---
slug: "feature-films"
title: "Feature Films"
template_kind: "custom-owner-edit"
template_version: "v2"
business_name: "Ambition Studios"
---

# 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:

1. **Development** — script, attaching key creative talent like a director
2. **Financing** — securing the budget through the sources above
3. **Pre-production** — casting, crewing, locations, scheduling
4. **Production** — principal photography
5. **Post-production** — editing, sound, color, delivery
6. **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](mailto:overseer@ambitionstudios.ca) or submit through [ambitionstudios.ca/pitchus](https://www.ambitionstudios.ca/pitchus).