Screenwriting : Using Short Films to Structure a Season of TV by Karen "Kay" Ross

Karen "Kay" Ross

Using Short Films to Structure a Season of TV

The creator of 'Ramy' used shorts films to build the second season, which broke away from the typical A-plot, B-plot, C-plot structure so each story could "breathe". Have y'all seen anything like this? Maybe Master of None?

Has anyone seen Ramy? Now I really want to see it after this article! I may have a short film that could launch a similar series... O.O

https://www.indiewire.com/video/ramy-youssef-season-2-filmmaker-toolkit-...

ScreenwriterHank Byrd

Definitely! Short form content is basically proof of concept for a bigger production. Many filmmakers have used it. We can look at what Justin Roiland and Dan Harmon did by making short, animated spoofs of Back to the Future, which morphed into Rick and Morty. Issa Rae, who started with The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl, that got her noticed by producer Pharrell and eventually led to her HBO deal. I’m doing the same thing with my web series, bLERDS, and many have compared us to shows like Insecure and Silicon Valley. Short form is our calling card. It’s the proving ground where we hone our skills, build our audience and hopefully, get noticed.

blerdswebseries.com

Doug Nelson

All I'm involved in nowadays is short films. I view them as character portraits more than anything else. To grasp what I'm talking about; watch The Phone Call, Stutter, Curfew, Monday - pay close attention as to how you connect with the characters. The vast majority of indie short I see are nothing more than 'skits'. They can be entertaining but most are not. Watch reruns of the Carol Burnett, the I Love Lucy or the Honeymooners shows - entertaining; yes. Short FILMS; no.

True 'proof of concept' for a FL/series is your trailer/pilot.

ScreenwriterHank Byrd

Well, I think “proof of concept” is what any producer who’s interested enough deems it to be. Be it a skit, a short film, a pilot, an article etc. Too many examples of that. I named a couple. “Lights Out” comes to mind as well.

ScreenwriterHank Byrd

So this just happened. 7 figures for a short story. Again, “proof of concept” can be whatever the folks with the money deem it to be. This short story was highly sought after. To the tune of millions

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