Measuring ‘success’ in film policy: evaluating the New Zealand Film Commission’s Short Film Fund

This paper explores the limitations of the economic rationalist discourse that dominates policy‐making through an examination of the New Zealand Film Commission’s short film funding scheme. Short film provides a unique case study of the effects of policy frames on a sector where the values of culture, creativity and careers collide, and where government support has a significant impact on the number and type of productions. Short film funding is framed by policy‐makers in instrumental terms as a means to help grow the feature film industry rather than on the basis of the medium’s own merits as a form of creative expression. The Short Film Fund is consequently evaluated according to the success of its projects and their creators, which tends to be equated with critical acclaim gained in international festivals. The author argues that attempts to demonstrate short film policy achievements through quantitative measures obfuscate more meaningful reasons for supporting filmmaking.