Short Film Export Report - BFI

6.1.9 Advertising
Short film and advertising are increasingly converging, representing an emerging opportunity for
short film makers. However, this new trend may risk confusing audiences as adverts and shorts
serve very different purposes. It remains to be seen whether this overlap will colour audience
attitudes towards short film. Online platforms have helped encourage an increasingly fuzzy
boundary between short film and advertising as brands seek more and more ingenious ways to
align themselves with certain content and audiences, and for the right kind of filmmaker
„product integration‟ represents an excellent opportunity to make a living from their work.
(There are also a number of shorts that have been converted into successful ad campaigns, from
Quentin Dupieux‟s Flat Eric character to the Budweiser toads.)
6.1.10 Making the most of our archive
In a study on short film export carried out by UniFrance, archive shorts are cited as playing a
significant role in French sales. 16 The circulation of archive shorts from the UK is quite limited,
but with advances in technology facilitating much wider access to our screen heritage we should
see more distributors and exhibitors capitalising on this largely untapped resource.
6.1.11 Changing deals
The traditional deal, a flat fee paid in advance and shared between the agent and the rightsholder,
is gradually being eroded by a revenue-sharing model. Many on the selling side are
heavily resistant to this shift, because it creates havoc with their cashflow and because it requires
a long-term, speculative relationship with the exhibitor. At present the sheer number of start-ups
and new online gambits has created a certain amount of scepticism within the industry, and
many are slightly torn between wanting to be „in at the beginning‟ and sitting tight to see how
things settle down. There is a big gap in the market for online aggregators with a solid business
model and a brand that is trusted by both distributors and audiences. Revenue-sharing is an
inevitable part of the „long tail‟ economy, but there is also some hope that pay-per-download can
take off if enough consumers can be sold on the value of shorts.
6.1.12 Creating a momentum for UK short film culture
The lack of profile for shorts in the UK, and specifically their virtual disappearance from UK
television screens, hamper our prospects internationally. The UniFrance sales study notes that
there is now scarcely any UK market for international content since the demise of shorts on
Channel 4. This „one-way traffic‟ has an impact on foreign buyers‟ attitude towards UK shorts,
and it may also explain many UK filmmakers‟ low expectations for the distribution of their own
work – if your own broadcasters won‟t show short film then it‟s harder to conceive of other
territories that will. Events like Futureshorts, Encounters, Straight8 and London Short Film
Festival as well as the explosion of shorts online has helped generate a lively conversation about
the short form and there is a sense that the mainstream media could be doing more to reflect this
conversation and to build a wider audience for shorts.
16 Étude sur la Diffusion Commerciale des Films de Court-Métrage Français dans le Monde, UniFrance 2007
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