Online Shorts Festivals

If you are a short filmmaker and/or enjoy watching shorts then the following sites could be of your interest, as not only have many good shorts but also have annual festivals with very ‘interesting’ money awards to winners.

The Doorpost Film Project contest just awarded US$100,000 to Before I Wake by John Gray and now they have 15 short films available to watch online.

Babelgum the European-based, advertising-supported free Internet TV site, this month had Spike Lee announce its second, 2009 Online Film Festival for shorts and medium-form films. There are shorts to watch online.

The Paley Center for Media, is coupling with MTV sketch-comedy team Human Giant on a contest for two-minute (or less) comedy shorts. Human Giant will judge the entries and the winners will by shown on Paley’s website during the Nov. 5-9 New York Comedy Festival. Has a small collection available, but you can check the contest here.

Last, I already posted about SnagFilms , that offers documentary filmmakers an ad-supported online site to distribute their feature films. The news are that it is coupling with next month’s Hamptons International Film Festival to simultaneously premiere the Robin Wright Penn-narrated “Haze,” about a fraternity death in Colorado. And on Oct. 21, just after the conclusion of the Oct. 15-19 Hamptons festival, SnagFilms will stream one of its documentaries “The End of America,” based on Naomi Wolf’s book. SnagFilms is also offering a Hamptons Extra component online - presenting several of the documentaries that just missed the festival’s cut because it didn’t have slots or theaters to show them.