While the feature film has been the flagship of the Australian film revival and the short film has always played an important role in practitioner development; the role and effectiveness of the short feature is less clear. The short feature has emerged intermittently since the late 1980s and has been vulnerable to the conditions of the Australian film industry in general. Government renewed its support for the short feature in the 1990s viewing it as a development model for writers, directors and producers making the transition from short form drama to feature length production. While there is no doubt that the short feature model provides invaluable 'experience through practice' for writers, directors and producers, a lack of market demand, its continued dependence on government funding and the mixed development outcomes of those it supports suggests that the future of the short feature remains unclear. This thesis also includes School Friends, a 50-minute screenplay designed specifically to suit the parameters of short feature production. It is a redemption story about a man who attempts to get his life back on track after being released from prison.