# Featurette

> Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Featurette
> Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Featurette.md
> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featurette
> Source revision: 1305370316
> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)

{{Short description|Film longer than a short subject but shorter than a feature film}}
{{confused|Feature film{{!}}Feature}}

In the [American film industry](/source/cinema_of_the_United_States), a '''featurette''' is a kind of film that is shorter than a [full-length feature](/source/feature_film), but longer than a [short film](/source/short_film). The term may refer to either of two types of content: a shorter film or a companion film.

==Medium-length films==
A featurette is a film usually of three to four [reels](/source/Reel) in length, or about 24–40 minutes in running time,<ref>{{Cite web |title=Featurette |url=https://www.filmworksgroup.com/film-terms/featurette/ |access-date=2025-05-18 |website=Filmworks Group |language=en-US}}</ref> thus longer than a two-reel [short subject](/source/short_subject) but shorter than a [feature film](/source/feature_film). Hence, it is a "small feature" (the ending "-ette" is a common [diminutive](/source/diminutive) [suffix](/source/suffix) derived from [French](/source/French_language)<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.lawlessfrench.com/vocabulary/suffix-et/|title=-et -ette - French Suffix|author=Laura K. Lawless|work=Lawless French}}</ref>), and in fact featurettes were sometimes called "streamlined features". Featurette was commonly used from before the start of the [sound era](/source/Sound_film) into the 1960s, when films of such length as the [Hal Roach's Streamliners](/source/Hal_Roach's_Streamliners)&mdash;and several [French films](/source/Cinema_of_France) of that length&mdash;ceased being made, or were made as experimental or art films and subsumed under the more general rubric of [short film](/source/Short_subject). Some featurettes are still being produced, notably the action comedy ''[Kung Fury](/source/Kung_Fury)'', which runs only 31 minutes.

Other terms with a similar meaning include: '''medium-length films''', '''long shorts''' and '''short features'''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Salovaara |first=Sarah |date=2015-04-28 |title=Attention, Filmmakers: Here's Why You Should Make Medium-Length Films |url=https://www.indiewire.com/features/craft/attention-filmmakers-heres-why-you-should-make-medium-length-films-62586/ |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=IndieWire |language=en-US}}</ref>

==Companion films==
After the advent of [DVD](/source/DVD) technology, the term also gained the meaning of "a brief [documentary film](/source/documentary_film) covering one or more aspects of the film creation process".<ref>Daniels, Bill; Leedy, David; Sills, Steven D (February 5, 2006). ''Movie Money: Understanding Hollywood's (Creative) Accounting Practices''. Silman-James Press. p. 134.</ref><ref>[http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/featurette "Featurette"]. Merriam-Webster Online. Retrieved 2012-07-11.</ref> In DVD features descriptions, the term "featurette" usually refers to ["behind-the-scenes"](/source/Making-of)–type bonus material such as documentaries on [special effects](/source/special_effects), [set design](/source/Scenic_design), or cast and crew interviews.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2023-08-28 |title=Definition of FEATURETTE |url=https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/featurette |access-date=2023-08-31 |website=www.merriam-webster.com |language=en}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
== External links ==
{{wiktionary}}
{{Film genres}}
Category:Featurettes
{{film-term-stub}}

---
Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Featurette](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featurette) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Featurette?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.