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A short film is any film not long enough to be considered a feature film. No consensus exists as to where that boundary is drawn: the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences defines a short film as "an original motion picture that has a running time of 40 minutes or less, including all credits".^[1] The term featurette originally applied to a film longer than a short subject, but shorter than a standard feature film.

The increasingly rare term short subject means approximately the same thing. An industry term, it carries more of an assumption that the film is shown as part of a presentation along with a feature film. Short is an abbreviation for either term. Short films can be professional or amateur productions. Short films are often screened at local, national, or international film festivals. Short films are often made by independent filmmakers for non profit, either with a low budget, no budget at all, and in rare cases big budgets. Short films are usually funded by film grants, non profit organizations, sponsor, or out of pocket funds. These films are used by indy filmmakers to prove their talent in order to gain funding for future films from private investors, entertainment companies, or film studios. Short films do qualify for Academy Awards if screened in Los Angeles.

History[link]

William Garwood starred in numerous short films, many of which were only 20 minutes in length

Longer films and shorter films coexisted with similar popularity throughout the early days of film. However, comedy short films were produced in large numbers compared to lengthy features such as D.W. Griffith's, "Birth of Nation" . By the 1920s, a ticket purchased a varied program including a feature and several supporting works from categories such as second feature, short comedy, 5–10 minute cartoon, and newsreel.

Short comedies were especially popular, and typically came in a serial or series (such as the Our Gang movies, or the many outings of Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp character). Even though there was often no set release schedule, these series could be considered somewhat like a modern TV sitcom – lower in status than feature films but nevertheless very popular (comedians such as Laurel and Hardy, Charlie Chaplin and Buster Keaton all 'graduated' from shorts to features).

Animated cartoons came principally as short subjects, as did newsreels. Virtually all major film production companies had units assigned to develop and produce shorts, and many companies, especially in the silent and very early sound era, produced mostly or only short subjects.

In the 1930s, the distribution system changed in many countries owing to the Great Depression. Instead of the cinema owner assembling a program of their own choice, the studios sold a package centered on a main and supporting feature, a cartoon and little else. With the rise of the double feature as a cinema programming format, 2-reel shorts went into decline as a commercial category. Hal Roach, for example, moved Laurel and Hardy full-time into feature films after 1935, and halved his popular Our Gang films to one reel. By the 1940s, he'd moved out of short films altogether (though MGM continued the Our Gang shorts until 1944).

Later shorts include George O'Hanlon's Joe McDoakes movies, and the animated work of studios such as Walt Disney Productions, Leon Schlesinger Productions/Warner Bros. Cartoons, Walter Lantz and Fleischer / Famous Studios. By the mid 1950s, with the rise of television, the commercial live-action short was virtually dead, The Three Stooges being the last major series of 2-reelers, ending in 1959. Short films had become a medium for student, independent and specialty work.

Cartoon shorts had a longer life, due in part to the implementation of lower-cost limited animation techniques, but also declined in this period. Warner Bros., one of the most prolific of the golden era, shut down its studio permanently in 1969. Woody Woodpecker was the last of the "golden era" cartoons to end, shutting down in 1972. The Pink Panther was the last regular theatrical cartoon short series, having begun in 1964 (and thus having spent its entire existence in the limited animation era) and ended in 1980. By the 1960s, the market for animated shorts had largely shifted to television, and even the existing theatrical shorts were being secondarily syndicated to television stations.

Modern era[link]

A few animated shorts continue within mainstream commercial distribution. For instance, Pixar has screened a short along each of its feature films during its initial theatrical run since 1995 (producing shorts permanently since 2001).^[2] Since Disney acquired Pixar in 2005, Disney has also produced animated shorts since 2007 with the Goofy short How to Hook Up Your Home Theater and produced a series of live action ones featuring The Muppets for viewing on YouTube as viral videos to promote the 2011 movie of the same name.

Dreamworks Animation often produces a short sequel to include in the special edition video releases of major features, and are typically of a sufficient length to be broadcast as a TV special. Warner Brothers often includes old animated shorts from its considerable library, connected only thematically, on the DVD releases of classic WB movies.

Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures organize an annual release of Academy Award nominated short films in theatres across the US, UK, Canada and Mexico throughout February / March.

Shorts are occasionally broadcast as filler when a feature film or other work doesn't fit the standard broadcast schedule. ShortsTV was the first television channel dedicated to short films.

However, short films generally rely on festival exhibition to reach an audience. Such movies can also be distributed via the Internet. Certain websites which encourage the submission of user-created short films, such as YouTube and Vimeo^[3] have attracted large communities of artists and viewers. Sites like FILMSshort and the BBC Film Network focus on showcasing curated shorts.

Short films are a typical first stage for new professional filmmakers. But professional actors and crews still choose to create short films as alternative form of expression. Short film making is growing in popularity as equipment becomes cheaper and more amateurs are making movies. "Prosumer" or semi-professional cameras now cost under USD$3,000, and free or low-cost software is widely available that is capable of video editing, post-production work and DVD authoring.

Tropfest is the world's largest short film festival and is generally regarded as one of the most prestigious. Tropfests now take place in Australia (its birthplace), Arabia, the US and elsewhere. Originating in 1993, Tropfest is often credited as being at least partially responsible for the recent popularity of short films internationally.

Short shorts[link]

Short short films are sometimes considered as a category of their own. The International Festival of Very Shorts is a festival based in Paris, which shows only movies less than three minutes long. Filminute, the international one-minute film festival, has presented and promoted a collection of one-minute films across multiple media since September 2006.

See also[link]

• List of animated short series
• List of independent short films
• List of short live-action films
• List of short subjects by Hollywood studio
• Movieola: The Short Film Channel
• The Journal of Short Film
• Tropfest

References[link]

External links[link]

• VideoGp.Net | The Video Graphics Portal
• pabarabanum.com
• FILMSshort.com | The Greatest Short Films
• Platform for media students to produce their own short-films, documentaries
• Short Films at the Open Directory Project
• British Film Institute: "Writing Short Films" by Phil Parker screenonline, website of the British Film Institute

Dan Trachtenberg
On location, shooting The Totally Rad Show
Born	(1981-05-11) May 11, 1981 (age 31)
Occupation	Podcast host, director, writer
Website
http://dantrachtenberg.com/

Dan Trachtenberg is a filmmaker and video podcast host from the Philadelphia suburbs who currently resides in the Los Angeles metro area. He is one of the three hosts of The Totally Rad Show and a former co-host of Geekdrome. Both programs are hosted at Revision3. In addition to working on Internet shows, Trachtenberg is the writer/director of the 2003 short film Kickin' and the director of various television commercials and public service announcements.

Directing[link]

Trachtenberg has directed commercials for Lexus, Nike, and Coca Cola. In April, 2008, he joined Tight Films,^[1] for which he collaborated with Matt Wolf on an alternate reality game for Hellboy II: The Golden Army."

He directed the internet show, "Ctrl+Alt+Chicken."

On August 23, 2011, Trachtenberg released the short film, Portal: No Escape.^[2] Based on the video game, Portal, the film drew more than one million views within its first day on YouTube.^{[citation needed]} Within two months, the number of viewers surpassed six million.^{[citation needed]}

On October 13, 2011, slashfilm.com announced that Trachtenberg would be directing a science fiction action heist film for Universal Pictures and writer Chris Morgan (Wanted, Fast Five, 47 Ronin).^[3]

References[link]

External links[link]

• Official website
• Dan Trachtenberg at the Internet Movie Database

This article relies on references to primary sources or sources affiliated with the subject, rather than references from independent authors and third-party publications. Please add citations from reliable sources. (May 2010)

