The success of ‘Merge’ on Prime Video could change how Short Films survive
Merge, the indie sci-fi short film anthology featuring performances from Mandeep Dhillon (After Life, Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker) and Joe Dempsie (Game of Thrones, Skins), has quietly pulled off something most short-form projects never manage: cracking the Top 8 on Prime Video UK. For an independently produced anthology built entirely from short films, that’s a seriously rare win.
For years, the industry has talked itself in circles about the “problem” of short films: they’re great calling cards, have great festival runs… and then they vanish. With Merge, Cine Circle has put forward a refreshingly practical solution: curate shorts into feature-length anthologies that can actually live on mainstream platforms. Cine Circle doesn’t just place the film on VOD services; they actively market and promote it, treating it like a real release rather than disposable content.
The aim is simple but ambitious – create sustainable income streams for filmmakers while giving audiences access to bold, original indie cinema that doesn’t feel algorithm-engineered to death. Says ZB Siwek, Founder of Cine Circle:
Our goal is to make independent filmmaking sustainable. Hundreds of incredible shorts premiere at festivals every year and then disappear. With Merge, we’ve proven that short films can live on – reaching global audiences and earning revenue alongside major releases.
On the screen, Merge delivers a tightly curated slice of elevated sci-fi, exploring humanity’s increasingly fraught relationship with technology. Across six award-winning segments — collectively racking up more than 50 festival awards worldwide — the film tackles ideas like digital afterlives, neural augmentation, and identity in a tech-obsessed future, all through grounded, character-driven storytelling that’s often missing from indie sci-fi.
What Merge also represents – and why it’s particularly exciting from a Nerdly perspective – is a blueprint for how independent creative work can be curated, elevated, and given a genuine second life beyond its initial release. It’s very much in line with what Nerdly Presents is looking to build: a platform not just for reviewing and spotlighting short films and indie comics, but for actively championing them through curated showcases, themed anthologies, and ongoing visibility. Whether that’s short films that deserve more than a single festival screening, or indie comics that fall outside the traditional monthly grind, the aim is the same: to give creators a sustainable runway and audiences a trusted stamp of quality.
In an era where shorts are usually treated as disposable, Merge is proof that they don’t have to be, and that indie filmmakers can still find real visibility in a streaming-dominated landscape.
