Short films vs Full Features in the Coming of Age genre

While looking for more information about the short film Displaced, which was recently reviewed at TheSkyKid.com, I stumbled upon an intriguing article in which its director, Rick Stevenson, shared why he believes that “Shorts are the Films of the Future” (1). In it, Mr. Stevenson shares his opinion that two main factors affect the international cine industry. The first being that independent film makers are having a hard time securing financing for their projects (you may recall the interview with the director of the acclaimed Canadian drama Jet Boy, Dave Schultz, in which he shared similar concerns) and the second being the impact on the video sharing sites such as YouTube and the shift of the audience’s preference towards the short time versions of entertainment now widely available. The opinion of Mr.Stephenson, and a follow-up conversation with a colleague of mine, made me realize that most of the films in the coming of age genre in the past few years have been released in the short format, while their longer counterparts somehow fail to create a hype comparable with the one that films such as The Sixth Sense or AI created in the past. While such a turn was expected by me (it explains why one of the main categories of theskykid.com is devoted to short features), the extent of this invasion of the short film format exceeded my expectations.

That being said, I would like to ask for your opinion.  Where do you think  the future of the coming of age films lies?  Do you expect to see more short films than full features?

1. Rick Stevenson Shares Why He Believes “Shorts are the Films of the Future”   by Allison Ackmann (via trulymovingpictures.org ) ( link)