Stephen King Sells "Plant"
Horror novelist Stephen King has begun selling installments of his latest book "The Plant" online. In an unusual move, he has bypassed typical publishing methods and instead allowed Amazon.com to handle sales. Each download is just $1 and King has promised to continue the sales as long as the honor system is used at least 75% of the time. "I love the smell of glue," he says on his website. This is the second time that King has sold his unpublished writing online; his first e-book "Riding the Bullet" was an instant success, selling 400,000 copies. However, after the first 15 hours of sales for "The Plant," only 41,000 downloads had been sold.

Independent Film Channel Launches Web Movie Theatre
The Independent Film Channel (IFC) presents DV Theater, a showcase of films shot on digital video from today's most cutting edge filmmakers, airing on IFC and IFCtv.com the third Wednesday of every month at 9:30 PM Eastern Time. The series premiere will be 19 July on www.IFCtv, featuring Doug Block's acclaimed documentary, Home Page, plus exclusive DV Theater content, including an interview and chat with Home Page writer, director, cameraman Doug Block. The film was a hit at the 1999 Sundance and Rotterdam film festivals.

Who Wants to Be Movie Star?
whowantstobeamoviestar.com has been forced to shut down because of illegal practices. The site, created by William Morris, Yahoo! And Blockbuster, allowed aspiring actors and crew hopefuls to bid for small roles in an upcoming film, with the parts going to the highest bidders. . One acting job was auctioned at a rate as high as $5,000.

Look online for the Perfect Script
www.writersscriptnetwork.com is a new website that provides access to more than 7000 scripts. Free to industry professionals, the site enables users to search for scripts that closely match their needs. So far, one script has been auctioned for production and two others are in negotiations to be optioned.

Oscar Group Just Says No to Internet
The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has officially declared that films which premiere on the Internet are not eligible for Academy Awards -- at least not for now. This continues the policy of nominating theatrical-based releases, as cable and TV movies are not eligible for Oscar consideration. The decision is all the more hefty considering today's web-based hype and the fact that "Academy-approved" directors such as Tim Burton and David Lynch -- have signed contracts to produce online films.

The Latest "Reel" Internet Casualty
First Boo, now Reel ... Despite $55 million in investments, Reel.com, an online video Internet store, has not generated enough profits and will be closed by its parent company, Hollywood Entertainment. The company has been losing money for the past 18 months and could not find new investors. Shoppers who visit the Reel.com site will be directed to Buy.com. Representatives for Reel said that the site will still post entertainment news and has not ruled out the possibility of resuming online video stores if there is more demand in the future.

Watch Out, Regis! Here comes ZDTV!
Desperate entrepreneur hopefuls will soon have an unusual forum to air their business plans -- in a new online game show on ZDTV.com. The show will feature a series of webisodes in which contestants present ideas to a panel of venture capitalists. After each plea, web users can vote for their favorite idea. The winner gets $50,000 to found his or her startup, plus $5,000 in consulting fees. After 26 shows, the winners will have a chance to compete for second round funding.

Queer Short Nominees Online
PlanetOut and IFILM have announced 25 finalists for the Queer Short Movie Awards. The films compete in five categories: drama, comedy, animation, experimental and documentary, and are being screened at http://movieawards.planetout.com. The Grand Prize winner receives $10,000 and will be announced at Outfest 2000 in July.

Film Library Goes Online
The Canadian National Film Board is putting 800 of 10,000 titles in its library online for education institutions as part of a pilot project. Eventually, home users will be able to access these titles on a subscription basis.

Academy Guards Domain
The nonprofit Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) has taken legal action to protect the "Oscar" name from trademark infringement. Last week, lawyers for AMPAS filed papers stating their intent to go after more than 50 sites that currently use the name. Likely targets are the websites OscarMadness.com (a NY-based company for sweepstakes) and Oscarwinner.com, which is run by Lisa Hood out of the UK.

Spielberg in Online Class
Media students at John Moores University in Liverpool will have a special guest in attendance Wednesday this week, when Steven Spielberg will deliver a live lecture to the class about filmmaking. The director of such hits as Saving Private Ryan and Schindler's List will stay after class to answer questions.

Cleese Takes "Quantum" Internet Step British comedian John Cleese, known for his "Monty Python" routines, is now part of a new troupe: Quantum Project, the first feature produced solely for the Internet with major stars as players. The 32-minute film is a blend of computer animation and live action and is the simple tale of a man trying to re-find love with an old girlfriend (Fay Masterson). Quantum Project is available now and can be downloaded from Sightsound.com for $3.95.

