I’ve read more director’s statements than I care to count, and I’m going to be blunt: most of them are terrible. They’re bloated, pretentious, and tell the reader nothing useful about the film or the filmmaker. If you’re applying for festival selection or Screen Australia funding and your director’s statement is putting people to sleep, you’re sabotaging your own project.

Here’s how to write one that actually works.

What a Director’s Statement Is For

A director’s statement has one job: to help the reader understand your creative vision for the film. That’s it. It’s not a personal diary entry. It’s not a philosophy thesis. It’s not an opportunity to demonstrate how many film theory texts you’ve read.

Festival programmers use director’s statements to understand what a filmmaker is trying to achieve, which helps them contextualise the film when they watch it. Funding assessors use them to evaluate whether the filmmaker has a clear, achievable creative vision. In both cases, clarity and specificity beat length and intellectual posturing every single time.

Start With the Why

Open your statement with why you’re making this film. Not the plot summary. Not the thematic analysis. Why does this story matter to you personally, and why should it matter to an audience?

“I grew up in a fishing town where the industry collapsed overnight. This film is about what happens to a community when the thing that defines it disappears.” That’s a good opening. It’s specific, personal, and immediately tells you what the film is about emotionally.

“This film is an exploration of the liminal spaces between identity constructions in a post-colonial framework.” That’s a bad opening. It tells you nothing about the actual film, and it makes the reader’s eyes glaze over.

Be Specific About Your Approach

After the why, explain how you plan to bring this story to the screen. This is where you talk about visual style, performance approach, tone, and any distinctive creative choices.

Be concrete. Instead of “the film will have a naturalistic visual style,” say “we’re shooting on 16mm with a single handheld camera, mostly in available light, to create a sense of immediacy that matches the characters’ emotional states.” The second version tells a programmer or assessor exactly what they’re going to see.

Reference specific influences if they’re relevant, but don’t drop names to show off. “The observational approach is influenced by the Dardenne brothers’ work” is useful. “This film exists in dialogue with the legacy of Italian Neorealism, the French New Wave, and the sensory ethnography tradition” is name-dropping that adds nothing.

Keep It Short

A director’s statement should be 300-500 words. That’s it. If you can’t articulate your creative vision in 500 words, you probably don’t have a clear vision yet. Every sentence should earn its place. Read through your statement and cut anything that doesn’t add new information.

One paragraph on why. One or two paragraphs on how. A short closing paragraph on what you hope the audience takes away from the film. Done.

Avoid These Common Mistakes

Don’t summarise the plot. The reader has the synopsis for that. Your statement should add information that the synopsis can’t convey.

Don’t use jargon to sound smart. If your statement reads like a film studies essay, rewrite it in plain language. The smartest directors I’ve met talk about their work in direct, accessible terms.

Don’t make promises you can’t keep. If you say your debut feature will “redefine Australian cinema,” you’d better have the goods to back it up. Humility and clarity are more impressive than grandiosity.

Don’t forget your audience. A director’s statement for a festival application might emphasise different things than one for a funding application. Tailor the statement to who’s reading it.

Don’t be generic. “I’ve always been passionate about storytelling” tells the reader nothing. Everyone in this industry is passionate about storytelling. What specifically about your story demands to be told?

A Quick Template

If you’re stuck, try this structure:

Paragraph 1: The personal connection to the story. Why this film, why now, why you.

Paragraph 2: The creative approach. Visual style, performance philosophy, tone. Be specific.

Paragraph 3: What makes this film distinct. What will the audience experience that they won’t get elsewhere?

Paragraph 4 (optional): The intended impact. What do you hope the audience feels or thinks after watching?

Total length: 300-500 words. No more.

Final Thought

Your director’s statement is often the first impression a programmer or assessor has of you as a filmmaker. Make it count. Be honest, be specific, and be brief. The people reading it will thank you, and your project will benefit.