Sundance offers contest shorts on Web
By Ned Randolph -- Video Business, 1/16/2008
JAN. 16 | Organizers of the Sundance Film Festival will make its program of short films available for limited free viewing on the Sundance Web site and for sale through iTunes, Netflix and Xbox Live Marketplace.
The 2008 Sundance Film Festival runs Jan. 17-27 in the Utah cities of Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden and Sundance.
Starting Jan. 18, film buffs will be able to view one short film each day from the festival for 24 hours on www.sundance.org/watch. The content will be streamed beginning at 12:01 a.m. (MST) each day. All 45 short films from the 2008 festival will be available for sale for $1.99 through 2011 on iTunes and Xbox Live and streamed for free to Netflix subscribers through its Instant Watching feature.
"The Shorts Programs showcase the creative, boundary-pushing work of filmmaking's newest talents," festival organizers said in a release.
The films are screened in festival theaters prior to a feature film or as part of one of the festival's eight short film programs.
The program has helped discover such directors as Todd Haynes, Spike Jonze, Paul Thomas Anderson, Wes Anderson, David O. Russell, Tamara Jenkins, Nicole Holofcener and Alexander Payne.
