films

Internet documentary among the Sundance winners

We Live in Public, a sort of cautionary story about the Web's impact on our lives, grabbed one of the Sundance Film Festival's top honors Saturday, the Grand Jury Prize for documentary films.

The film was directed by Ondi Timoner, who gave CNET an inside look last week at the life of a filmmaker about to screen her work to an audience for the very first time. It covers a tumultuous decade in the life of Josh Harris, whom Timoner refers to as "the greatest Internet pioneer you've never heard of."

During the 1990s dot-com … Read more

Piracy: More Oscar-contending films end up online

Hollywood has gotten better at delaying pirates from posting illegal copies of Oscar-nominated films on the Internet. The bad news is that eventually a higher percentage of nominated films end up on the Web.

Andy Baio, an independent journalist and programmer, says he has tracked how quickly pirated copies of Oscar-nominated films appear on the Web for the past six years. He logs whether the copies were recorded with handheld cameras or copied from DVDs.

A spokeswoman for the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), the trade representing the largest film studios declined to comment directly on Baio's research. … Read more

Five movies I want added to Hulu

Last week, I discussed five television shows that I would like added to Hulu, the online video-streaming service backed by NBC and Fox. Now it's time we shift our attention to film to find five classics that Hulu needs to add to its movies page.

Granted, movies are different. You need to invest more time if you want to watch some of your favorite films, and they don't have the ongoing sweep of a long television series. But there is a market for streaming movies online and because they are currently free on Hulu, users can start a … Read more

A day in the life of a Sundance filmmaker

PARK CITY, Utah--The Sundance Film Festival is all about film buzz. Word spreads quickly about the biggest tearjerkers, the most overhyped films, the pleasant surprises, and the ones mostly likely to make their way to the cineplex.

What you don't hear, however, is what it's like for the makers of such films as they anticipate showing their work to the world for the very first time. What is their range of emotions as they prepare for what could be a standing ovation or a mass exodus before the credits even roll?

Ondi Timoner, who's here competing with … Read more

Sundance screens eco-films, movie tech

roundup This year, the renowned film festival is showcasing the environment, as well as artists who use technology to tell stories in new ways.

A day in the life of a Sundance filmmaker Ondi Timoner gives CNET News a chance to see what it's like from the inside of the festival, and her film just happens to be all about the Internet.(Posted in Digital Media by Michelle Meyers) January 21, 2009 4:00 AM PST

Finding the next Scorsese...on YouTube One of the short films being shown to industry insiders at this year's Sundance Film Festival … Read more

Finding the next Scorsese...on YouTube?

This post was updated at 5:12 p.m. PST to fix an inconsistency in the spelling of Fede's name and clarify the filmmakers' contributions.

PARK CITY, Utah--It could be one of the quickest known ascents to fame for a filmmaking team.

Four months ago, Blake Edwards and Erin Fede met as new cubiclemates at a Charlotte, N.C.-based religious TV network. Today, they're here at the Sundance Film Festival with a short film Edwards directed and Fede wrote and acted in.

They took a different path to Park City than the 96 other filmmakers screening short films at the festival. … Read more

Sundance--from the comfort of your home

PARK CITY, Utah--Sure, you can venture out to this snowy resort town, pay for overpriced housing, squeeze into crowded shuttle buses, deal with lots of Hollywood attitude (these, of course, the glass-half-full observations), or you can do a little Sundancing from the comfort of your own home.

With access to Apple's iTunes, you get a little taste of the Sundance Film Festival's indie works by downloading up to 10 short films for free during the 10 days of the festival, which means you have until January 25.

Sundance got a record 5,600 submissions this year for its shorts program, … Read more

At Sundance, Web pioneers see 'on-demand revolution'

PARK CITY, Utah--As Hollywood stars drew crowds to the screening rooms here at the Sundance Film Festival, several Web media pioneers--celebrities in their own right-- also got the spotlight Saturday at a panel focused on the future of entertainment in the Digital Age.

Moderated by All Things D's Kara Swisher in her fourth such Sundance engagement, the panelists were Netflix founder and CEO Reed Hastings, YouTube CEO and co-founder Chad Hurley; and Jason Kilar, CEO of Hulu, which is NBC Universal and News Corp.'s joint online video venture.

Each had a somewhat different take on how they imagine … Read more

MySpace CEO talks Sundance, celebrity

reporter's notebook PARK CITY, Utah--Maybe I'm just easily impressed or I need to get out of the newsroom more often, but I was pretty excited about getting some face-to-face time with MySpace CEO Chris DeWolfe Friday at the Sundance Film Festival here. After all, he's a relative celebrity in the technology realm, and I had tons of questions to ask him in the 20 minutes I was allotted.

Then, however, Christie Brinkley--following the launch of her third "Got Milk" ad campaign--walked by outside the MySpace Cafe where DeWolfe and I had been sitting. Brinkley, surrounded … Read more