It started with simple yet quirky concept: the imaginary Clive Peach is a small town super hero, doing his very best to fight local crime. Unfortunately there is nothing ‘Super’ about him. Written by William Kingston, when the idea for a short film titled ‘Super Clive’ was presented to us eight years ago, we knew we wanted to be involved in the project. Fast forward eight years, and the end product, 3 minutes and 41 seconds worth of Kingston’s wit captured brilliantly by Hellfire Creative director Ben Mills, is finally getting the attention and recognition this funny little film deserves.

It has just won the ‘Audience Award - Best Film under £5000’ at We Make Films International Film Festival; evidence that amazing productions can be created on shoe string budgets!

Winning this award, and tracking how ‘Super Clive’ performs at other festivals it is being entered into, is also getting the team here at Hellfire Creative excited about another short film currently being treated in our editing suite, ‘Driver’. It’s the first short film we have created as an in house team, with director Ben also writing and producing the project, and we can’t wait to present it to audiences. But there is a question that hangs over short films…. put simply, why make them? What is the point? Generally, we don’t as audiences watch shorts; our cinema experiences are usually limited to full length features. So what is the reasoning behind them, and why do creative agencies like ours often invest our own money in producing them?

There are three major reasons why we and other video production companies like involving ourselves with creating short films as a side step from the videos we create for our clients.

Firstly: networking. This business is all about getting to know people. You are far more likely to work with someone if you already worked with them before (or you worked with their friend) and they enjoyed the experience. But if you’re only working on features, or commissioned videos for other businesses, these projects are slow and few and far between.

But if you get involved in making shorts, you could be shooting one a month. And each time you get to meet a new set of people. You’re really going to get to know a lot of filmmakers, much quicker. You’ll get to know the people you like working with, too. And if the feeling is mutual, you can build powerful filmmaking relationships for the future.

Secondly, in addition to your company show reel, your shorts become your “calling card”. In other words, they are samples to show prospective producers or employers what you can do. When starting out, it helps to build a reel containing short snippets, or “highlights” of your work so far.

Not just directors, but also cinematographers, editors, actors, make up artists, VFX artists, special effects artists, set designers, costume designers… the list goes on. Basically, if your job involves creating something visual, then a reel of your work can help to impress or reassure employers or investors.

The final reason why we urge other creatives to go out there and make a short film is simply… just because! Seriously, why not? A bit of self indulgence is good for you. As creatives that work constantly producing ideas and projects for other people, it’s sometimes nice just to do something with our own ideas, simply because they are just that… our own ideas.

With online distribution in the form of video on demand now taking precedent over more traditional methods, there is a growing market for films in a variety of lengths. So, maybe just make a short because that is actually the perfect length for the story you want to tell and the ideas you have. Not every story you come up with would work as a full length feature, anyway. So the “just because” rule fits perfectly with this line of reasoning, too.

We no longer have to consider the 90+ minute long film as the only commercial option. Or even the only option which will be taken seriously. Just think – that 2 hour movie script you’ve been slaving over for years – trying to get it right, trying to get it funded – what if you told that story in 10 or 15 minutes? Now everything looks a lot simpler, a lot easier – you can just get going. And this isn’t a practice – this is the real deal.

In short (pardon the pun), there are many benefits to creating short films… and we urge you to check ours out. Super Clive can be seen here: Super Clive on Vimeo