Short Film

A short film is defined by most festival rules as a film under 40 minutes. The most commercially active short length is 5–15 minutes. BFI and Film4 development schemes frequently use short film commissions to identify new talent.

The format is identical to a feature screenplay — Courier 12pt, standard margins, 1 page ≈ 1 minute — but the storytelling demands are entirely different. A short film has no room for subplots, backstory exposition, or secondary character arcs. It exists as one crystalline idea.

A short film must be built on a single, crystalline concept that can be stated in one sentence. The strongest short film ideas contain an inherent dramatic tension or irony — they don't need setup, they generate story.

Short film scripts use identical formatting to feature screenplays. The only difference is discipline — everything that does not serve the one central idea is cut.

• 01
  Title page Must include: Title, writer's name, contact details, draft number and date. For festival submissions, some organisers require anonymised drafts — check submission rules.
• 02
  Scene count A 10-minute short should aim for no more than 5–8 scenes. More than that suggests the story is too spread out and needs focusing.
• 03
  Character count Introduce the absolute minimum number of named characters. New characters require audience attention; attention is your most precious resource in a short.
• 04
  No flashbacks A short film rarely benefits from temporal complexity. If you need a flashback, the story probably begins in the wrong place. Start later.
• 05
  End on image The most powerful short film endings are visual, not verbal. The last image should carry the emotional weight of the entire film. Avoid closing with dialogue that explains the theme.