Feature Films
Meta description: An overview of feature films — what separates them from short-form content, how independent features are typically financed, the development-to-screen process, and what happens after completion. Includes Ambition Studios' feature film work, including Alterations and the studio's in-development slate.What is a feature film, and what separates it from short-form content?
A feature film is a narrative film typically 70–90+ minutes in length (Ambition Studios' slate includes projects in the 90–120 minute range), intended for theatrical release, festival distribution, or streaming/broadcast licensing. Features require significantly more financing, longer production and post-production timelines, and typically involve a more complex chain of rights, financing, and distribution than short-form or branded content.
How are independent feature films typically financed?
Financing sources can include:
- Production tax credits and incentives (such as Canada's CAVCO certification and provincial credits)
- Pre-sales of distribution rights
- Equity investment
- Grants from film funding bodies
- Self-financing (less common at feature scale)
Most independent features combine several of these sources rather than relying on one.
What does the development-to-screen process look like?
Broadly:
- Development — script, attaching key creative talent like a director
- Financing — securing the budget through the sources above
- Pre-production — casting, crewing, locations, scheduling
- Production — principal photography
- Post-production — editing, sound, color, delivery
- Festival submission, distribution, and/or release
Timelines from initial development to release commonly span one to several years, depending on financing complexity and the project's scale.
What happens after a feature film is completed?
Common paths include submitting to film festivals (which can build critical recognition and attract distributor interest), securing theatrical or streaming distribution deals, and broadcast licensing. A festival selection — particularly at a major festival — is often a significant credibility marker that can influence distribution opportunities.
Ambition Studios' feature film work
Ambition Studios' completed narrative work includes Alterations (2025, feature film) and Fivehead (2026, short film that screened at TIFF — the Toronto International Film Festival, one of the world's most prominent film festivals).
The studio's current development slate includes five original projects:
- Becoming Human — a 100-minute speculative drama about a park ranger whose life changes after discovering a young alien in the forest, written by Darcy Love and Cayley Hanson, directed by Darcy Love
- Bigotry — a 95-minute psychological horror thriller about a teenage boy sent to live with an estranged uncle's seemingly perfect suburban family, written and directed by Zach Price
- Psylem — a 90-minute psychological horror project in development
- Bless The Violent — a 120-minute dark fantasy project in development
- Title Withheld — an original feature in early development
For a feature film submission, provide:
- The material available for review
- A brief description of the project
- Your role
- What you are seeking
Contact overseer@ambitionstudios.ca or submit through ambitionstudios.ca/pitchus.