Of all the shorts distributors I've looked into, ShortTV is my favorite. By every possible measure their acquisitions represent a diverse, mature and clearly talented swath of independent filmmakers. Founded by former real estate entrepreneur Roland Dibs back in 1999 and billed as the "Only Cable Company Dedicated to Shorts," ShortTV is an independent short film channel and e-cinema broadcaster made up three entities—ShortTV, ShortTV.com and its sister site WizWak.com—devoted to supporting short filmmakers by providing a distribution venue aimed squarely at a mass audience.
ShortTV currently broadcasts out of New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Detroit and Philadelphia. ShortTV.com is one of the Net's top digital entertainment sites dedicated to showcasing short films and animation via cutting edge interactive technology. WizWak.com fills in the gap between the two by offering short films aimed at cell phones.
Together, the three have practically assailed the digital entertainment marketplace through a network of web sites and mobile operator partnerships and cable providers to sell short films to millions of consumers worldwide. And unlike many of the other short film venues I've covered here, I didn't have to bone up on Long Tail economic theory to get a handle on exactly how they earn a profit.
More to the point, the compensation formula over at WizWak is especially filmmaker friendly, they offer a percentage and a limited licensing package. Moreover, with the help of a username and a password, filmmakers can actually track how many times their short has been purchased and thereby calculate their profits at any time.
On the hand, over at ShortTV things are handled in a way that's practically traditional by comparison.
"The point is to introduce shorts to the masses," said ShortTV CEO Roland Dib. "The Net is a place to distribute . . . but we're a cable outlet first and an e-cinema outlet second. Our business model doesn't call for revenue to be generated by our website. ShortTV is available to over 2million viewers from New York to San Francisco and that's where we make a profit. It's also just plain sexier to be able to say that your film is going to be on TV."
I love the web as much as the next guy, but I couldn't agree more.
ShortTV currently broadcasts out of New York, Los Angeles, Boston, San Francisco, Detroit and Philadelphia. ShortTV.com is one of the Net's top digital entertainment sites dedicated to showcasing short films and animation via cutting edge interactive technology. WizWak.com fills in the gap between the two by offering short films aimed at cell phones.
Together, the three have practically assailed the digital entertainment marketplace through a network of web sites and mobile operator partnerships and cable providers to sell short films to millions of consumers worldwide. And unlike many of the other short film venues I've covered here, I didn't have to bone up on Long Tail economic theory to get a handle on exactly how they earn a profit.
More to the point, the compensation formula over at WizWak is especially filmmaker friendly, they offer a percentage and a limited licensing package. Moreover, with the help of a username and a password, filmmakers can actually track how many times their short has been purchased and thereby calculate their profits at any time.
On the hand, over at ShortTV things are handled in a way that's practically traditional by comparison.
"The point is to introduce shorts to the masses," said ShortTV CEO Roland Dib. "The Net is a place to distribute . . . but we're a cable outlet first and an e-cinema outlet second. Our business model doesn't call for revenue to be generated by our website. ShortTV is available to over 2million viewers from New York to San Francisco and that's where we make a profit. It's also just plain sexier to be able to say that your film is going to be on TV."
I love the web as much as the next guy, but I couldn't agree more.
