Yeah. I'm a screenwriter and shorter is better--100 pages is the new 120 pages. I'll be working on my first short next year, so I hope things work out.
Can I encourage you to make a short that is just a few scenes from (what can be turned into) a feature? There’s not a lot you can do with a finished short, and shorts are too short to be satisfying in my opinion.
In many ways, making shorts should be left to film school, even in our studio's film school, when our students make their first short film, they are making a feature at the same time. They have a mentor, and we make as many as 5 shorts that become a feature anthology, and they get a credit on a full-length, saleable film.
Thank you, Ted, for sharing this. I find it immensely useful. I am working on a documentary called Himalayan Lessons. Its themes are coming-of-age, parenting and digital detox in the Himalayas, where the heroes will endure hardship and hopefully find a way to bond. I think it fits the NonDē definition and I wonder if you'd help me make it better.
Interesting note about 80 is the new 90: I not only actively seek out shorter films myself, but as I'm trying to figure out a first feature to make, my main guiding principle is that I want to hit the world with something ~72min in length. That sounds arbitrary and weird even to my own ears, so I don't talk about it a lot, but it's an intuition. I think the 72 min mark is the point when someone decides they'll remember the movie, and if it ends on a dramatic note right there, they'll be stuck with it in their brain.
I might be wrong about that but I swear the 72-75 min mark is where people in theaters start shifting, either to "okay when will this end?" mode (they get antsy) or "I love this, I'm glad I'm seeing it" mode (they find their comfort sweet spot on the seat and stop moving, usually also start laughing without worrying about other people hearing it).
Yeah. I'm a screenwriter and shorter is better--100 pages is the new 120 pages. I'll be working on my first short next year, so I hope things work out.
Can I encourage you to make a short that is just a few scenes from (what can be turned into) a feature? There’s not a lot you can do with a finished short, and shorts are too short to be satisfying in my opinion.
In many ways, making shorts should be left to film school, even in our studio's film school, when our students make their first short film, they are making a feature at the same time. They have a mentor, and we make as many as 5 shorts that become a feature anthology, and they get a credit on a full-length, saleable film.
Sounds cool!
Sounds more like life lessons
Love this breakdown of a Sundance film. Good reminder. Didn’t remember you were involved with Brothers McMullen!
Thank you, Ted, for sharing this. I find it immensely useful. I am working on a documentary called Himalayan Lessons. Its themes are coming-of-age, parenting and digital detox in the Himalayas, where the heroes will endure hardship and hopefully find a way to bond. I think it fits the NonDē definition and I wonder if you'd help me make it better.
Interesting note about 80 is the new 90: I not only actively seek out shorter films myself, but as I'm trying to figure out a first feature to make, my main guiding principle is that I want to hit the world with something ~72min in length. That sounds arbitrary and weird even to my own ears, so I don't talk about it a lot, but it's an intuition. I think the 72 min mark is the point when someone decides they'll remember the movie, and if it ends on a dramatic note right there, they'll be stuck with it in their brain.
I might be wrong about that but I swear the 72-75 min mark is where people in theaters start shifting, either to "okay when will this end?" mode (they get antsy) or "I love this, I'm glad I'm seeing it" mode (they find their comfort sweet spot on the seat and stop moving, usually also start laughing without worrying about other people hearing it).