Directors UK is hosting a panel session at this year's Rushes Soho Shorts Festival at 5pm, Wednesday 28th July.

The session is entitled The Future of Short Film – are shorts becoming longer?, and will see a panel discuss what's next for the short film. The discussion will be chaired by Directors UK Board member Tim Sullivan, and the panel includes Tom Harper, director of Scouting Book for Boys, BAFTA nominated director Corinna Faith, BBC New Directors Award winner Martin Gooch and Schuman Hoque, a freelance director with a background in shorts, music videos and comedy. Here's the details:

The Future of Short Film – are shorts becoming longer?

With advancements in digital technology and the explosion of the Internet, both making and watching short films is more popular than it’s been for decades. But what exactly is a short film? And what role does it play for filmmakers working today?

This session examines what a short film looks like in 2010. The average length of a short film at Rushes is less than 12 minutes, at the Oscars it’s up to 40 minutes and at Sundance it can be up to 50 minutes. So just how short is a short? Do short filmmakers have greater freedom and flexibility over film length than before? Or does the attention-span of the ‘YouTube generation’ dictate? Is a short short a better calling card? Can a longer short be a way into television? And if short films are becoming longer, can they really be called short films at all?

The session takes place at the Apple Store in Regent Street, and it is free to attend. To find out more about the festival click here.