![\"short-feature-examples\"](\"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/short-feature-examples.jpg\")
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I was recently asked if short format work could lead to big picture deals. Instead of laughing off the incredibly unlikelihood, I looked at the data.<\/p>\n
If you exclude filmmakers who just make a killer short film and subsequently get notoriety thanks to their name or affiliation (e.g. Disney’s “Paperman” by John Kahrs<\/a>, who is now directing the feature “Shedd”), as well as commercially\/celebrity-driven projects (e.g. “Dr. Horrible” by Neil Patrick-Harris), here’s a breakdown of the rare instances where independently-made short films and long-term web series garnered enough festival attention and\/or fans to lead to feature film and broadcast deals, respectively.<\/p>\n SHORT FILMS<\/p>\n This 1978 short (left) led to the 1981 feature, “The Evil Dead.”<\/p><\/div>“Within The Woods”<\/strong> (1978) by Sam Raimi was the short made over three days for $1,600, which led to the feature film “The Evil Dead”<\/strong> in 1981. Watch the short on YouTube.<\/a><\/li>\n “Bottle Rocket” in 1992 (left) helped make the 1996 feature.<\/p><\/div>“Bottle Rocket”<\/strong> (1992) by Wes Anderson was a short film that went to Sundance before getting the opportunity to become a feature film with the same name in 1996. Watch the short on YouTube.<\/a> Anderson also did a short called “Hotel Chevalier”<\/strong> (1997), although it was more so a supplement than a building block for some of his other feature films with the same cast and production aesthetic.<\/li>\n The 1993 short (left) introduced us to the 1996 feature for “Hard Eight.”<\/p><\/div>“Cigarettes and Coffee”<\/strong> (1993) is 24-minute short from Paul Thomas Anderson (who we mention above) which led to the feature film “Hard Eight”<\/strong> in 1996, which was his directorial debut. Watch the short on YouTube.<\/a> Anderson also made a short in 2003 called “Couch”<\/strong> which starred Adam Sandler was somewhat related to his later feature, “Punch-Drunk Love.”<\/strong><\/li>\n 2002 short (left) for “Napoleon Dynamite” paved the way for a 2004 feature.<\/p><\/div>“Peluca”<\/strong> (2002) by Jared Hess was the short before “Napoleon Dynamite”<\/strong> in 2004. There was even an animated television series in 2012 on Fox, who eventually cancelled it mid-season after six episodes. Watch the short on YouTube.<\/a><\/li>\n Taika Waititi’s short film (left) six years prior to his feature.<\/p><\/div>“Two Cars, One Night”<\/strong> (2004) by Taika Waititi was an Oscar-nominated short film before it was a baseline for the 2010 feature, “Boy.”<\/strong> Watch the short on YouTube.<\/a><\/li>\n Neill Blomkamp’s short in 2005 led to the “District 9” feature in 2009.<\/p><\/div>“Alive in Joburg”<\/strong> (2005) by Neill Blomkamp was the short film whose story loosely became that of “District 9”<\/strong> in 2009. Watch the short on YouTube.<\/a><\/li>\n 2005 short (left) for “9” led to the 2009 feature.<\/p><\/div>“9”<\/strong> (2005) by Shane Acker led to a feature by the same name in 2009. Watch the short on the director’s Vimeo.<\/a><\/li>\n Posters for the 2008 short (left) and the 2013 feature of “Mama.”<\/p><\/div>“Mama”<\/strong> (2008) by Andr\u00c3\u00a9s Muschietti became a feature film in 2013 by the same name. Watch the short on YouTube.<\/a> [Link updated 6\/5.]<\/li>\n The 2009 short (left) and the 2013 feature for “Short Term 12.”<\/p><\/div>“Short Term 12”<\/strong> (2009) by Destin Daniel Cretton began as a short film before becoming a 2013 feature-length film. Watch the short on the director’s Vimeo.<\/a><\/li>\n WEB SERIES<\/p>\n Poster for “VGHS.”<\/p><\/div>“Video Game High School”<\/strong> (2012-Present) began as a web series via YouTube superstar “FreddieW” (Freddie Wong), which led to three heavily sponsor- and crowd-funded seasons of shows. The show has since been included on Netflix — which is on TV and wins Emmys, so perhaps you can call it a network nowadays. Visit the production company’s YouTube.<\/a><\/li>\n As you’ll see, it’s very rare to make this work, and not as common a model anymore as it was 10 years ago. Today, if not just to do short-format work for the merits of the work itself, there’s now more than ever the opportunity to sell a short film download online, as a VOD business model. Or consider the commercial \/ branded content route, such as “Touching Stories”<\/a> for the iPad in 2010. Either way, it’s super rare to walk away completely profitable from either approach.<\/p>\n Food for thought when making something to get somewhere else.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I was recently asked if short format work could lead to big picture deals. Instead of laughing off the incredibly unlikelihood, I looked at the data. If you exclude filmmakers who just make a killer short film and subsequently get notoriety thanks to their name or affiliation (e.g. Disney’s “Paperman” by John Kahrs, who is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":43,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-film","category-web"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4780","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/43"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4780"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4780\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6074,"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4780\/revisions\/6074"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4780"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4780"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/fwdlabs.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4780"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}\n
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