GeezerVison

Theater managers found it easier and more convenient to fit shorter, one-reel (10-minute) subjects into their double-feature programs. In the live-action field, humorist Robert Benchley had been making short comedies since the dawn of sound; his various series for Fox, Vitaphone, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, and Paramount ran from 1928 to 1944 (and MGM reissued several in 1955 and 1956).^[8] MGM's Pete Smith Specialties had been a standard "added attraction" in moviehouse programming since 1935 and lasted through 1955. RKO's Flicker Flashbacks revivals of silent films ran from 1943 to 1956, and Warner Bros.' Joe McDoakes comedies became a regular series in 1946 and lasted until 1956.

Travelogues had been popular since the silent-film days. Their leading exponent was James A. FitzPatrick, who produced dozens of picturesque one-reel subjects in America and around the world, almost all of them in Technicolor, from 1931 to 1953. In February 1954 FitzPatrick delivered his last four reels for MGM release, and then resigned from the company to become a lecturer on cruise ships, for the Swedish American Lines.^[9] FitzPatrick attended a demonstration of Paramount's new, panoramic VistaVision process in 1954, and signed with that studio to make a series of two-reel "VistaVision Visits", the first being VistaVision Visits Norway (1954), which was released alongside the studio's first VistaVision feature film, White Christmas.^[10]

By and large, however, the movies' one-reel subject of choice was the animated cartoon,^[11] produced by Walt Disney, Warner Bros., MGM, Paramount, Walter Lantz, Columbia, and Terrytoons. Cartoon shorts had a longer life, due in part to the implementation of lower-cost limited animation techniques and the rise of television animation, which allowed shorts to have both theatrical runs and a syndication afterlife. Warner Bros., one of the most prolific of the golden era, underwent several reorganizations in the 1960s before exiting the short film business in 1969 (by which point the shorts had been in televised reruns for years). MGM continued Tom and Jerry until 1967 (first with a series of poorly received Eastern European shorts by Gene Deitch, then a better received run by Warner Bros. alumnus Chuck Jones). Walter Lantz's Woody Woodpecker lasted until 1972. William Hanna and Joseph Barbera, the creative team behind MGM's 1940s and 1950s cartoons, formed Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1957, mainly focusing on television. The Pink Panther was the last regular theatrical cartoon short series, having begun in 1964 (and thus having spent its entire existence in the limited-animation era) and ended in 1980. By the 1960s, the market for animated shorts had largely shifted to television, with existing theatrical shorts being syndicated to television.

The year 1938 proved to be a turning point in the history of film comedies. Hal Roach, for example, had discontinued all short-subject production except Our Gang, which he finally sold to Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer in 1938. The Vitaphone studio, owned by Warner Bros., discontinued its own line of two-reel (20-minute) comedies in 1938; Educational Pictures did as much that same year, owing to its president Earle W. Hammons unsuccessfully entering the feature-film field. With these major comedy producers out of the running, Columbia Pictures actually expanded its own operations and launched a second two-reel-comedy unit in 1938.

RKO Radio Pictures kept making new two-reel comedies until 1953. After the deaths of RKO's comedy perennials Edgar Kennedy and Leon Errol, RKO kept many of their respective shorts in circulation until these reissues were canceled at the end of December 1955.^[12] Columbia continued to produce new comedies^[13] and reissue old ones throughout the 1950s.

With the rise of television, the commercial live-action short was virtually dead; most studios discontinued their live-action series in 1956. Only The Three Stooges kept making two-reel comedies; their last was filmed in December 1957 and released in June 1959.^[14]

One of film's oldest short-subject formats was the serial. Theatrical serials were produced in the US from 1912 to 1956, as the format's decline coincided with the rise of television.^[15] What Happened to Mary (1912), produced by Thomas Edison, is often identified as the first American film serial.^[15.1]

Serials were programmed with feature films.^[16] The average serial's run lasted two to four months, and viewers were expected to return weekly to see the story continue in the next installment.^[15.2] Silent serials ran up to 20 chapters long, and were reduced to between 12 to 15 chapters during the sound-era.^[15.3] The most common trait of serial storytelling was the cliffhanger; each episode would conclude with a suspenseful ending, and the next episode recapped the previous episodes' storylines.^[15.4] The format leaned towards anecdotal storytelling by making use of stock characters and story elements, as well as reoccurring settings and props.^[15.2] In the 1910s through the '20s, common leading characters were adventurous "serial queens" and rough-and-tumble men. Mystery serials were also popular, featuring detectives, policemen, and civilians protagonists.^[15.3]

Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures, and Republic Pictures were the major producers of serials during the 1930s. Universal stopped making them in 1946. Republic ended serials' production in 1955. The final American-made serial was Columbia's Blazing the Overland Trail in 1956.^[15.5]

A small number of animated shorts continue to be released through mainstream commercial distribution. Shorts are occasionally broadcast as filler when a feature film or other work does not fit the standard broadcast schedule.

Pixar has made over three dozen animated short films since André & Wally B. in 1984.^[18] The studio has screened a short along with each of its feature films since its initial theatrical run of Toy Story in 1995.

DreamWorks Animation often produces a short sequel to include in the special edition video releases of major features, and are typical of a sufficient length to be broadcast as a TV special, a few films from the studio have added theatrical shorts as well.

Warner Bros. often includes old shorts from its considerable library, connected only thematically, on the DVD releases of classic WB movies. From 2010–2012, Warner Bros. also released new Looney Tunes shorts before family films.

ShortsTV is a television channel dedicated to short films and the exclusive presenter of the Academy Awards nominated shorts theatrical releases.^[19][20] Shorts International and Magnolia Pictures have organized an annual release of Academy Award-nominated short films in theatres across the US, UK, Canada and Mexico throughout February and March.^[21]

Short films generally rely on film festival exhibition to reach an audience. Such movies can also be distributed via the Internet. Certain websites which encourage the submission of user-created short films, such as YouTube and Vimeo, have attracted large communities of artists and viewers. Sites like Omeleto, FILMSshort, Short of the Week, Short Films Matter, Short Central and some apps showcase curated shorts.^[22]

Among the oldest film festivals dedicated to short films are Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, France (since 1979), Tampere Film Festival, Finland (since 1969) and International Short Film Festival Oberhausen, Germany (since 1954). All of them are still considered the most important short film festivals in the world to date.