On Friday, October 28^th, Google, Inc. officially announced its foray into original film and TV content on its YouTube website …

“Wonderful things happen when cool technology meets great entertainment. Cable television expanded our viewing possibilities from just a handful of channels to hundreds, and brought us some of the most defining media experiences of the last few decades– think MTV, ESPN and CNN. Today, the web is bringing us entertainment from an even wider range of talented producers, and many of the defining channels of the next generation are being born, and watched, on YouTube” …

With the proliferation of networked digital technologies and the advent of participatory media, artists of all kinds, from writers to musicians to independent filmmakers, have been at the forefront of the DIY approach to the production and marketing of their work, as well as to the search for independent channels of distribution.

Henry Jenkins, currently a Provost Professor of Communication, Journalism, and Cinematic Arts at USC, has studied and written widely about this phenomena and the emergence of our increasingly participatory and convergent culture. His latest book, “Spreadable Media: Creating Meaning and Value in a Networked Culture” was co-authored with Sam Ford and Joshua Green. Although it is not expected to come out until the fall of 2012 through New York University Press, the buzz has already begun … 

New York, NY – October 15, 2011 – The RIKAROO Film Collective, in cooperation with United Digtial Filmmakers, today announced the launch of www.rikaroo.com, a place for independent filmmakers in search of exposure to submit their films for review by a jury of industry professionals and possible selection for exhibition online.

RIKAROO is the first industry-curated site for the on-line exhibition of high-quality, independent films, most of which have been denied the kind of exposure that would have found their audiences …

Jon Reiss, an award-winning producer and director, recently launched a new book for independent filmmakers and those interested in digital independent film distribution.

Co-written with Sheri Candler and The Film Collaborative, it’s called “SELLING YOUR FILM WITHOUT SELLING YOUR SOUL” and was launched on multiple platforms simultaneously.

It follows Reiss’s earlier book, “THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX:  THE ULTIMATE GUIDE TO FILM DISTRIBUTION AND MARKETING FOR THE DIGITAL ERA.”

According to Reiss …

It’s true.

Even Hollywood insiders are quietly dabbling with the development of webisodes, short TV episodes created for independent distribution on the web …