Future is Bright for Streaming Ads
In case you couldn't guess already, sreaming ads are streaming your way. In a survey of Hollywood advertising executives conducted by Arbitron Internet Information Services, 69% of advertising agencies plan to use online streaming (or video webcasting) this year, and over 50% of the agencies will start to do so. They hope to capture the "Streamies" market -- web surfers who listen to music or watch videos online. After the success of The Blair Witch Project (attributed mainly to online buzz), Tinsletown advertisers have raced to develop online campaigns. The Lord of the Rings, to be released in mid-2001, has already streamed Internet video clips; American Psycho (in theatres now) had its own website with interactive campaigns, and Star Wars: Episode I released trailers days before its theatre debut.

Net Users Vote for NetAwards
This year, the nominees for "Best Web Entertainers and Sites" in the Hollywood Net Awards competition will be chosen by net users who cast votes on the "Entertainment Tonight" website at www.etonline.com. The Hollywood NetAwards Ceremony will open the 4th Annual Hollywood Film Festival 2 - 7 August.
Museum of Television and Radio Goes Internet
This New York museum is about to add an archive of Internet content and data falling into three categories: artistic excellence, historical significance and social impact. In this aim, the museum has partnered with RealNetworks.

Pop Pairs with Pix
Pop.com, the Internet site founded by Steven Spielberg and Ron Howard, has joined forces with iPix.com. The pairing will grant pop.com exclusive rights to use iPix technology for an introductory period. iPix, which is designed specifically for the Internet, allows web-surfers to choose the angle from which they would like to view an event at the click of a mouse. IPix technology has already been used in the websites of CNN and National Geographic. Stockholm Fest Internet Section
The 11th Stockholm International Film Festival (November 9-19) is staging a whole film section exclusively on the Internet. This year's spotlight is named ifestival, where the i stands for both Internet and independent. The ifestival will be presenting ten short films in competition on the festival's website, www.filmfestivalen.se. The audience will be able to chat with the filmmakers as well as give their votes for the best film on line. Starting Thursday April 27th, three i-films will be presented as teasers. Deadline for entries is September 8.

Universal teams up with reelshort.com
Universal Pictures has paired with reelshort.com in a move to tap into the short film entertainment market. Reelshort.com is a privately-held digital entertainment company based in New York that streams short films to help filmmakers reach audiences and "decision-makers." Reelshort has already teamed up with Big Star Entertainment, the Hollywood Stock Exchange, and CNB Entertainment. The site accepts submissions of short films with lenths of 30 seconds to 40 minutes and pays $500 for the exclusive Internet distribution rights.

If it worked for "The Blair Witch
Project" …
The distributors of American Psycho, the film adaptation of Bret Easton Ellis's yuppie/slasher novel, are hoping the web can generate some on-line buzz for their film. At the official website for the film, eager viewers can follow the main character, Patrick Bateman, well-past the film's conclusion. Installments of the film will be e-mailed to curious fans in an "e-quel" supposedly from Bateman himself. The promotion began March 15 and so far more than 26,000 subscribers have signed on.

Two sites www.movie-mistakes.com and www.nitpickers.com specialize in detecting script blunders. Netizens are invited to send in errors they have detected. For example, Stanley Kubrick's Eyes Wide Shut has been accused of seven.

Six major US movie theater chains join forces to offer remote ticketing online: Loews Cineplex, Entertainment Corp., Regal Cinemas Inc, Cinemark Theatres, General Cinema Theatres, Edwards Theatres and Century Theatres.

WebFreeTv.com (Vienna, Austria) is holding Film Awards 2000 dedicated to the most independent filmmakers and scholars who specialize in video as their preferred medium. All works are to be presented during the month of March to the web community. The awards will be held in April.

Wallonie Image Production Online at wip.be features an online catalog of their productions, which will be regularly updated and a mailing list intended for movie professionals.
www.wip.be

UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television, the Australian Film, Television, and Radio School, and the National Film and Television School or Great Britain announced the creation of the Global Film School. Offering classes in directing, producing, screenwriting, editing, design, cinematography, music composition and other film-related subjects, the online school - www.globalfilmschool.com - will also offer local sessions with industry professionals.
www.globalfilmschool.com

Another school is announcing digital filmmaking courses: the German Film School - www.filmschool.de. The 20 students accepted will be required to pay tuition fees, which will help finance the program. The studies will focus on hardware and software applications used in post-production filmmaking.
www.filmschool.com

