Many independent filmmakers make short films as a sort of calling card designed to show prospective employers what they are capable of doing when seeking funding for a film. This mode of thinking does have a great deal of merit. For example, would you really hire a portrait painter to paint your portrait that had no prior examples? Or would you hire a writer for your newspaper that couldn’t even provide you with a few basic writing samples? Well, no probably not.The same rule holds true for would-be directors. A director needs that calling card if he or she honestly expects anyone to give them their money to direct a film. You wouldn’t pay a guy to repair your car just because he said he had a “vision” of how he could do it. You would think he was an idiot if he tried to “pull” that on you. The same can be said for would be directors that have no projects under their belt to show would-be investors. Getting an independent film funded is hard enough without any proof that you can actually do the job.

In a day where technology has evened the playing field so very much, it really doesn’t make too much sense for would-be directors not to have at least one short in their “filmmaking portfolio.” Digital technology allows virtually anyone to make a short film of some kind. The power of this simple fact should not be dismissed, as it was not long ago that the entire filmmaking process had a much steeper financial curve. Some would-be filmmakers may say, “but I am a FILMmaker, I only work in film.” This is very shortsighted for filmmakers looking for that big first break.

You can potentially do a dozen, if not more, simple shorts digitally for the price of one 16mm short. Whoever you find to invest in your script or hire you as a director wants to see that you know how to start and finish a project and that the project is well-shot, well-thought out and above all that you know how to tell a story. In and of itself, shooting on 16mm or 35mm only tells them that you can work with film. What smart producers and industry insiders want to see is that you can tell a story. The digital revolution allows you to do just that-tell a story and to do it cheaply, so take advantage of it. Your job as a would-be director is to show those with the money that you know what you are doing. Why would anyone in their right mind give money to someone to make a feature if they have no proof of prior work? You need that short.

Remember, above all getting that “calling card” project under your belt is critical. If you haven’t gone to film school the process of making the first one or two shorts will also teach you what you need to know so that you are speaking the same language as that producer who can make your scripts into a reality. Talk is cheap, show that “would be” employer or funder, to think of it a different way, that you can do the job. Anyone can talk.

About the Author Sara L. Gordon is currently working in the film industry. She studies independent film making and film distribution.http://www.squidoo.com/Getting-film-Funding