What we, and frankly almost everyone in this industry, are looking for are screenwriters with compelling stories told through their own unique voice. Our Short Film Fund offers emerging writers and filmmakers the opportunity to share their point of view through cash production grants, finishing funds, industry connections, and more.
Why make a short film?
Short films offer an incredible opportunity for writers and filmmakers to try new things, learn on the job, and find their unique contribution to the world as storytellers. Short films can be made on a smaller budget and typically involve less risk than a feature film, allowing filmmakers and writers to learn valuable skills and lessons, while creating a calling card for themselves.
Oscar-nominated producer and Short Film Fund mentor Maria Gracia-Turgeon urges aspiring filmmakers to first focus on shorts.
“For me as a producer, somebody who comes to me with an idea for an amazing feature but has never done anything before or only ads or things like that, I’ll be like, ‘Go do a short film.'”
But why is developing your voice important, and how do you do it?
Often, your voice and point of view is created through the patchwork of your life’s distinctive experiences, the people you’ve met, and the challenges and opportunities along the way.
Drawing from your own experiences allows you to craft a story only you can tell. Everyone has a treasure trove of unique experiences and perspectives that will make great material. That’s what we want to see and what will get our judges’ attention.
Just ask Sam Baron, our 2017 Short Film Fund winner. His off-beat, comedic short films like THE ORGY and BIG EARS have screened at festivals all over the world. When he writes, he asks himself what he can write that no one else can.
“Weirdly, the more specific and personal you get, the more universally relatable it ends up being… What would be the scariest, most exposing thing to tell my family and friends? What would you write if it was just for yourself and no one was ever going to read it and it had to be burned afterwards? You know, that’s the script.”
Tribeca short film programmer and Short Film Fund judge and festival strategist, Kimberley Browning, adds, “What do you have to say? What keeps you up at night? What do you need to yell and scream about?…Write what you give a sh*t about.”
Several of our other alumni have drawn on their own experiences and the subjects they most care about to write their award-winning scripts, showcasing their unique perspectives and developing their own voices as well.
Chelsea Isabella Clark-James drew inspiration for her winning script NON-EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORT after her stepmother told her about her efforts to find a medical detox bed for a chronic alcoholic with medical conditions. For four hours, the drivers crossed the entire state, with no luck. After hearing this story, Chelsea thought to herself, “What a car ride that must have been,” and wrote the script.
Alexandra Qin pulled from her experiences to create her winning film THIRSTYGIRL, a proof-of-concept short about a young woman who drives her estranged alcoholic sister to rehab while dealing with her own sex addiction.
“Though fictional, THIRSTYGIRL is an incredibly personal story…I chose the subject of sex addiction because, as a recovering sex addict myself, I feel strongly that we need more human, honest, and empathetic portrayals of this addiction, which is still so widely stigmatized and misunderstood.”
Short Film Fund manager Julia Morizawa’s animated short film, DRAGONFLY, was inspired by the little-known lives of her maternal grandparents.
She first wrote a feature screenplay about multiple generations of her family history in her 20s after interviewing her parents, and then adapted a section of that script into a short film years later, at the urging of her friend.
There are so many talented screenwriters out there, but only one of you. That’s your key to success: figuring out what makes you you, and working aspects of that into your story.
