Northern Alliance - BFI

Appendix V The public value of short films
When considering the payback that short films make to the UK‟s cultural life in return
for the public funding devoted to their production, it may be useful to think of their
contribution in two ways: their intrinsic value as a form of art or entertainment in
their own right, and their instrumental value as a means of developing the skill-set of
the UK industry as a whole, in particular the subsequent feature films of short film
„graduates‟.
Interviewees appreciated their intrinsic value:
“Short films are a showcase for different stories and opinions. Shorts also allow
audiences to engage with bolder and „higher risk‟ storylines than are possible in
television or feature films.”
Claire Cook, BBC Film Network
“Great shorts can be more satisfying than feature films, and can be easier to engage
with because they are shorter!”
Mia Bays, Producer and Creative Executive, Film London‟s Microwave
This cultural value can often be latent or deferred:
“There can be a „retrospective‟ cultural benefit from shorts when an audience is given
the opportunity to discover a canon of early work by an established filmmaker as was
the case with Martin Scorsese's short films.”
Alexander Stone, CMP
However, there was a clear consensus that the primary contribution made by short
films was instrumental in nature:
“Short films are an essential part of talent development. They are a great medium for
exploring a filmmaker‟s tone and style.”
Chris Collins and Lizzie Francke, UK Film Council Development Fund
Precisely where talent development starts and skills training stops is harder to
discern, though the value of a continuum of formal training was evident in much of
the opinion canvassed as part of this review:
“Short films play a very important role, primarily in talent development, and primarily
in developing and discovering directors. However, I think they are a great training
ground for people in every department, for instance I first came across Seamus
McGarvey through a short he‟d shot.”
Julie Baines, Dan Films
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