Everybody–and I do mean everybody–has got a script. How the hell can you separate yourself, far from the maddening crowd?

Ever consider making a short film?

On the most basic level, making a short can serve—for all intents and purposes—as a low-cost film school. It can also serve as a calling card, or as a trailer for a feature-length script. And, to the powers that be, it can show that you are a filmmaker to be reckoned with, someone who will not be ignored. It can be done, and in the Digital age, done cheaply.

I’ve had students spend as much as $30,000 on a short film. They can also be made for $500. Don’t believe it? The short film that became Napoleon Dynamite was made for $500, in two days. It was called Peluca, and looked like this:

The beauty of making a short is in one word: Control. Short films can be made without the Jerry Bruckheimers and Michael Bays of the world. They can be made without help from William Morris-Endeavor. They can be made without winning the Nicholl Screenwriting Fellowship.

Will your $1,500 short be a cinematic masterpiece? Probably not. That’s not the point.

If you”re just starting out, you can’t beat making a short just as an experience; to be on a film set, to get a sense of movie making at the most basic level. As an education, as long as goals are in perspective, making a short can be valuable and worthwhile.

How do you make a movie on the cheap? Start by writing the script cheaply. Minimize locations, set ups, and actors. Ditch the exterior night shots. Do your best to pay for nothing. Find a DP with an HD camera & light package. Install Final Cut Pro editing software on your computer, take a class and learn it, then edit the movie yourself. Cast through Craigslist, put up audition and crew notices at local film schools and college theater departments. Look into craft services alternatives to feed your people. Pay only when you must. If you’re confused what happens on a film set, PA on other people’s films; get the feel of it on any level before you make the jump to doing it yourself. In this way, short films can work as a film school.

More likely than not, you will not see your money back. So what? You now have a calling card. Being able to pitch a producer with something more than a script gives you an advantage. It’s a living, breathing example of your creativity. Submit to film festivals. If seen at a Sundance or Cannes, it exponentially increases the chances that others will learn about you or any future projects you have.

I included a link to The Group last week. This was a micro-budget short film shot in 2008. A student of mine, Boris Wexler, wrote a mockumentary about our little Saturday writing group. I wrote a second draft and we filmed it. $2000 bucks/2 day shoot. The film made it into multiple film festivals all around the country. It has made money with DVD requests (though certainly won’t make even its tiny budget back.) This wasn’t the measure of success. Making this short film was a good experience, if only as an experience

It does happen every now and again that a screenwriter/filmmakers writes a short as a calling card which gets turned into a feature-length script. The short makes it to a larger festival and draws interest, people ask about feature-length possibilities, financing is found. Here’s a website that tells about the journeys of 16 well known-features that started as short films. Among others, In 1994, “Some Folks Call It A SlingBlade” was a Billy Bob Thornton short that pre-dated his Oscar Winning SlingBlade. Five Feet High And Rising was a much praised short film at Sundance and Cannes. When a producer approached Peter Sollett with interest, Sollett handed him a feature-length script already written. It became Raising Victor Vargas. Movies as varied as District 9, Bottle Rocket, THX 1138, Saw, South Park, Boogie Nights, Sin City, and D.E.B.S all started as shorts. You can find the link here.

One last story about success via shorts: In 2002, an unknown German director, Lexi Alexander, made the short film Johnny Flynton. It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Short, Live Action. What happens when your short film gets an Oscar nomination? You stop pursuing and become the pursued. You sign with CAA. You get a choice of feature-length action films to direct. Leni made Green Street Hooligans (2005) and Punisher (2008). These aren’t Orson Wellsian movies, and Lexi Alexander isn’t exactly a household name…but she has a career! And, at least in part, that is due to her making a short film.

To repeat: The chances of you making money from a short film? Lousy. The chances of your short film landing you a CAA agent? Even worse. But making a short film makes sense, if only to make something happen.

Talent, sometimes, finds a way.