Making a short film is hardly a quick, low-cost enterprise. But for countless young filmmakers, the short is a chance to learn the craft, to get a toehold in an industry notorious for high costs and fickle moneymen. Unfortunately, once a short does get made, usually on the strength of donated equipment, actors working for nothing, and sets designed and built by the director and her friends, there’s still little chance that anyone will see it, or pay attention to it. Tani Hansen knows the frustrations firsthand, and wonders if the form itself isn’t on the way to the dustbin of film history.