Hollywood Film Festival is branching out to create an Internet Latin Film Festival opening January 2000 at www.latinfilmfestival.com, which will showcase contemporary Spanish-language filmmakers. The features, documentaries or shorts will also be showcased theatrically.
www.latinfilmfestival.com

The Film Channel at indieplanet.com is a new website devoted to the independent artist showing new shorts each week. The filmmakers retain all distribution rights.
www.indieplanet.com

Atom-bomb.com has launched new website devoted to giving filmmakers, musicians and other artists a chance to showcase their work bypassing the middleman and going straight to the public.
www.atom-bomb.com

Founded in 1997, the Online Film Critics Society (ofcs.org) is the premiere international organization of film critics who post their printed movie reviews exclusively or primarily online. The mission of the society is to further the growth of an informed film audience, and to promote awareness of the internet as a viable media alternative.
This critics group has also released its 1999 awards and named its top ten films of the year. American Beauty was once again highly acclaimed winning best film, actor and director. The Blair Witch Project came in number 10 on the top film list and won the award for the Best Official Film Website. Best Film Review Website went to Roger Ebert (suntimes.com/ebert/index.html) and the Special OFCS Award went to The Internet Movie Database (imdb.com)
www.ofcs.org

Launch Media, Inc. finalized the first Internet video licensing deal from the Warner Music Group (WMG) to stream catalog and new release music videos from WMG artists on Launch.com . The videos will be available to the over two million members of Launch.com both on demand and on pre-programmed music channels. With these additions, Lauch.com has secured its spot as the leader in music video content on the Web.
www.launch.com

Blockbuster has entered into an agreement with Atom Films to syndicate short-form content from a co-branded section of blockbuster.com for two years beginning this spring.

Tim Burton (Sleepy Hollow, Batman, Edward Scissorhands) has struck a deal with shockwave.com to create a series of 5-minute animated short films for Flash players based on his character Stainboy, a central character in his book "The Melancholy Death of Oyster Boy & Other Stories." Coming this spring.
www.shockwave.com

On2 is launching On2Movies on broadband (high-speed) Internet Access presenting original programming, content from major studios, independent filmmakers and short film producers ...

AtomFilms, specializing in off and online short films has recently added 125 shorts to its catalog in a deal with Forefront Films, a leading short film worldwide distributor.

Online Casting with Talentclick
Creative Artists Agency president Rowland Perkins is taking his work online with the new site, Talentclick.com.

Entertaindom.com, Warner's opening to the Internet as a medium of promotion, is to begin this month with talk shows and cartoons.
www.entertaindom.com

Scour.com Leaves Studios Sour
Major studios and 16 record companies have created a lawsuit again Scour Inc, an online service that operates in a manner similar to Napster. It allows people to trade copyrighted material such as movies and records over the net. The site in question is backed by Michael Ovitz and was recently in (legal) negotiations with Miramax.

FilmFestivals.Com Founder at Global Internet Summit
Some of the top CEOs and presidents of startups around the world gathered in Milan for the Global Internet Summit held 11-12 July, including FilmFestivals.com CEO and founder Malo Girod de l'Ain, who was a featured speaker at the conference, which was organized to foster better understanding of "B2B" (business to business) models and how to fare successfully within the new Internet economy. Mr. Girod de l'Ain spoke on Day 1 at the "Meet-the-Money" conference.
more ...

San Francisco Jewish Film Festival Goes Online
For its 20th Anniversary, the San Francisco Jewish Film Festival is going all out on several fronts. On the New Media Front, at www.sfjff.org, the Festival is launching an online program with streaming film clips (courtesy of AlwaysI); the "Online Guide to Independent Jewish Film and Video:" the definitive online library of indepdendent Jewish films, and an online bulletin board.

Chicken Breeds Net Success British animation firm Aardman, (which created the current box office blockbuster Chicken Run) is also finding success on smaller screens. Aardman's short film Angry Kid, which is being screened on Atom Films' website, has already had more than 1 million visitors.

Nothing But Wim Wenders
German director Wim Wenders (Million Dollar Hotel) now has a new home, at least on the Internet. Just launched, the official Wim Wenders site -- http://www.wim-wenders.com --offers biographical information, photos, information on all his films and a message board for conversations among site visitors.

Bit Screen Takes a Bite out of Highlandi.com
Druid Media, creator of The Bit Screen, a site for internet films, has just merged with Highlahdi.com. The two companies will merge under a new, revamped Bit Screen, Inc, which will include an internet marketing and licensing program, thanks to Highlandi.com.

