They’re short, sometimes sweet and easy to digest. The short form film has gone digital, making its way from the film festival to your home computer. Find out what online producers, distributors and independent filmmakers have to say about the steady rise of online shorts.

You’re a filmmaker who can’t get to Cannes. Or you’re a movie lover in a town where the nearest short film festival is 1,000 miles away. Until recently, you were out of luck if you wanted to see the latest cutting-edge short films from the festival circuit. Today, thanks to the Internet, they’re as close as your computer.

Welcome to the new world of online shorts festivals.

When Iris Rose Ichishita finished her seven minute film HOMELESS KARAOKE last spring (a documentary about karaoke singers on Los Angeles’ Skid Row), she spent two weeks researching and looking for outlets for her project. Her efforts paid off with two major screenings: a traditional one at the Los Angeles Film Festival, and one in a new medium, the Independent Lens Online Shorts Festival.

The world of online film festivals was new to Ichishita, though the filmmaker says she often watches short films online: “Not in a traditional festival sense, though. Usually it’s pretty viral. Somebody sends me a link and I’ll go check it out. And then there’s YouTube and other filmmakers’ sites…there’s a lot out there.”

Harnessing and organizing all that content was the goal of Cathy R. Fischer, the ITVS Interactive senior producer who oversaw the development of the Independent Lens online festival. “We were looking at ways to reach younger, more diverse filmmakers, as well as younger audiences,” Fischer says, “and it seemed the best way do that was through online shorts.” Indeed, the majority of submissions came from filmmakers under 30.

“Online is really the perfect platform for short films,” Fischer explains, “particularly for a generation that’s used to YouTube and MySpace.”

As video clips proliferate on the Internet, are online film festivals the way to separate serious work from camera phone cutups or the latest Mentos-and-Coke backyard explosion video? Perhaps more importantly: Is the Internet becoming the new platform of choice for short form filmmakers?

Watching Shorts…In Your Shorts

Just five years ago, an online film festival would not have been unworkable; dial-up connections and a wide variety of streaming video standards would have made viewing impossible. Today, broadband connections and better compression systems are moving the festival out of the movie house and on to the computer. And since sitting in front of a computer is better suited to viewing short films rather than features, online shorts fests, in particular, are growing and diversifying. Many traditional festivals are offering an online component (including Sundance and Tribeca), but more and more short film fests exist only virtually, ready to play in your living room or on your laptop 24 hours a day.

Two of the bigger and most well-known online shorts fests are The Moviefone Short Film Festival and the Haydenfilms Online Festival (now in its third year). Actors and filmmakers are in the game too. Kevin Spacey’s Trigger Street Short Film Festival is a breeding ground for new talent. Some festivals specialize in particular genres of short films, such as Current TV’s Seeds of Tolerance, MediaRights’ Media That Matters Festival and the AOL Latino Short Film Festival.

Fred Kramer, COO of Withoutabox, a company that provides filmmakers with the opportunity to make submissions to film festivals of all kinds, estimates there are now hundreds of online shorts festivals. “As early as 2003, we began getting requests from exclusively online film festivals,” says Kramer. “Since then, we’ve probably worked with 20 or so online festivals, though the lines between ‘traditional’ and online festivals are beginning to blur.”

Kramer estimates that three percent of the festivals Withoutabox works with are now exclusively virtual, and he’s a fan of the online exhibition. “Certainly there's a convenience and ease-of-use advantage to both the filmmaker and the audience,” he says. “For filmmakers, the whole process takes little of their time. There's also—at last theoretically—unlimited reach with an online film festival. There's no travel involved, and filmmakers can show the film to friends, acquaintances and fans all over the world. And for audiences, there's no schlepping, no time constraints, no sold-out shows and no crowd fighting.”

“Not everyone can go to a film festival,” agrees Fischer, “and shorts programs often sell out at festivals. Where else are you going to see them?” Read More