The big screen motion picture business began in America just about 100 years ago, with the advent of the nickelodeon - small, storefront theaters showing short movies to fascinated audiences all over the country. These films had no stars, no sound and - more often than not - no stories. A train roaring down a railroad track or a fireman rushing to a blaze was often enough to satisfy the ravenous entertainment appetite of a growing nation, fueled by a mass of immigrants who could not afford the price of the more popular vaudeville shows. Night after night, these five-cent movie houses filled to capacity, and as owners' profits mounted, it quickly became apparent that cinema was here to stay.
Within a few years, the fledgling film business had turned into a big industry, involving high-priced bankers, executives and talent on both coasts. Along the way, directors grew inventive, stars emerged, and stories blossomed with complex plots and characters. The five-to 10-minute movies showing at the nickelodeons were soon replaced by 90-minute features which, over the years, continually incorporated the new technology of the day, adding sound, color, special effects and dazzling computer animation. Short subject films became pre-show novelties - then seemed to lazily disappear altogether. But did they really go away?

The truth is, short films have been alive and well for decades. Unfortunately, however, they've had few channels of distribution. With the exception of film festivals, student screenings, and time-fillers on cable television, the short film has served primarily as a calling card for aspiring young moviemakers looking to move into features. Steven Spielberg's Amblin', George Lucas's Electronic Labyrinth: THX-1138, and Tim Burton's Frankenweenie are legendary as the shorts that gave each one of these highly regarded directors their first shot at a Hollywood deal.

But now, as we enter the second century of moviemaking, it's time for the short to make a commercial comeback. Propelling it along is the latest piece of entertainment technology: the digital video disc (DVD). "There's a real connection between short form entertainment and random access technology," says Jan Cox, COO and VP of New Business Development for QuickBand Networks, a Los Angeles-based company that sells short film compilations on DVD. "You can click around to whatever you want and not have to back up like on a VCR."

Early attempts by distributors to put shorts on videocassettes were understandably unsuccessful. It was a frustrating, time-consuming process to find a particular movie on a two-hour tape while trying to skip over the ones that didn't interest you. DVD technology allows a viewer the freedom to swiftly navigate the choices. Jests Cox, "(Just sit back and) watch while I make the margaritas."

QuickBand Networks started out in 1997 as DVD Mags. "We were going to be like a magazine: subscription based and supported by advertising," continues Cox. "But being a new technology, we couldn't provide reach and frequency (figures) to advertisers." Instead, they struck a deal to sell the DVDs through Warner Home Video. Now, retailers such as Virgin Megastore, Tower Records, Best Buy, Amazon.com, DVD Express and Reel.com all carry the discs, which list for $14.95 apiece. They still make some money from ad sales, but it's not their main source of revenue.

QuickBand has two DVD editions, Short and Circuit. While Circuit presents contemporary bands, concert footage, and behind-the-scenes information on the alternative music scene, Short (formerly Short Cinema Journal) offers a compilation of short subject independent films, eight to 15 per disc, from two to 30 minutes in length, all connected by a broad theme. Some of the themes so far have been Dreams, Seduction, Insanity, Utopia and Vision, as well as a release entitled Afrocentricity, a compilation of short films by African American moviemakers, many who came out of the Spike Lee camp. Included is the film true, by Charles Stone III, which inspired the popular "Whazzup?!" Budweiser campaign. "We're giving a platform to some of the most compelling storytellers of our time," says Cox, whose company is working on its 11th release.

Another company selling shorts on video disc is Broadcast DVD. The Santa Monica, California-based firm puts out the Film-Fest series, which Scott Epstein, VP of Marketing, describes as "A video magazine on DVD, taking viewers to the best films and festival around the world. Each issue has at least an hour's worth of short films, but also has (video) articles on the film world, film festivals, and interviews."

Film-Fest started out two years ago when some of the originators of Short Cinema Journal broke off to form their own company. The content on each disc is divided into four sections: Features, Festival Shorts, Interviews, and Coming Soon. "Features" takes a behind-the-scenes look at film festivals all over the world. (One piece was of a "miked" bouncer at an exclusive party in Cannes listening to uninvited people trying to talk their way inside). The films in "Festival Shorts" range in length from one to 40 minutes and include a variety of festival winners, thesis films, animation works, and documentaries. The "Interview" section has conversations with icons such as John Waters, Kevin Spacey, Willem Dafoe and Jim Jarmusch, while in "Coming Soon" we see previews of upcoming independent films. Film-Fest can be purchased on the Broadcast DVD web site, Amazon.com and DVD Express for $14.95. A four issue subscription runs $19.95.

