How are short films distributed and exhibited?

One of the main ways the short films are distributed is via social media and social networking sites such as YouTube. The film maker will upload it to a site such as this normally to obtain attention from anyone who has access to the website. Money can be made in advertisements on YouTube so the film maker can in theory get their budget back over a period of time providing it becomes popular. The problem with YouTube is that it will realistically only give a person an audience if it is a popular video, if not the film is in essence a waste of time, so another form of distribution is available to film makers.

Film festivals such BFI are a great way to get a short film distributed. A person can submit a film to the company in the hopes that the festival plays it to an audience in an independant cinema; so these festivasls also act as exhibitors. From these festivals potential directors, film critics, and scouts can decide that the director of the short film is highly talented, or has the possibility of becoming that, and induct them into the film industry.