So, you've made your short film – now where are you going show it? The internet and portable media devices have made films easily accessible and there are infinite ways of maximising this exposure. However, if you want to make a bit of money from your short, or at least go some way to recouping the costs, it needs to be picked up by a distributor.

A distributor can get your short shown on TV, as in-flight entertainment, or make content procurers (like advertisers) aware of your filmmaking capabilities.

Someone who knows a great deal about this is Asher Goldstein, Director of Acquisitions at film distributors, Apollo Cinema. At 24, Asher is not only close to the age of many of the filmmakers he deals with, but has also made an award winning short himself (Strangers).

Apollo Cinema is an international distributor of short films of all types and genres based in Beverley Hills, California. It sells to television stations (broadcast, cable, pay-per-view, and satellite), internet sites, airlines, cinemas, military bases, home video and DVD.

6 Degrees Film talked to Asher about what qualities a short film should have, and what are the key things a distributor looks for.

Q. Director of Acquisitions for a film distributor must be a dream job for a young filmmaker?

A. I left university and spent some time finishing my thesis film [Strangers], doing PA work, assistant work and some casting stuff. I wanted to write so I needed something a little bit more steady and I'd always been interested in Acquisitions. Because we're a bit smaller in size than a lot of distribution companies for shorts, we get to be almost boutique and cherry-pick the films. So the films that we rep are the ones that I really, really love, and it's very cool to see something that I thought was amazing go off and do very well business wise. It's a great job; I go round different festivals throughout the world and it's definitely a mind opening experience. My boss prefers having somebody a little bit younger because the majority of the short filmmakers are younger and it's a much more comfortable thing to say, 'I'm in the same kind of boat you are', and I'm not some older business man shakin' 'em down.

Q. What kind of short films are you looking for?

A. A film needs to have a certain production value. A lot of our sales end up being television, and there has to be a certain level of quality that can be broadcast. The hardest thing is liking a film and then trying to match it with our markets. The first thing that I look for is if it strikes me; it's that intangible thing where you can't really describe what it is but it just hits you. The next thing is story; is there something that's being told, or even not being told? Can it grasp the audience? Usually it's a combination of the two. I also look for films that I really like, because I want to be able to genuinely push a film and believe in it, not lie through my teeth. One thing to also mention is that shorts that get sold on are usually 15 minutes and under.

Q. What do you think makes a film good commercial value?

A. First, it needs to look right. It doesn't have to look like it was done by an Oscar winning cinematographer, but it has to have a certain level of production value, that it would fit with the rest of the programming on whatever platform we're going to be selling it to.

The second thing is acting. The acting has to be pretty spot on because it will kill a film faster than anything in the world.

Subject matter is interesting. Sometimes for certain buyers if a film's subject matter is too commercial it won't work. If a film is very bubbly and somewhat childish I'm not going to be able to sell it to a buyer who focuses more on dark, independent or art films. Most of the people who end up watching the films that we licence are cinephiles, people who are into film.

A big thing for us is story. Unless you're doing something special, like an experimental film, from a broadcaster's standpoint there has to be a reason why it's valid for someone to sit and spend 15 minutes of their time watching your short. It's one thing to watch a feature film that has a little less plot to it but you know it takes you through the life of a character for 2 or 3 hours, but if you're sitting there for 5, 10 or 15 minutes you need to be told something. If it's not there, then it's a difficult sell.

As I mentioned before, length is also very important.

Q. The short film has had a renaissance recently, why do you think that is?

A. Short films have been starting to get a little more interesting for a few reasons. One, it's not all students that are making them. There's people making short films in 35mm using professional DPs, and they look like miniature feature films as opposed to the quirky, strange, black and white, grainy, chopped up films of the past. Production values have been raised. The other reason is that the platforms for short films are getting in tune with new media. Right now feature films are a little difficult to watch on a hand-held device because of battery usage and download capability, thus there becomes a market for short film. It's very indicative of where we're going to pick up our media, in these places where short film is breaking ground, which is why shorts are very interesting to watch right now. I believe they've been the guinea pig for the way we're going to consume all of our media in the next 5 to 10 years. I've spoken to a lot of different companies that are now hiring filmmakers to make short form content and shooting it in a format and such a way that is conducive to mobile phones and other portable devices.

Q. Are shorts being taken more seriously by the industry?

A. If short films do become something to be absorbed on a very massive level, it's going to come from the advertising world. With the ability to record television into a hard drive and fast forward through commercials, advertisers are struggling as to where they're going to advertise, so they are starting to show their commercials through websites. A lot of ad agencies are hiring people to make shorts or are licensing short films that they can put taglines on, just as they would a regular commercial. Ad agencies are starting to either produce or pick up content that tells a story, like going on to YouTube to watch a video. So I think if it does get out to the masses more than now, it will happen through the advertising industry.

Most people, particularly those under 35, are sitting on the internet, they're not watching television anymore, but a cool little short film that's advertising for a product at the same time. Movie theatres are also probably going to be conducive to showing shorts, because it's going to be one of the few places where you don't have a remote control to fast forward through the programme.

Q. What are Apollo's main distribution outlets?

A. Television is our biggest consumer. It's changing a bit because of video on demand which is a large majority of all short film distribution.  We also get shorts out into theatres, and run theatrical programmes that we tour throughout the States. We've just had one of our programmes of Oscar-nominated short documentary films and that played in London. We also sell in-flight entertainment on airlines, DVD licences for DVD compilations, and film of the month clubs where a distributor puts out a feature film and pairs it with some thematically coherent shorts. Internet is still relevant, I think it's going to be coming back. Atom Films and ifilms are two websites that have done quite well with shorts and they're continuing to expand.

Q. Do short films make money?

A. When you get distribution there really isn't loads of money in it. But you're not doing it for money, you're doing it for the exposure. If you make a film for $1000 and you make sales for $3000, you're not going to be sending your children to university, or buying your first house, but you might get your money back. I know a lot of people who use the money they make from sales to send their film out to festivals, because festivals can cost quite a bit of money, especially in North America, it's kind of disgusting how much they cost. You play at a festival to maybe 30 people in a screening room, maybe someone important sees it and that can help you. But when you get to play on television, thousands and thousands and thousands of people get to see your film, sometimes millions. Many times we've been contacted by someone in the industry that has clout because they like film, they like watching a film channel, they watch a shorts programme and they ask us for the filmmaker's contact info. The bottom line with distribution really is exposure, that's something that I always tell filmmakers. We're very open about our business and we never lie. You're not gonna get rich. You might make a few sales, you're lucky if you make one, but sometimes there's a film that can make up to 20 sales and get a lot of people seeing it, which is a really great thing for the filmmaker. All the filmmakers that do succeed in that way are not in it for the money, they always express a sense of joy and gratitude that people are getting to see their work.

The qualities of a saleable short film:
Good production values
An appealing story
Well acted
Suitable to a distributor's markets (television, cinema, internet etc.)
Accessible to a wide audience
Subject matter that isn't too commercial
Preferably under 15 minutes in length