Sundance Sells Out To iTunes?January 12th, 2007 in Movies, Technology |
OK, maybe that’s a bit harsh. The Sundance Film Festival will be selling about half of the 71 short film playing at the festival as video downloads on Apple’s iTunes store. They will retail for about $1.99 each, same as a TV show.
Is this Sundance selling out, leaving behind the days when it was a genuinely indie festival? Or is it a smart move to broaden the reach of the films shown in Utah? Maybe it’s both.
On one hand Sundance already streams certain short films on its website for free (which will continue), so it seems odd to start charging. On the other hand a presence on iTunes will raise the profile of both the short films and Sundance as a whole. But if the goal really was just to get Sundance shorts seen by a wider audience, they didn’t have to charge $1.99 a pop.
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January 12th, 2007 at 8:03 pm
I think it is actually great that the films will be available for download, I think it is a very smart marketing move to reach a much broader audience. I think a lot of the filmakers will be extremely pleased about the exposure they will get. At the end of the day, whether Sundance is selling out or not, it is about exposure for up and coming talent.
January 12th, 2007 at 9:06 pm
I see this as a great step forward. The bottom line is that without this, most of those short films will never see the light of day. This is good for everyone.