by PJ Serubbi

Post-festival short films used to play on PBS, on HBO, on IFC, on SUNDANCE CHANNEL (which now shows only those short films which screened at their Park City festival – a narrow slice of the American filmmaking pie to be sure).

Short Films - First Exposure for Young & Emerging Filmmakers

Short films were never thought to be a revenue generating enterprise, but rather a means of first exposure for young and emerging filmmakers, actors, writers, editors, cinematographers. It was a post-graduate work-state in which the artists honed their film making skills. Now, look at mass media and tell me where the new generation of artists will be honing their skills? Where will the next generation of voices be coming from? If you’d like, I can suggest that they’ll be coming from the nurseries in the Hollywood hills and not as natural voices rising on their own merits from within the wider culture.

This is because after the film festivals, short films go on the shelf and are forgotten…or are they?

Online Short Film Distribution and Profit

The internet is the great untapped resource for the exposure of new talent. The reason the Internet remains untapped for filmmakers is obvious: nobody can figure a way to make internet film distribution profitable. Well, for the short subject filmmaker, profit from short film distribution can come in a wider variety of forms than your average corporate types tend to be able to see.

- Profit for short filmmakers can come in the simple form of exposure;
- profit can come in the form of feedback;
- profit can come in the form of new collaborations forged on seeing the work of a creative kindred spirit;
- profit can come in the form of a newly emerging creative community online.

All of this is profitable for the short filmmaker. The point is to gain access to an audience and foster collaboration with other artists.

So, putting free short films online is a natural. Who can say what an audience might find engaging? Hollywood product fails at a rate that should cast some doubt as to their expertise in the filmmaking area, so short films made on shoestring budgets rate a good, long look.

Watch Free Narrative, Documentary and Animated Short Films Online

At SECOND WINDOW FILMS, you can watch narrative, documentary and animated films which have pulled in jury and audience awards at film festivals all over the world. This film work won’t be coming to a cable channel anytime soon, but you can watch them for free at websites like the new SECONDWINDOWFILMS.COM.

Some people just want to be filmmakers. They’re not reaching for more than a fair shake. They’re not vying to become cultural personalities. They just want to be participants in their culture, so they’re reaching viewers through the internet.

At SECONDWINDOWFILMS.COM, your eyes are their profit.

There’s so much more to see.