Ien Chi (Born June 1, 1991) is a Korean American filmmaker. He is the director of the short film "Tick Tock" which won the Best Picture and Best Director awards at Campus MovieFest 2011 - the world's largest student film festival.^[1] It is currently the most viewed and highest rated film of Campus MovieFest of all time.^[2] The film went viral and collectively has approximately 1.7 million views online and has been featured on Gizmodo and The Guardian among other places.^[3][4] He is the winner of the 2010 Emory Arts Competition and of several film festivals.^[5] In 2010, his film "Wake" won Best Drama at the Emory division Campus MovieFest festival and screened at the Southern Regional Grand Finale.^[6] His 2009 film "Crippled" won the Trinity Grammar School International Film Competition and competed in the Korean American Film Festival New York alongside an Academy Award winning short documentary "The Last Mermaids." ^[7][8] He is also the winner of the George Lindsey UNA Film Festival Young Filmmaker Golden Lion Award, George Lindsey UNA Film Festival Best Story Jury Honor, and Crossroads Film Festival Adam Forth Youth Filmmaking Award.^[9][10]

References[link]

External links[link]

• official website
• imdb page
• youtube channel
• "Crippled" film
• "Tick Tock" film

Darius Clark (April 19, 1798 Weybridge, Addison County, Vermont - January 23, 1871 Canton, St. Lawrence County, New York) was an American physician and politician from New York.

Life[link]

He was the thirteenth and last child of Samuel Clark (b. 1744) and Lucey Clark (b. 1750). He studied medicine at Malone, New York, and commenced practice in Canton, NY, in 1822.

He was appointed Postmaster of Canton in 1843. In 1845 he was one of four coroners in St. Lawrence County.

He was an Inspector of State Prisons from 1850 to 1855, elected on the Democratic ticket in 1849 and 1852, but defeated for re-election on the Hard ticket in 1855.

Sources[link]

• The New York Civil List compiled by Franklin Benjamin Hough (pages 45 and 419; Weed, Parsons and Co., 1858)
• His opinion on the "Showering" torture in Showering and Yoking, in NYT on March 1, 1852
• His testimony at a trial for Manslaughter in the Fourth Degree of a man who had killed a girl with cedar oil when attempting to induce an abortion, in Boston Medical and Surgical Journal issued by the Massachusetts Medical Society and the New England Surgical Society (1849; page 478)
• [1] Canton History, at Ray's Place
• Medical obituaries: American physicians' biographical notices in selected medical journals before 1907 compiled by Lisabeth M. Holloway, Ernest N. Feind & George N. Holloway (Garland Publishing, 1981, ISBN 0-8240-9368-2 , ISBN 978-0-8240-9368-6) [gives 1870 as deathyear]
• American Biographical Notes by Franklin Benjamin Hough (1875) [gives 1798 as birthyear, and 1871 as deathyear]

Kevin Spacey
Spacey in April 2009
Born	Kevin Spacey Fowler (1959-07-26) July 26, 1959 (age 52) South Orange, New Jersey, United States
Occupation	Actor, director, producer, screenwriter
Years active	1981–present

Kevin Spacey, CBE (born Kevin Spacey Fowler; July 26, 1959) is an American actor, director, screenwriter, producer, and crooner. He grew up in California, and began his career as a stage actor during the 1980s, before being cast in supporting roles in film and television. He gained critical acclaim in the early 1990s, culminating in his first Academy Award for The Usual Suspects (Best Supporting Actor), followed by a Best Actor Academy Award win for American Beauty (1999). His other starring roles in Hollywood include Seven, L.A. Confidential, Pay It Forward, K-PAX, and Superman Returns in a career which has earned him several Emmy and Golden Globe nominations. Since 2003, he has been artistic director of the Old Vic theatre in London.

Early life[link]

Spacey was born in South Orange, New Jersey, the son of Kathleen Ann (née Knutson; December 5, 1931 – March 19, 2003), a secretary, and Thomas Geoffrey Fowler (June 4, 1924 – December 24, 1992), a technical writer and data consultant.^[1][2][3] He has two older siblings: a sister, Julie, and a brother, Randy. He attended Northridge Military Academy, Canoga Park High School (in tenth and eleventh grades), and then Chatsworth High School in Chatsworth, Los Angeles, where he graduated valedictorian of his class.^[4][5] At Chatsworth High, he starred in the school's senior production of The Sound of Music, playing the part of Captain Georg von Trapp, opposite Mare Winningham's character, Maria.

