Product Placement

Short films are usually made by independent film companies so they don't always have distributors, instead many short films are presented by the film makers themselves at film festivals and conventions to large audiences. There are many film festivals around the world which accept work from independent film makers such as: The Edinburgh International Film Festival, Cannes Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival and The Los Angeles Film Fest. Some festivals offer awards and cash prizes to notable works in certain fields. There are some film companies such as Aardman Animation who originally started independently making low budget short films but due to their popularity and unique style they have collaborated with larger companies such as Dreamworks to make bigger budget feature length films including Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit.

However short films are rarely shown at commercial cinemas except for when they precede a full length feature film, quite a lot of Pixar shorts are shown in this manner. Short films are rarely distributed through mainstream retailers such as HMV except for when they are in compilations, take the Animatrix or Creature Comforts for example. The previously mentioned Pixar shorts are also distributed as DVD extras alongside the full length feature films. There are however some retailers who sell short films, many of which are based on the internet such as Amazon.com and Netflix.com.

The internet is also an easy way for new filmakers to get their work noticed without a distributor. Sites such as youtube allow hosting and viewing of videos and is entirely free to use which makes it a very good place to host early works for a large audience to see and discuss. This method is very low risk and does not require any contracts to be agreed upon and still allows your film to be enjoyed by many people. This is the method I will use when distributing my finished short film.