Swimming Upstream: A Lifesaving Guide to Short Film Distribution

Table of contents

1. Cover
2. Halftitle
3. Title
4. Copyright
5. Contents
6. Dedication
7. Acknowledgments
8. Preface
9. Introduction
10. 1. Testing the Waters: The Indie Landscape
    1. Gore, Penguins, and the Cultural Zeitgeist of Distribution
    2. The Producer’s Perspective
    3. Conversation with Andrew Herwitz
    4. Strategizing Specialized Film
    5. Management Matters
11. 2. Learning to Float: The Buyers
    1. Who Is This For, Anyway?
    2. Swimming with Dolphins: Shorts Distribution 101
    3. Who’s Gonna Rescue Me if I Start to Drown?
    4. Life Starts When?
    5. Taking the Brake Lights Off Your Film
    6. Make Your Mark
    7. So You Want to Sell That Short? Not So Fast …
12. 3. The Deep End: Exploring All Options
    1. Why Should You Investigate Competitions?
    2. Why Should You Think Beyond Traditional Narrative Film?
    3. Why Should You Care About The Academy Awards?
    4. What Else Should You Think About?
    5. Plympton’s Dogma
    6. The Fragile Emotion
    7. Life in Short
    8. Conversation with Tom Quinn and Carter Pilcher
    9. Rudiments of the Short Film
    10. What’s a Short Film, Really?
13. 4. How I Learned to Swim: Filmmaker Survival Stories
    1. Full Circle
    2. Trial and Error in Hollywood
    3. dare to Create
    4. Mother’s Journey
    5. The Long and the Short of It
    6. Conversation with Peter Sollett
    7. Losing Your Virginity
    8. Interdependent
    9. Group Therapy
    10. From Nelson to Gowanus and Back
14. 5. Little Fish, Big Pond: Thinking Globally
    1. Shorts Down Under
    2. The International Marketplace for Short Films: Now with a Digital Assist
    3. Short Films in Japan
    4. Magic Little Differences: The European Audience Loves Short Films
    5. How to Make It with a Short Film in the UK and Europe
15. 6. No Lifeguard on Duty: Internet and New Technology
    1. Conversation with Megan O’Neill
    2. Demystifying Mobile Video: The Market Opportunity
    3. Conversation with Jim Bankoff
    4. Brave New Virtual World
    5. Conversation with Bahman Naraghi
    6. The Power of Distribution, in the Hands of Filmmakers
16. 7. Navigate the Rapids: Film Festivals
    1. Running Time
    2. Premiere Requirement
    3. Completion Date
    4. Exhibition Format
    5. A Briefing on Shorts
    6. Show ’Em Your Shorts!
    7. Conversation with George Eldred
    8. Some Serious Funny Business
    9. Conversation with John Polson
    10. Your Short Film and the LGBT (Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual/Transgender) Film Festival
    11. Conversation with Trevor Groth
17. 8. Waterlogged: My Story
    1. The Unfortunate Television Incident
18. Swim Test: The Workbook
    1. 1. Creating Your Logline
    2. 2. Expanding the Logline into a Short Synopsis
    3. 3. Creating Your Tagline
    4. 4. Creating Visual Elements
    5. 5. Creating the Pitchline
    6. 6. Developing Your Festival Plan of Attack
    7. 7. Investigating Distribution
    8. 8. Designing a Worksheet for Your Short Film’s Progress
19. Index