I had a discussion over drinks with a few industry peers recently on the topic of film formats. For the past few years, we noticed a wider inclusion of various formats that are making their way into a short film block. TIFF premiered the latest episode of Shit Girls Say one year, music videos have been popping up in various festivals, and many student festivals include PSAs in their lineup. More than one person in the group proclaimed "but these are film festivals and they're not films!"
Personally, I don't see a problem with it. The idea of what is cinematic has now blurred even further with the way studios and independents are producing work and how the consumer behaves in respect to television, web, and film. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a fine example of replicating television on film while many features are now bypassing theatres to go straight to VOD or a streaming service like Netflix. Popular music videos are now considered cinematic endeavours, with more and more videos featuring Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber amongst others featuring elaborate credit sequences. At the end of the day, it's starting to matter less and less how you label a piece of content because it does not determine how one consumes it.
Last year, we showed Phoebe’s Declassified Guide to Unwanted Pickups by Rebecca Gao starring Sara Waisglass of Degrassi and the animated Hunger's Core by Salwa Majoka and Christine Chung. These pieces would not be traditionally considered as short films but rather as PSAs. However, they work within the mantra of our programming and the audiences we serve. Not to mention they were really great watching experiences.
In essence, we do consider works labelled as web-series, music video, or any other format that is traditionally not considered "film" provided they work as standalone pieces - a television or web pilot that leaves the audience hanging with no closure might not be the best fit for us. But the great thing about Toronto Youth Shorts' compilation style is the flexibility in curating each screening block with an assortment of genres and formats. If you have a music video or other nontraditional format that you think can gel within a screening block of the festival, we'd love to see it.
Our early bird deadline is March 11. Save $10 by submitting early!
-Henry
Personally, I don't see a problem with it. The idea of what is cinematic has now blurred even further with the way studios and independents are producing work and how the consumer behaves in respect to television, web, and film. The Marvel Cinematic Universe is a fine example of replicating television on film while many features are now bypassing theatres to go straight to VOD or a streaming service like Netflix. Popular music videos are now considered cinematic endeavours, with more and more videos featuring Katy Perry, Taylor Swift, and Justin Bieber amongst others featuring elaborate credit sequences. At the end of the day, it's starting to matter less and less how you label a piece of content because it does not determine how one consumes it.
Last year, we showed Phoebe’s Declassified Guide to Unwanted Pickups by Rebecca Gao starring Sara Waisglass of Degrassi and the animated Hunger's Core by Salwa Majoka and Christine Chung. These pieces would not be traditionally considered as short films but rather as PSAs. However, they work within the mantra of our programming and the audiences we serve. Not to mention they were really great watching experiences.
In essence, we do consider works labelled as web-series, music video, or any other format that is traditionally not considered "film" provided they work as standalone pieces - a television or web pilot that leaves the audience hanging with no closure might not be the best fit for us. But the great thing about Toronto Youth Shorts' compilation style is the flexibility in curating each screening block with an assortment of genres and formats. If you have a music video or other nontraditional format that you think can gel within a screening block of the festival, we'd love to see it.
Our early bird deadline is March 11. Save $10 by submitting early!
-Henry
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