Latest online happenings

The activity online in offering services for independent filmmakers is hotting up. YouTube has announced their Screening Room where a selection of four films, chosen by an expert panel, will feature each week. But it’s not quite a free for all to post your films up on the site.

But if chosen, the benefits are immense. As well as the prestige of being selected and sharing screen space with Oscar winners, ie. “I Met The Walrus” from Josh Raskin, there are the financial rewards.

In a similar fashion to Bebo, YouTube will share the advertising revenue generated by a film’s popularity. So it pays to exploit the established YouTube audience to make a few extra dollars. Quite a few dollars more actually; YouTube quotes that a million viewers could generate a few thousand dollars a month.

Additionally, filmmakers can opt in to sell DVDs of their films from the YouTube profile page.

Mydeo.com, founded by Cary Marsh, offers high quality video hosting for films up to 90 minutes in length. They differ from YouTube in that they are not an entertainment channel but offer a service for private or business users to share video. From her LinkedIn profile, Marsh states the benefits of Mydeo as:

• They offer statistics in order for you to see how popular your videos are
• Videos can be played in widescreen format
• There is no additional compression so the original video quality and resolution is retained
• Your film appears in an advertising-free zone
• No Mydeo-branded content appears on the video

There is however a charge for this service; around $15(AUS) a month to stream videos of 90 minutes duration.

For those in need of good quality music for your production, US musician Moby is generously offering royalty-free compositions for independent filmmakers and students. For commercial releases there are different licences which apply. But what a breakthrough for acquiring rich and professionally-produced music for your next project. See the video at YouTube.

Lacking a production management space? Then LoftCity might be your answer. This online film studio is a community where you can find cast and crew, collaborate with the inbuilt script and storyboard tool, build your project profile by adding production schedules, scripts and other materials for the crew. The showreel showcase space could facilitate pre-release audience feedback as well as gaining exposure. The exciting feature is the distribution channels on offer. They have already garnered distribution agreements with Buzzwire, providers of media content to US mobile carriers, Verizon Wireless and AT&T Wireless, and Joost, an internet TV platform. LoftCity is still in its infancy but has 5000 filmmakers from around the globe. Not bad for five months’ work.

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