New Competition at FilmFilm.com
The first online movie studio, FilmFilm.com, which has backing from director Nora Ephron (Sleepless in Seattle, When Harry Met Sally) has announced a new competition for new directors. The contest will award fuding to one filmmaker who has previously completed at least one film. The money will be used toward funding for the production of a feature film.

Movie, TV Studios Sue RecordTV.com
Twelve movie and TV production studios (including MGM, Disney, and Columbia) have filed a lawsuit against RecordTV.com, a site that enables users to record TV programs. They are asking the court to shut down RecordTV.

Internets Invade Cannes
The hot topic on everyone's tongue at this year's Cannes festival was the dot-com invasion and how this will affect the future of filmmaking. In the American Pavilion alone, where FilmFestivals.com had one of 3 Cannes offices, the director Julie Sisk noted that this year she had turned down more internet companies than ever before, while giving the OK to a quintet of new media companies -- POP.com, E! Online, Internetstudios.com, ReporterTV.com, and On2.com -- which all joined returning sponsors Coca Cola, Delta Air Lines, Dos Equis/Sol, E! Entertainment Television, Eastman Kodak, Europcar, Evian, The Hollywood Reporter, and The Los Angeles Times.

Voyeur Dorm Site Spies Lawsuit
The operators of the Voyeur Dorm Internet Site filed a suit claiming that CBS corporation illegally used information from the site in creating a television show the network plans to broadcast in July.

Shockwave.com Gets Greedy
San Francisco-based Shockwave.com, an online entertainment site, has announced that comedian Jim Belushi has signed a deal to create "The Greedy Show," a series of 13 animated episodes exclusively for the site. They will run from 2 to 5 minutes each and will air this summer. Belushi joins Tim Burton, David Lynch, and Stan Lee in creating content for Shockwave.com.

Ren and Stimpy Creator "Iced"
John Kricfalusi, the creator of "Ren & Stimpy" has signed a deal with Icebox.com to put his newest (and raunchiest) animated works on Icebox.com for three years. The site already features five shows and has five more starting next week; this deal is said to greatly increase the website's content. Icebox.com is owned by former Walt Disney executive Jake Winebaum and EarthLink Networks founder Sky Danton.

Pay to See How it Ends
Irish filmmaker Ronan Gallagher's 20-minute short film debuted on darkislands.com on 1 June with an unusual business model. Viewers could download the first 15 minutes of his film for free. However, if they wanted to see those last 5 minutes, they had to pay $1 or $1.50. Gallagher needed to charge to pay for the costs of making the film.

Internet Film Takes top spot at Amazon
The short film George Lucas in Love, previously available on Mediatrip.com reached #1 on Amazon.com's video sales when it was released 21 April. It was the first time that a film released exclusively on the Internet beat out studio features. The film, a 9-minute parody from student filmmaker Joe Nussbaum, chronicles young Lucas in a series of unfortunate though funny personal events which become the inspiration for Star Wars. It beat out Stuart Little and Star Wars: Episode 1 for the top spot and remained in the Top 10 through the weekend.

Playboy.com Launches New Website
Sex & Rock & Roll.com, a site produced by Playboy.com and BlackDragon.com lauches this week. Hosted by Playboy playmates, the site will feature taped interviews, the Playmate of the Year Party, and behind-the-scenes footage from parties at the Playboy Mansion, where Limp Bizkit has already recorded poolside interviews. Although the site may charge in the future, it will initially generate all revenue from advertisements and merchandise sales.

Preview Movies While you Withdraw
Who says you can't be entertained while taking money out of your account? Not Wells Fargo! Proving that you're never far from movies in California, the West Coast bank introduced cash machines that show previews and internet ads on the screen until a card is inserted. The machines debuted at three banks in San Francisco and one in Los Angeles over the weekend and featured trailers for The Gladiator.

R.E.M. Singer Joins Production Companies on the Web
Michael Stipe, the lead singer of the band R.E.M. has just merged his two production companies, C-Hundred and Single Cell, into one new production
company, Self-Timer. Stipe has already produced such films as Being John Malkovich and Velvet Goldmine, and he plans to use this Internet/movie pairing to to continue film production.

Digital Standout at LAIFF
As the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival came to a close, a handful of films were stand-outs among the crop of features. Among them, First, Last and Deposit by Peter Hyoguchi, one of the few films at the festival to exploit the new digital medium with explicit regard to its desired aesthetic. "In the west, we all think video means the image is real. Real life. I admit this is manipulative filmmaking, but I wanted to use technique to force the audience to care about the characters," said Hyoguchi.