Besides random access, higher quality sound and better image quality, the biggest advantage of the DVD format over VHS is the availability of alternate audio and video tracks. These tracks allow a viewer to not only watch the short film, but to view it again while listening to the director's commentary, or see additional camera angles, alternative endings, storyboards, behind-the-scenes footage, interviews and more.

It was while listening to a director's commentary track on a DVD that Jonah Loeb was inspired, in 1999, to co-found IndieDVD with a group of fellow struggling moviemakers. "We were watching a DVD commentary track and started joking around about what our tracks would sound like. They were more interesting than what we were seeing. 'Here's where the police showed up.' 'There's where the tree fell and almost killed us.'"

Based in Portland, Oregon, IndieDVD releases its compilation as the Fusion series. The discs are a mixed genre of shorts, without any themes. "We put on things that personally entertain us - challenging political statements, entertaining stories," continues Loeb, president of the company. In each issue there is also a section called "The Red Room" which shows a short film of explicit or repulsive nature, as in the case of Zitlover on Fusion One. Directed by Cyrus Helf, it's the story of a pimpled-bodied delinquent battling a store clerk for buckets of cheese spread to nourish his zits. Notes Loeb, "Some may find these offensive. So do we." The Fusion series also retails for $14.95 and is sold through their IndieDVD.com, Amazon.com and Djangos.com.

The films on Short, Film-Fest, and Fusion come from a variety of sources. Each company has executives traveling to different film festivals all over the world, looking for appropriate product to put on their discs. "It's a careful process," remarks Epstein of Film-Fest. "A mix of narration, documentary and animation." Some are new films, some old, but all the companies insist on two things: quality and execution.

Not all the films come from festivals. Each DVD company will also look at submissions, whether in 35mm, 16mm, DV, Hi-8 or whatever. As long as it looks sharp and can be cleanly transferred. IndieDVD put out an open call through e-mail and at film schools. "One week later, we were overwhelmed with submissions on our doorstep," says Loeb. They came not only from film students, but anyone who had access to a camera and had something to say. "One filmmaker just grabbed a camera and shot a band. Another kid got a job on a commercial shoot just to use the equipment at night."

While most of the shorts submitted to these distributors will never make it to disc due to the limited number of slots on each DVD, the opportunities are there for shorts that are deemed worthy. And while variety is stressed, Cox points out that movie distribution, whether long-form or short, is still a business. "We want films that appeal to the popular market."

The biggest problem right now for suppliers of short films is in how to market a collection of mostly unseen movies to an audience that goes beyond the hardcore film lover. With Short, remarks Cox, "We try to have a headliner each month. One film that's interesting to the public: Academy Award winners, those at Sundance, shorts by famous directors." In their recent release, Short 10: Chaos, viewers can find George Lucas' student film, Electronic Labyrinth. With it are additional tracks including an interview with one of Lucas's USC professors, plus a chat with the young actor who played Lucas in the popular short film, George Lucas in Love, a humorous imagining of Lucas' film student days.

Film-Fest relies on its magazine format to draw in viewers. "We take people to far away places like Venice and Cannes," says Epstein, "then feature a celebrity or filmmaker they know and have heard of." Photos of the celebrity are, of course, prominently plastered on the front package of the DVD, just like in a magazine. But as with most businesses, the key to success is repeat customers. "The interview draws them in, but the films keep them coming back," explains Epstein. Film-Fest is now bundling their compilations with Toshiba DVD players as a way of gaining more exposure.

Fusion also goes after high-profile films. Fusion Two features an Academy Award-winning short by John Carpenter, a 10-minute documentary on a homeless prophet and a music video that was banned on German television. A future release will include a lost film by View Askew (the folks that brought you Clerks and Chasing Amy) featuring Kevin Smith, Jason Lee and Joey Lauren Adams. "We want to establish ourselves as the name to trust (in independent DVD), like a Miramax or Artisan," says Loeb. In addition to the Fusion series, IndieDVD offers independent feature films on its label showcasing moviemakers who have previously only shown their work in festivals or through limited retail distribution. All three companies also depend heavily on the Internet as a source of information, advertising, and even interactive technology for those with a DVD-Rom.

Independent films, and shorts in particular, are niche products. Yet, two million people a year go to film festivals around the globe. The market for short films is growing, particularly as DVD players become part of the average person's home entertainment unit, the way VCRs did in the mid-'80s. Short films are a crucial part of cinema, helping to break new ground while providing an affordable opportunity for any moviemaker to tell his or her story. Now there's also a way to show that story to the rest of the world. MM