Short film distribution has developed significantly in recent years. We have gone from just a few distributors little more than 10 years ago to around 20 active projects at present.
One of the main changes has been the need to distribute a short film. When I started in distribution at the end of 2003, many directors and producers did not consider in advance that they had to distribute their short film and did not include it in their budgets.
Gradually, this trend has changed and today distribution is already part of the production process. Very few directors shoot without considering subsequent distribution at festivals.
Moreover, whereas previously shooting a short film was very expensive and less was allocated to distribution, currently distribution costs can exceed production costs. While shooting and post-production have now been simplified and become cheaper, distribution costs have remained stable and even increased, mainly due to festival submission fees.
To gain an understanding of the short film distribution sector, I have compiled all the active projects. In some cases I know them more closely, while for others I only have external references. They are listed in alphabetical order:
- Agencia Freak (short films and documentary feature films) – Cáceres
- Artis Video (short films) – Madrid
- Banatu Filmak (short films) – Vizcaya
- Digital 104 (short films and feature films) – Canary Islands
- Distribution with glasses (short films and feature films) – Madrid
- Films on the road (short films and feature films) – Valencia
- Infocortos (short films) – Seville
- In&Out Distribución (short films) – Madrid
- Jóvenes Realizadores (short films, music videos and feature films) – Málaga
- LINE UP Shorts (short films and feature films) – Huelva
- Mailuki (short films) – Bilbao
- Marvin&Wayne (short films) – Barcelona
- MMS distribución de cortometrajes (short films) – Madrid
- Playtime audiovisuales (short films and feature films) – Madrid
- Promofest (short films and feature films) – Madrid
- Quechua Films (short films and feature films) – Madrid
- Selected Films (short films and feature films) – Madrid
- Some Like it Short (short films) – Valencia
- The house of films (short films) – Madrid
- YAQ distribución (short films and feature films)
As I mentioned at the beginning, there are now 20 distributors, five times more companies than there were just 10 years ago. This list complements the one currently published on the ICAA website.
The evolution that some of them have undergone has been the distribution of independent feature films at festivals, a natural evolution, especially when many short film directors have made the leap to feature films.
Despite this growth, some distributors have fallen by the wayside, such as Lolita Peliculitas, by Mar Muro, which was one of the first, Cámara excéntrica, dedicated to documentary and experimental cinema, and Elypse, which distributed both at festivals and sales.
Do you know of any distributor that is not on the list?