Some Lessons We Can All Learn From That Short We’ve All Seen

There’s a an Oscar-nominated short that has been viewed over 487 million times on YouTube, making it the most-watched Oscar-nominated short ever, and probably the most-watched short film period, depending on your definition of short film.

There’s a good chance you’ve seen it before. Maybe like me, you’ll think you didn’t see it before, but once it starts, somewhere deep in your mind, a memory will be unlocked.

Anyway, the film in question is “Fresh Guacamole,” by PES. And yes, we’ve embedded it below so you can watch it again for the first time.

The film debuted on YouTube in March 2012 as part of Showtime’s “Short Stories”. (Ah, those were the days…) In March of 2013, the film moved to the YouTube channel of PES, the creator of the film. That’s where it has racked up hundreds of millions of views.

So what are some tips we can get glean from “Fresh Guacamole”?

1. Keep it short. Or no longer than necessary. Some shorts can feel, well, long. That doesn’t mean that every short should be under two minutes, just that economy is your friend in storytelling.
2. Keep the premise simple. Sometimes shorts are presented as proof of concepts for longer project. while that can be a smart strategy, there’s often a desire to pack in more than we need to see, for fear of someone missing out on an important part of the feature. Focus on making this film competent on its own, and everything else will take care of itself.
3. It’s okay to be fun. Many short films are passionate projects, fueled by personal experience, and frequently that’s some dark traumatic experience. If that’s the story you ‘re compelled to tell, that’s fine. Just know that it’s also ok to share light-hearted or silly moments too. Especially in a film festival setting, there’s something to be said for being the film that gives people permission to laugh, or at least smile.

Those are the top-line takeaways, but there’s also something to be said for delivering the expected in an unexpected way: A spaceship or ghost doesn’t randomly enter the frame, or the guacamole doesn’t start talking. Instead, the expected actions are giving us what we expect, but in an unexpected way: Chopping the vegetables works in a logical way, even if the result is very different.

Of course your story is yours to tell it as you see fit, but if your goal is to be an Academy Award nominee, or have hundreds of millions of views (which doesn’t have to be the reason you’re making your film) it never hurts to see how successful films did it.