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The Gotham Pages: Three Filmmakers Reflect on the Short-to-Feature Pipeline
Thirstygirl Farihah Zaman—a writer, director and producer with extensive experience working on both short and feature-length projects—has a story they like to share about “shorts prejudice.” After accepting the Nonfiction Short Film Jury Award for Ghosts of Sugar Land at the 2019 Sundance Film Festival, they encountered another filmmaker backstage. “They said, ‘I bet you’ll be back here with a feature one day.’ And I was like, ‘I have already been here with a feature,’” they recount. “It was such an indication of this idea of a hierarchy, that there’s a straight line [from doing shorts to doing features]. I encourage people not to think that way. Each project will teach you something, including the right way to tell it.”
Tamika Lamison and Alexandra Qin express similar sentiments, and they have a particular viewpoint on the contrast between the two modes. Like Zaman, they’re both Gotham Week alumni—specifically, they participated in the new U.S. Shorts to Features program, wherein filmmakers interested in expanding their short films into features can present their projects to executives. Both came to Gotham Week with shorts they directed that enjoyed acclaimed recent festival runs, and they are each now in the early stages of making feature-length versions of those works. Lamison’s ASK: Atlanta Super Kids, a period piece about a group of comic book–obsessed children set against the backdrop of the Atlanta child murders, expands on her short Superman Doesn’t Steal (2024). Qin’s Thirstygirl, about a woman distracted by sex addiction on a road trip escorting her younger sister to rehab, adapts her 2023 short of the same name. Speaking to The Gotham Pages, Zaman, Lamison and Qin bring diverse perspectives on the tribulations entailed in crafting features after previously working in short form.
There’s a well-defined industry standard of using shorts deemed promising as the basis for feature films. The shorts become proofs of concept for filmmakers as they court funding. In recent memory, we’ve seen this happen for everything from Whiplash (a 2013 short became the 2014 feature) to Shiva Baby (a 2018 thesis project turned into the 2020 feature). Despite Zaman’s ambivalence about how this dynamic may accentuate the “hierarchy” they described, they recognize its usefulness—they are currently in the process of expanding their 2019 documentary short To Be Queen into a feature.
Qin made Thirstygirl specifically to take advantage of the short-to-feature pipeline. She spent two years writing and rewriting a feature-length version of the film before deciding to make a short, both to learn the ropes as a director (this was her first project) and to have something to point to when pitching. “The only reason this feature is going to get made is that the short got into Sundance,” Qin says. “That’s how I was able to attach my producers. Even though it’s very low budget, I don’t think anyone would entrust that to me had I not directed anything before.” Moreover, coming in with a feature script prepared helped her finesse conversations around the film’s expansion: “As soon as the short played Sundance, people were like, ‘Where’s the feature script?’ And I was like, ‘Here it is.’”
Lamison conceived Superman Doesn’t Steal as a stand-alone short but discovered its potential as a feature along the way. “Once the short was completed, I realized that there was more here with these characters,” she says. “Every time we went to a festival, viewers asked us for more.” She is now working on not just a feature version of the story but also a television version,
in parallel with the production of another unrelated short film. Though Lamison hadn’t planned to utilize the short-to-feature pipeline, it’s proved extremely useful. She asserts that ASK is “100 percent” happening because of the short’s success, that “positive quotes from people [producers] care about” and the existing talent involved, such as actor Mustafa Shakir, have helped the production obtain funding.
Zaman has also gone in the opposite direction. Their latest, Jericho Walk, was conceptualized as a feature but came in at 47 minutes after editing was finished. “I make a film based on the length I think it was meant to be and the way that story is best told,” they explain. “This film is about meditation as a form of protest, so the way your attention is focused was on my mind. Thinking about the rhythm of the edit is key when coming to the right length. How does each shot feel in comparison to the next one? Do I want there to be an even beat, or do I want a little more variety? I think too many of those scenes were long beyond a purpose.”
With a short, “each scene is a larger percentage of the film,” Zaman says. “If your film is 12 minutes, then one scene could be a quarter of it. … We have to consider what impact that’s making.” Qin faced this in adapting her feature-length script into something that would fit into 10 minutes. Ultimately, the bulk of the short version’s plot came from abridging the feature’s second act, with select moments from the first and third portions slotted in for a sense of completeness. On the flip side, Lamison says her screenplay for ASK retains scenes from Superman Doesn’t Steal, but with much more narrative added before, after and in between them.
For Lamison and Qin, there is the added wrinkle of their features being adaptations, and both are now dealing with greater producer input and collaboration as they write. For Lamison, that means expanding her original story, while for Qin, that means revisions to the feature script she’d already spent four years on. “I used to think my script was incredible, and then over the past six months as I’ve been rewriting, it took a long time for me to feel good about it again,” Qin says. “I’m learning to take producers’ notes for the first time and how to advocate for my vision when needed.”
Qin thinks extrapolating a feature story from a short sounds harder than the opposite, but Lamison is game for the challenge. Because her story deals with history, one of her main concerns is honoring the real people involved—particularly because the history in question concerns a series of murder cases that intersect with racial injustice. “I wanted to make sure we kept the truth of what was happening at that time to honor the families and their stories,” she says. “If we reference a real victim, we’re seeking permission to use that child’s name and make sure all the facts stated are accurate.” The trick has been balancing this with artistic license.
The three filmmakers concur that there isn’t much of a distinction between making shorts and features in terms of production processes, logistics or artistry. The difference is primarily one of scale. As Zaman puts it: “The funding, the preparation, the structuring of ideas about where the film might end up, the life it will have after completion, that’s all different. But besides those material realities, the creative process is not necessarily as different as people make it out to be.”
Lamison emphasizes the physical wear that comes with the ramp-up in duties and time involved. “You have to tend to your energy level. Doing a film in 30 days instead of five requires way more energy, focus and support,” she says. She urges anyone making the shorts-to-features jump, “Please take care of your health.”
Reflecting on their respective experiences, each of these filmmakers has a different piece of advice for others considering making the leap from shorts to features. Qin stresses perseverance: “I had a very different career before filmmaking. The one thing I’ve seen across all businesses is that the people who succeed are the ones who don’t give up.” Lamison says, “Don’t be afraid. We’re making magic, and we’ll make mistakes; focus on the magic, not the mistakes. Listen to everyone—that’s what they’re there for—but trust yourself. Every time I went against what I felt I should be doing, I regretted it.” Zaman echoes this, and brings things back around to how features and shorts call for differing considerations when crafting time: “Hone your intuition,” they note. “Allow for play and experimentation with structure to help you find the right shape.”
