{"id":1944,"date":"2008-07-13T17:50:29","date_gmt":"2008-07-13T16:50:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/?p=1944"},"modified":"2008-07-13T17:50:29","modified_gmt":"2008-07-13T16:50:29","slug":"the-youtube-screening-room","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.filmdetail.com\/2008\/07\/13\/the-youtube-screening-room\/","title":{"rendered":"The YouTube Screening Room"},"content":{"rendered":"

YouTube<\/a> announced last month that they are creating a online resource for filmmakers called The Screening Room<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Check out this promo video:<\/p>\n

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The idea is that it will be a new platform that will enable independent filmmakers to a wider global audience.<\/p>\n

Although the video sharing site already contains a lot of user generated content, this is a new dedicated section that also makes more authored short films to stand out.<\/p>\n

Filmmakers can opt for their films to have a ‘Buy Now’ option next to their work for DVD or digital sales and they can then share in the majority of ad revenue generated from views.<\/p>\n

To submit you just send and an email with information about your film to ytscreeningroom@youtube.com<\/a> (although you have to make sure that you own all the digital rights to the work you are submitting).<\/p>\n

Each week, four new films will be selected by an editorial panel and then uploaded and highlighted in the Screening Room section.<\/p>\n

According to the Associated Press<\/a> there is already proof that YouTube can help a young filmmaker gain valuable exposure:<\/p>\n

“Hopefully as they see thousands of people watching their films, it’s going to be a very eye-opening experience,” said Sara Pollack, YouTube’s film and animation manager.<\/p>\n

Among the first eight titles to be showcased are “Love and War,” a stop-motion puppet movie by a Swedish director; the Oscar-nominated short “I Met The Walrus,” about an interview with John Lennon; and “Are You the Favorite Person of Anybody?” by performance artist Miranda July.<\/p>\n

YouTube said people whose clips regularly attract a million viewers can make several thousand dollars a month. The bigger prize can be exposure.<\/p>\n

When YouTube featured the nine-minute short “Spider” by Nash Edgerton in February, it became the fifth-best selling short on iTunes, Pollack said.<\/p>\n

The creators of the full-length feature “Four Eyed Monsters,” Susan Buice and Arin Crumley, got their break when more than a million YouTube views helped land them a TV and DVD distribution deal, she said.<\/p>\n

“They ended up doing really, really well, ironically by putting their film online for free,” Pollack said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Although it is early days for this venture, I think it is a great idea. Last year when I was at the Cannes Film Festival<\/a>, I met several people<\/a> at the Short Film Corner<\/a> (a section dedicated to directors of shorts<\/a>) and what struck me was that it was hard to actually get to see their films online or on a DVD.<\/p>\n

Although, directors can already upload to sites like MySpace<\/a> and YouTube<\/a>, this new section appears to be more filmmaker friendly and makes it easier for quality shorts to get exposure outside the usual avenue of festivals and late night TV slots.<\/p>\n

Some of the most recent examples to be showcased are:<\/p>\n