While it’s not quite the full length feature films I’m looking for, iTunes has been selling the five Academy Award nominated live-action short films at $1.99 each. Ten bucks for about 100 minutes of entertainment may not be a bargain (especially at only 320×240), but it’s an opportunity to see quality films we might otherwise miss out on.
BBC says: Made by some of the world’s most promising new film-makers, they range from 15 to 27 minutes long. The nominated shorts include Our Time is Up, a US film about a therapist who finds out he has six weeks to live, and UK entry Cashback, about a supermarket night shift worker whose imagination runs wild. The other nominees are from Germany, Ireland and Iceland. Carter Pilcher, chief executive of short film company Shorts International, said: “These are the hottest films on the coolest distribution platform.
The stunning impact of the article is that 90% of the content rights in question is controled by two entities, HBO and SEG.
As to the major premiss of the article – Jobs vs. studios – it seems at odds with the fact that MovieBeam will have a burn to DVD option. So I don’t know what to make of that.
I believe the distribution rights to these short films are held by Magnolia Pictures.
The current iteration of MovieBeam hardware (versus a rumored future PC software option) does not support DVD burning.
From their FAQ: Can I record a movie from MovieBeam using my VCR, DVD player or DVR? No, the MovieBeam player is designed as a playback device only.