How to Write Short Films that WORK.

Want the full blueprint? Get it at https://standardstoryco.com/blueprint/
Want to get started NOW? Here's a short version based on the tips I laid out in this video 👇:
1. Pick a location that you can film at for free, and give yourself a couple of rules for writing a story that takes place there (Ex. A genre + A random word or type of character to incorporate)
2. Start a 10 minute timer and GO. Write a story outline in bullet point format, following your set of “rules.” The rules & the timer will turn off the hyper-critical part of your brain and help get the story beats flowing. For now, just think about real concrete situations as the backbone for the story, not intellectual ideas, emotions, or anything else abstract.
3. Early on in this 10 minutes, figure out WHERE your story is going. What's the ending? Is it actually worth going there? Make the ending the strongest part of your film!
4. Once you have an ending you like, work backwards filling in the rest of your story beats knowing your main goal is to make that ending POP. If your other story beats aren’t making the ending work BETTER, they don’t belong in your outline.
5. Simplify the story as much as you possibly can, eliminate any tangents or side-quests or big backstories. Start the story as late as you can, you don’t need a 3 act structure, starting in the middle of a situation is fine, the audience will catch up/figure it out.
6. When you run out of time - evaluate your seed of a story. Do you like it? Keep working on it at your own pace - you’re already out of the woods! If you don’t like it or it’s not going anywhere, simply rinse and repeat until a story clicks.

Hope this helps get you started! If you want more, The Instant Short Film Blueprint makes it even easier to write a compelling short film, guiding you step-by-step with tons of examples along the way. See how fun and straightforward writing a great short film can be: https://standardstoryco.com/blueprint/

📬 Make stronger films in a few minutes every week (my free newsletter): https://www.standardstoryco.com/

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00:00 Writing Simple Short Films That Work
00:36 The 2 Biggest Mistakes
03:04 The Catch-22 of Writing Tips
04:54 Writing Games
07:08 My Instant Short Film Blueprint

About me:
I'm Kent Lamm and I've been making short films for over 20 years, starting at age 11. I directed my first feature film, Bad is Bad, in 2010. Made for only $6,000, the film went on to reach over 7 million views and garner critical acclaim. More recently, my short film, Will "The Machine", screened and won awards at film festivals around the world. Released online in 2019, it reached over 3 million views. As an editor, I’ve done work for clients such as Apple, Netflix, and Beats by Dre.

DISCLAIMER: Links in this description might be affiliate links. If you purchase a product with the links that I provide, I may receive a small commission at no additional charge to you.