There is no official consensus or definition for the length of a “short.”
Any film shorter than 50 minutes qualifies as a short film for the Sundance Film Festival, while any film with a run-time under 40 minutes is eligible for the shorts categories at the Academy Awards.
The longest of the ten movies nominated for either best live-action or best animated short at the 83rd Academy Awards is The Gruffalo, at 27 minutes.
### More from johnaugust.com
* [Scripting a short film](http://johnaugust.com/2008/scripting-a-short-film “Scripting a short film”)
* [Using copyrighted material in a short](http://johnaugust.com/2003/using-copyrighted-material-in-a-short “Using copyrighted material in a short”)
* [Shooting shorts](http://johnaugust.com/2003/shooting-shorts “Shooting shorts”)
* [Do I show my scripts or my short?](http://johnaugust.com/2003/do-i-show-my-scripts-or-my-short “Do I show my scripts or my short?”)
* [Scripting a short film](http://johnaugust.com/2008/scripting-a-short-film “Scripting a short film”)
* [Using copyrighted material in a short](http://johnaugust.com/2003/using-copyrighted-material-in-a-short “Using copyrighted material in a short”)
* [Shooting shorts](http://johnaugust.com/2003/shooting-shorts “Shooting shorts”)
* [Do I show my scripts or my short?](http://johnaugust.com/2003/do-i-show-my-scripts-or-my-short “Do I show my scripts or my short?”)