This week, a no-budget short film we made for $50 in just two hours made a bigger impact than some of my feature films.

If you missed my last email, the film is called OVATION. It started as a simple idea about three weeks ago, when writer and actor Luke Barnett came to me with a concept:

He wanted to make a short that satirized the endless standing ovations that dominate headlines from the Cannes Film Festival and beyond. I loved it, and was especially drawn to the idea of keeping it as minimal as possible.

For the past several years, I’ve been deep in the world of feature filmmaking, which has been incredibly rewarding. And with another feature (or two) on the horizon, I have no plans of slowing down.

Still, I’d been missing the immediacy of short films – how quickly you can create something, put it out, learn from it, and move on. OVATION was the perfect excuse to jump back in.

The concept required no dialogue, could be done in a single take, and needed almost no post-production. There was nothing to lose. Worst case, we’d spend a couple of hours with friends making a small art experiment that went nowhere. Best case, it would connect, and those two hours would be well worth it.

Thankfully, it was the latter.

After a few quick discussions, an insanely fast shoot, and an even faster edit, the film was done. It could easily have taken months (or never happened at all) had we convinced ourselves to raise money or overcomplicate the scope.

But because we kept it so small, the project stayed manageable and fun. It was the fastest, simplest, and easiest film I’ve ever made – yet it’s already yielded more opportunities than some features I spent years on.

Within days of releasing the film, I heard from incredible artists and filmmakers I’ve long admired. Industry pros reached out about collaborations. Variety ran a feature, which led to even more press. All from an idea we could have easily talked ourselves out of pursuing.

If I learned anything from this project, it’s the value of short filmmaking. It’s not a replacement for features, but it offers a unique set of immediate benefits on the creative, professional, and personal sides.

Not every short will take off like this one, but when they do, the impact can be massive. Shorts are easier to share online, more likely to be watched in full, and if they resonate, they can spread fast and open doors you never expected.

A few takeaways if you’re thinking about making (and releasing) a short:

1. Keep it very short. OVATION runs five minutes – easy to watch when it first hits someone’s radar.
2. Make it shareable. The satirical tone and comedic elements made people genuinely want to pass it along.
3. Tap into something topical. The Cannes ovation trend gave it built-in relevance, which led to even more sharing.
4. Have a story behind it. We made ours with no script, no budget, and a two-person crew – that drew people in too.
5. Don’t overcomplicate it. Simplicity was our greatest asset. It worked BECAUSE we kept it so small, not in spite of that.

If you haven’t seen OVATION yet, you can watch it below:

I also did a full breakdown of the process with Luke Barnett on my podcast – listen here.

If you enjoy the film, please consider leaving a YouTube comment or sharing it with a friend. Send it to someone who might appreciate it, post it on your socials, or drop the link anywhere you see fit!

Thanks to everyone who’s watched, shared, and supported the project this week. Here’s to many more…

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