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Northern Alliance - BFI

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Appendix XIII Platforms and audiences for short films<br />

The stakeholders consulted clearly view film festivals in the UK and internationally<br />

as the most important means of obtaining exposure and recognition for short<br />

films.<br />

“Festivals are THE audience for short films. It is here that the filmmaker needs to<br />

be successful to build reputation and career.”<br />

View expressed at filmmakers‟ focus group during the<br />

Edinburgh International Film Festival<br />

Interviewees cited the Clermont-Ferrand short film festival in France as an<br />

example of a short film event with mass appeal, demonstrating the potential<br />

audience value in short film; Onedotzero, an international festival of cutting edge<br />

audiovisual content, is also rated.<br />

Festivals such as the Encounters Short Film Festival, Edinburgh International Film<br />

Festival and the <strong>BFI</strong> London Film Festival, and short film distributors Dazzle Films<br />

and Shorts International were also named as key supporters of short film in the<br />

UK. However, some interviewees expressed frustration at the overall level of<br />

interest in short film in the UK.<br />

“The general public has forgotten – or never knew – that shorts existed and are of<br />

interest.”<br />

Liz Harkman, Encounters Short Film Festival<br />

Online platforms were generally viewed as poor substitutes for festival<br />

representation.<br />

“The short film audience is at festivals. There is also an audience via the internet,<br />

but these films are more fun things and games, rather than representing the<br />

work of future filmmakers." Maggie Ellis, Head of Production, Film<br />

London<br />

A range of organisations, including the BBC Film Network, 93 Babelgum and<br />

YouTube, are experimenting with different strategies of showcasing short films<br />

via the internet. Online filmmakers‟ community Shooting People was also<br />

frequently mentioned by interviewees.<br />

The emergence of user-friendly online video streaming sites – Bebo, YouTube et al<br />

– has led to a higher number of shorts being viewed (streaming site Bebo alone<br />

93 The BBC Film Network, first trialled in 2005, now has 550 films available, with 20,000<br />

members and approximately 60-80,000 unique users per month.<br />

Page 89

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