How Not to Make a Short Film: Secrets from a Sundance Programmer

Anyone can make a short film, right? Just grab some friends and your handheld and you can do it in a weekend or two before being accepted to a slew of film festivals, right?

Wrong.

Roberta Munroe screened short film submissions at Sundance for five years, and is an award-winning short filmmaker in her own right. So she knows a thing or two about how not to make a short film. From the first draft of your script to casting, production, editing, and distribution, this is your one-stop primer for breaking into the business. Featuring interviews with many of today's most talented writers, producers, and directors, as well as revealing stories (e.g., what to do when the skinhead crack addict next door begins screaming obscenities as soon as you call "action") from the sets of her own short films, Roberta walks you through the minefield of mistakes that an aspiring filmmaker can make--so that you don't have to make them yourself.

Roberta Munroe was born and raised in Toronto. She was the Short Film Programmer at the Sundance Film Festival for 5 years. A filmmaker herself, Roberta's directorial debut, Dani and Alice, has played at over 120 festivals globally and received the PlanetOut Best Drama Award 2006. She is in production on a slate of 4 short films.