While in high school, he took on his paternal grandmother's maiden name, "Spacey", originally a Yorkshire name, as his acting surname.^[3][6] Several reports have incorrectly suggested that he took his name in tribute to actor Spencer Tracy, combining Tracy's first and last names.^[6] He had tried to succeed as a comedian for several years, before attending the Juilliard School in New York City, where he studied drama,^[7] between 1979 and 1981. During this time period, Spacey performed stand-up comedy in bowling alley talent contests.^[8]

Career[link]

Spacey's first professional stage appearance was as a spear-carrier in a New York Shakespeare Festival performance of Henry VI, part 1 in 1981. The following year, he made his first Broadway appearance, as Oswald in a production of Henrik Ibsen's Ghosts, starring Liv Ullmann. Then he portrayed Philinte in Molière's The Misanthrope. In 1984, it was David Rabe's Hurlyburly, where he rotated through each of the male parts (he would later play Mickey in the film version). Next came Anton Chekhov's The Seagull and a period, in 1986, performing Sleuth in a New Jersey dinner theatre.

His prominence as a stage actor began in 1986, when he was cast opposite Jack Lemmon, Peter Gallagher and Bethel Leslie as Jamie, the eldest Tyrone son in Jonathan Miller's lauded production of Eugene O'Neill's Long Day's Journey into Night. Lemmon in particular would become a mentor to Spacey.^[9] He made his first major television appearance in the second season premiere of Crime Story, playing a Kennedy-esque American senator. Although his interest soon turned to film, Spacey remained actively involved in the live theater community. In 1991, he won a Tony Award for his portrayal of "Uncle Louie" in Neil Simon's Broadway hit Lost in Yonkers. Spacey's father was unconvinced that Spacey could make a career for himself as an actor, and did not change his mind until Spacey became well-known.^[8]

Some of Spacey's early roles include a widowed eccentric millionaire on L.A. Law, the made-for-television film The Murder of Mary Phagan (1988), opposite Lemmon, and the Richard Pryor/Gene Wilder–starring comedy See No Evil, Hear No Evil (1989). Spacey earned a fan base following after playing the criminally insane arms dealer Mel Profitt on the television series Wiseguy. He quickly developed a reputation as a character actor, and was cast in bigger roles, including one-half of the bickering Connecticut couple in the dark comedy The Ref (1994), a malicious Hollywood studio boss in the satire Swimming with Sharks, and the malevolent office manager in the all-star ensemble film Glengarry Glen Ross (1992), gaining him positive notices by critics. His performance as the enigmatic criminal Verbal Kint in The Usual Suspects won him the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor.^[7]

Spacey appeared in the 1995 thriller film Seven, with Brad Pitt and Morgan Freeman, making a sudden entrance late in the film as the serial killer John Doe, after going unmentioned in the film's advertisements and opening credits. His work in Seven, The Usual Suspects, and Outbreak earned him Best Supporting Actor honors at the 1995 Society of Texas Film Critics Awards.^[10][11]

Spacey played an egomaniacal district attorney in A Time to Kill (1996), and founded Trigger Street Productions in 1997, with the purpose of producing and developing entertainment across various media. He made his directorial debut with the film Albino Alligator (1996). The film was a failure at the box office, grossing $339,379 with a budget of $6 million, but critics praised Spacey's direction. He also did voice work in Pixar's A Bug's Life (1998) voicing the main antagonist Hopper, the leader of a vicious gang of grasshoppers.

Spacey won universal praise and a Best Actor Oscar for his role as a depressed suburban father who re-evaluates his life in 1999's American Beauty;^[7] the same year, he was honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Spacey also earned another Tony nomination the same year, for his work in a Broadway production of The Iceman Cometh. During the several years following American Beauty's release, Spacey appeared in films that he believes^{[citation needed]} hadn't done as well critically or in terms of box office. In 2001, Spacey co-hosted, with Judi Dench, the Unite for the Future Gala, a UK fundraiser for the British Victims of 9/11 and Médecins Sans Frontières at London's Old Vic Theatre, produced by Harvey Goldsmith and Dominic Madden.

