who see it at a festival or our close family and friends.
Unfortunately, with this approach, what was once a meaningful piece of art is now relegated to being merely a means of communicating our experience as artists, rather than showcasing the art itself.” – Max Neuens, Actor, Writer & Director
With all of the work that goes into creating these short but impactful works of art and the potential they hold to launch many aspiring creatives’ careers, I feel as if we aren’t giving shorts what they deserve. This is where my marketing brain kicked in.
Marketing is at the center of my career and overall life. I find myself examining why a billboard works, the messaging I pulled from a TV ad, and the ever-elusive final straw in a film’s marketing campaign that made me lock in a ticket. Whenever I see something that isn’t getting the praise or attention it deserves, my instinct is to communicate its existence to the entire world through whatever marketing means I have at my disposal. Just ask any of my friends who have heard my passionate spiel on why every single movie lover should have access to AMC’s A-List membership. After witnessing the development of countless shorts firsthand, it didn’t sit right with me that so many deserving projects faded into the background after just a few months.
Thus, the idea for the Short Vault was born.
As Madeline alludes to, every filmmaker has short films they’ve directed or supported that are currently sitting in a literal (or figurative) vault, collecting dust. Whether it’s an old student film, a passion project that screened years ago or even a short that never got a proper release, each deserves to be dusted off and given a fresh life. The goal of the Short Vault is to build a community where talented creatives can share and discuss work from their past to a new audience.
Now that the Short Vault Twitter (not calling it X) account is officially live, all that’s left to do is to attract a large audience of short film lovers that the projects deserve! Building a following on social media always takes time, but I’m optimistic that #FilmTwitter and this article can rally around this idea to support what I’m trying to do. As the community grows, I’m hoping I can expand to additional platforms as well.
All that being said… if you like what I’m trying to build here, please spread the word to your film-loving friends. Check out our shorts, engage with the content you like, and submit your own “vault” films. Together we can create a supportive space where older projects can be reborn for a new audience!
If you have a short film you’d like to submit, head to the submission form, review the requirements, fill in the required information, and hit send. I’m looking forward to building a community of fellow short film lovers.
About the Author
Thomas Stephenson is Founder & Principal of Whitepatch Comms, a boutique marketing/public relations consultancy focused on supporting lower budget short/feature film projects and production companies. He brings over seven years of experience in marketing and public relations within a wide variety of industries, including: film and television, music, healthcare, biopharma, higher education, and manufacturing. Outside of the office, Thomas loves to ski, golf, and head to his local movie theater to see a good movie.
Author: Guest Author
This article comes from No Film School and can be read on the original site.
