We defined the online launch strategy with the success of our own film, The Thomas Beale Cipher which earned over 200,000 views, articles in Wired, Fast Company, and Motionographer, and drew industry attention from the major studios and talent agencies.
Requirements
Film must be an online premiere. This means your film has not been made available to the online public, so it either hasn’t been online or has been password-protected. If your film is already public, consider sending us a “Tip” below.
Process
- Submit your film via our online submission form.
- Wait to hear from us. It takes us about 2 weeks, and we can only respond to those who’ve been selected. At this time, the sheer number of submissions is so large that we can’t guarantee we’ll see every film. That means it’s up to you to write a compelling description that highlights the unique aspects of your film and any major festivals and awards its won. Get us excited to watch it!
- If selected, we’ll contact you and coordinate a launch date and plan that works best for your film. If your film is not selected, don’t fret, but we do ask that you respect our decision. Understand that we select less than 1% of total submissions. And if you’d like, consider us again for future submissions.
What we look for
Quite simply, we look for great stories. After years of watching thousands of online shorts, we’ve found that all great shorts share four qualities.
- Relevant. The story makes sense and offers something meaningful today.
- Unique. It may share a new perspective or use a new technique or model in the way it was made. Either way, something about it is special that no one has done before.
- Emotional. The story connects and makes us feel something honest.
- Entertaining. It can be fun or disturbing, but something about the film compels you to watch it through to the end.
Have a film that’s already online?
Words of Wisdom
Joseph Pierce (Director, A Family Portrait)
“Launching A Family Portrait online exceeded the buzz of it’s physical premiere (at a packed theatre at the London Film Festival) a year and a half earlier. With SotW expertise and focus it was exhilarating to see the snowball effect an appreciated piece of work can enjoy. To receive personal emails and comments on boards about your work from professionals and those just enthusiastic about film was humbling. Short of the Week is fast becoming the ‘go to’ place for all things short on the web or not. I was shocked at their knowledge of the British animation scene, no matter how independent a short may be.”
“It has helped me generate a tangible audience (my twitter followers rocketed after) which is immeasurable, especially in this climate where arts and short form film is financially massively under-supported. I am about to finish a new short and it now feels I have an audience to market it to, a people genuinely excited about what I may do next. This is down to the online launch and it’s success is hugely down to SotW!!!”
Christopher Kezelos (Director, Zero)
“I tried launching Zero online by simply uploading it to YouTube. It went largely unnoticed and after several weeks had received only a few thousand views. Thanks to a more focused launch strategy by Short of the Week, Zero went viral in a few days and has since seen well over half a million views. Due to this success, I’ve signed with an agent and manager and am working with them towards getting a feature off the ground. I have SOTW to thank for their knowledge and support.”