He played a physically and emotionally scarred grade school teacher in Pay It Forward (2000), a patient in a mental institution who may or may not be an alien in K-Pax (2001), and singer Bobby Darin in Beyond the Sea (2004). Beyond The Sea was a lifelong dream project for Spacey, who took on co-writing, directing, co-producing and starring duties in the biography/musical about Darin's life, career, and relationship with actress Sandra Dee. Facing little interest for backing in the States, Spacey went to the UK and Germany for funding. Almost all of the movie was filmed in Berlin.^[9] Spacey provided his own vocals on the Beyond the Sea soundtrack and appeared in several tribute concerts around the time of the film's release. He received mostly positive reviews for his singing, as well as a Golden Globe nomination for his performance. However, reviewers criticized the age disparity between Spacey and Darin, noting that Spacey was too old to convincingly portray Darin, particularly during the early stages of the singer's life depicted in the film.

Spacey hosted Saturday Night Live twice: first in 1997 with musical guest Beck and special guests Michael Palin and John Cleese from Monty Python's Flying Circus; and again in the last episode of season 31 with musical guest Nelly Furtado.

Spacey at HBO Post Emmys Party, 2008

In 2006, Spacey played Lex Luthor in the Bryan Singer–directed superhero film, Superman Returns. He was to return for its 2009 sequel, but it was recently revealed that there won't be a chronological sequel; it is currently unknown if he has been asked to resume the role in any future films. Spacey also appeared in Edison, co-starring Morgan Freeman and Justin Timberlake; Edison received a direct-to-video release on July 18, 2006. In 2008, he played an MIT lecturer in the film 21, along with Kate Bosworth, Laurence Fishburne, and Jim Sturgess. The film is based on Ben Mezrich's best seller, Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions, a story of student MIT card-counters who used mathematical probability to aid them in card games such as blackjack.

Spacey is well known in Hollywood for his impressions as when he appeared on Inside the Actors Studio he imitated, at host James Lipton's request: James Stewart, Johnny Carson, Katharine Hepburn, Clint Eastwood, John Gielgud, Marlon Brando, Christopher Walken, Al Pacino and Jack Lemmon.^[12]

Capitol/EMI's album Forever Cool (2007) features two duets with Spacey and the voice of the late Dean Martin: "Ain't That a Kick in the Head" and "King of the Road."

Spacey sits on the Board of Directors of the Motion Picture and Television Fund.^[13]

The Old Vic[link]

In February 2003, Spacey announced that he was returning to London to become the artistic director of the Old Vic, one of the city's oldest theatres.^[14] Appearing at a press conference with Judi Dench and Elton John, he promised both to appear on stage and to bring in big-name talent.^[15] Spacey undertook to remain in the post for a full ten years. The Old Vic Theatre Company, in its current form, stages shows eight months out of the year. Spacey's first season started in September 2004, and opened with the British premiere of the play Cloaca by Maria Goos, directed by Spacey, which opened to mixed reviews.^[16] In the 2005 season, Spacey made his UK Shakespearean debut, to good notices, in the title role of Richard II directed by Trevor Nunn.^[16]

In mid-2006, Spacey felt he was having the time of his life working at the Old Vic. At this point in his career, he was "trying to do things now that are much bigger and outside himself".^[17] He performed in productions of National Anthems by Dennis McIntyre, and The Philadelphia Story by Philip Barry in which he played C. K. Dexter Haven, the Cary Grant role in the film version. Critics applauded Spacey's daring for taking on the management of a theatre, but noted that while his acting was impressive, his skills and judgment as a producer/manager had yet to develop.^{[citation needed]}

In the 2006 season, Spacey suffered a major setback with a production of Arthur Miller's Resurrection Blues, directed by Robert Altman.^[18] Despite an all-star cast (including Neve Campbell and Matthew Modine) and the pedigree of Miller's script, Spacey's decision to lure Altman to the stage proved disastrous: after a fraught rehearsal period, the play opened to a critical panning, and closed after only a few weeks.^[17] Later in the year, Spacey starred in Eugene O'Neill's A Moon for the Misbegotten, along with Colm Meaney and Eve Best. The play received excellent reviews for Spacey and Best, and was transferred to Broadway in 2007. For the spring part of the 2007–08 season, Jeff Goldblum and Laura Michelle Kelly joined Spacey as the three characters in David Mamet's 1988 play Speed-the-Plow.^[19]

In January 2009, he directed the premiere of Joe Sutton's Complicit, with Richard Dreyfuss, David Suchet and Elizabeth McGovern.