On Location From Outer Space
Direct from Russia's International Space Station, SPACEHAB Inc. intends to broadcast proprietary content on the Internet, from documentaries and news programs to advertisements and entertainment shows. Launching is expected for 2002 and the multimedia facility is to be named "Enterprise" (no relation to Star Trek). Lord of the Rings Beats Star Wars New Line's internet preview of The Lord of the Rings has out-forced Star Wars: Episode I for the most downloads on the first day it was put on the Internet. The preview for the film, which stars Elijah Wood and Cate Blanchett, was downloaded more than 1.7 million times on its Internet debut April 7. (For comparison, Episode I was downloaded 1 million times on its first day). The two-minute preview shows battle footage and behind-the-scenes looks at special effects. thelordoftherings.net

David Lynch (Twin Peaks) made a surprise appearance March 23 at the Yahoo! Internet Life Online Film Festival to announce his deal with Shockwave. Lynch plans to create animated films, called Webisodes, for an internet-based series called "Dumbland." He will teach himself how to use the Shockwave tools to create the program in time for its expected airing this summer. Shockwave has already signed Tim Burton, Stan Lee, James L. Brooks, and the South Park creators to create films.

Two of the world's largest internet media companies - Amazon.com and Internet Movie Database, have created a partnership to promote independent films. Currently, the Amazon.com Advantage section allows independent filmmakers to sell their work directly to the public. Under this new partnership, indie films selected by Advantage users and editors will be featured beside indie successes already featured on the IMDb independent films section.

SightSound.com, pay-per-view Netcaster, has signed a five-year deal with Franchise Pictures to broadcast 35 films from their catalog on the Internet. Furthermore, SightSound is presently beginning production on a film to be distributed exclusively over the Internet, entitled Quantum Project and starring Stephen Dorff, Fay Masterson, and John Cleese.

The Players Directory's on-line casting system, called The Link, now offers the nearly 30,000 actors who are registered on line the option of enticing agents and casting directors not only with photos, resumes and lists of special attributes and skills, but also full video. The Link combines the resources of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences' Players Directory(TM) with film player requirements listed by Breakdown Services (talent representatives and casting directors).

Leonardo DiCaprio is organizing an Internet festival of shorts (15 minutes maximum running time) to be presented online. Produced by the star's production company, www.leofest.com intends to provide a place for young talent to show their work. Coming in December.
www.leofest.com

The Hollywood entertainment industry is witnessing a major step in "Intertainment" with the creation of Pop.com for next spring, backed by Steven Spielberg's Dreamworks, Ron Howard's Imagine Entertainment, and a $50 million investment from Paul Allen's Vulcan Ventures. The independent digital entertainment company will produce programming one to six minutes in length.
www.pop.com

Magazinfilm.com is opening in May 2000. This Swedish web project intends to screen independent works from all over the world.
www.magazinfilm.com

Eveo.com is to open in February presenting digital video works, from sports and travel films to documentaries and fiction.
www.eveo.com

South Park is to go Net with 39 original animated shorts 2 to 5 minutes long to be shown on Shockwave.com.
www.shockwave.com

Sofia Coppola's film The Virgin Suicides is now online at virginsuicides.com proposing a pre-look at the film scheduled to be released in April. It's North American premiere is slated for the Sundance Film Festival.
www.virginsuicides.com

Aardman Animations (UK) has entered into a partnership with Atomfilms, to broadcast and distribute short films over the Internet starting in January. The film fare includes Wallace and Gromit and Creature Comforts, but also a lot of the short films.
www.aardman.co.uk/index.shtml

Robin Williams is to present a half-hour comedy program on www.audible.com, which would be a mix of comedy acts and celebrity interviews. Audible.com specializes in audio programs, everything from talking books to readings from newspapers and magazines. The weekly program is to debut in April.
www.audible.com

BigStar.com is starting later this spring Broadband Film Festival intending to stream independent films all year long. Films will be screened in their entirety and there are no entry fees, while the filmmakers retain all rights.
www.bigstar.com

New York's Gen Art Film Festival joins iFUSE, new online youth culture site, to showcase short films under five minutes online, as well as to be presented at the 5th annual Gen Art event scheduled for 26 April - 2 May.
Gen Art

Independent Film Channel is announcing a co-venture with indieWIRE that will create the first multi-platform film magazine. ifcRANT will deliver to the newsstands, the Internet and movie theaters as of May 1, 2000 a look at contemporary off-Hollywood filmmaking.