Instagram is Going Long-Form.

And we’re pretty excited about it.

Instagram has announced that it’s testing Features, allowing creators to publish horizontal videos of up to 90 minutes, with short-form Reels linking directly to the full-length content. For brands, musicians and filmmakers, this could open up some interesting possibilities.

For years, social video has been dominated by the pursuit of shorter, faster content. Grab attention in the first three seconds. Keep it moving. Get to the point.

And there’s absolutely a place for that. But not every story can, or should, be told in 30 seconds. Some need time to develop, to introduce people, build atmosphere and give audiences something to connect with.

What’s particularly interesting about this announcement is the possibility of Instagram becoming a home for short, medium and long-form video, all working together on one platform.

A 15-second Reel might introduce someone to a brand, while a longer film gives them a reason to care about it. For musicians, it could mean performance clips, studio diaries, interviews, music videos and documentaries sitting alongside one another, giving fans more ways to engage with the artists they love.

And crucially, audiences could move between those formats without having to leave Instagram.

At The Alternative, we’ve always approached video with the belief that the story should dictate the format, not the other way around.

We recently produced a documentary-style film bringing together Iron Heart Denim and Converge, exploring the relationship between music, craftsmanship and culture. Our documentary Blood Is Forever, Love Is Forever, following the final chapter of Misery Signals, has been nominated for Best Documentary at this year’s Birmingham Film Festival.

We’ve also produced longer-form films for hospitality brands, capturing the people, personalities and experiences behind the businesses, alongside the shorter, more immediate social content we create for brands and artists every day.

It’s work we’ve been doing for years, and this announcement potentially gives it another home.

Of course, longer doesn’t automatically mean better. A compelling 20-second video will always be more valuable than a boring 20-minute one. The challenge is still the same: making something people actually want to watch.

And short-form isn’t going anywhere. If anything, it could become an even more useful way of introducing audiences to longer stories, without the awkward process of sending them off to another platform.

It’s early days, and there’s still plenty to learn about how Instagram will roll this out and how audiences will respond. But the prospect of bringing all these different kinds of video together in one place is something we’re genuinely excited about.

Good storytelling has never been about how long a video is. It’s about what you do with the time you’ve got.

And that’s exactly the kind of work we love making.

Got a long-form idea that's ready to go somewhere?