In September, 2009, Trevor Nunn directed Spacey in a revival of Inherit The Wind. Based on a true story of a teacher arrested for teaching his students evolution also known as the "Scopes Monkey Trial," Spacey played defense lawyer Henry Drummond, a role that was made famous by actor Spencer Tracy in the 1960 film of the same name.

In June 2011, Sam Mendes directed Spacey in a Shakespeare's Richard III. The production will mount a worldwide tour for the rest of 2011 culminating in New York in early 2012.^[20]

Other honors[link]

Spacey was awarded a Doctor of Letters, honoris causa from the London South Bank University in November 2005.^[21]

In June 2008, he was appointed as Cameron Mackintosh Visiting Professor of Contemporary Theatre at St Catherine's College, Oxford, succeeding Patrick Stewart in the post. He was officially welcomed on October 13, 2008.^[22]

On November 3, 2010 he was invested as an honorary CBE by Prince Charles at Clarence House, on behalf of the Queen, for services to drama.^[23]

Personal life[link]

This section may require copy editing for grammar, style, cohesion, tone, or spelling. You can assist by editing it. (March 2012)

In September 2006, Spacey announced his intention to stay on at the Old Vic for at least another nine years, and that due to his continuing UK residency he intends to take up British citizenship when it becomes available to him.^[24]

Spacey is a staunch Democrat and a friend of former US President Bill Clinton, having met Clinton before his presidency began. Spacey has described Clinton as "one of the shining lights" of the political process.^[8] According to Federal Election Commission data, Spacey has contributed US$42,000 to Democratic candidates and committees.^[25] He additionally made a cameo appearance in President Clinton: Final Days, a light-hearted political satire produced by the Clinton administration for the White House Correspondents Dinner.^[26]

In September 2007, Spacey met Venezuelan president Hugo Chávez. Neither spoke to the press about their encounter but hours later the actor visited the government-funded movie studio, Villa del Cine (Cinema City).^[27] In December of that year he co-hosted the Nobel Peace Prize Concert with Uma Thurman.^[28]

Spacey has never married and staunchly protects his private life.^[29] This has generated rumors regarding his sexual orientation. He has stated that he is not gay in the October 1999 issue of Playboy,^[30] in The Sunday Times Magazine (December 19, 1999)^[31] and in the May 2007 issue of Gotham Magazine.^[32]

Voice actress April Winchell revealed in broadcasts of her KFI show, on her web diary and several other websites that she and Spacey dated for a while after high school during a run of the musical Gypsy and later went to New York together.^[33][34] Between 1992 and 2000, Spacey reportedly discreetly dated Dianne Dreyer,^[32][35][36] script supervisor to Anthony Minghella, M. Night Shyamalan and Sydney Pollack.^[37]

In March 2011, following Belarusian president Alexander Lukashenko's crackdown on the Belarusian democracy movement, Spacey, along with Jude Law and others, joined street protests against Lukashenko. Spacey stated: "...they will never be able to ban the Belarus people's right to fight for their freedom and their voices to be heard, and that's what this protest is about."^[38]

Filmography[link]

Discography[link]

Albums[link]

Singles[link]

Live performances[link]

• "Mind Games" — Come Together: A Night for John Lennon's Words and Music — October 2, 2001 — Radio City Music Hall

Curiosities[link]

In year 2011 the italian rapper Caparezza dedicates a song to the actor, named "Kevin Spacey," included in his album Il sogno eretico. The song has been playing on Italian and Swiss radios since January 27, 2012.

References[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Kevin Spacey

Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Kevin Spacey

• Kevin Spacey at the Internet Broadway Database
• Kevin Spacey at the Internet Off-Broadway Database
• Kevin Spacey at the Internet Movie Database
• Interview with Kevin Spacey from April 2007
• Kevin Spacey interview in the UK Independent on Sunday