NEW YORK—Actor Robert Redford’s Sundance Institute is teaming with the GSM Association to promote made-for-mobile video shorts.
The organizations unveiled a pilot project designed to “showcase and extend the reach” of independent short films for wireless phones. The “Global Short Film Project” has commissioned six independent filmmakers—all of whom have screened their works at the famed Sundance Film Festival—to create five made-for-mobile films.
The videos will be presented in February at the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, and the groups hope to distribute the works through carriers later next year.
“Cell phones are fast becoming the fourth screen medium, after television, cinema and computers,” said Redford. “We feel this experiment embodies fully our quarter-century dedication to exploring new platforms to support wider distribution of independent voices in filmmaking. We are excited about bringing this opportunity to independent filmmakers and most excited to see what they will do with it.”
Indeed, while the demand for made-for-mobile films is far from clear, there is no dearth of interest in the medium from studios and filmmakers. A handful of mobile-movie festivals have sprung up in the past year—including the Third Screen Film Festival, which two weeks ago handed out a $10,000 grant to director Todd Spence—and Boston University recently launched a wireless filmmaking class.
