John Jurgensen takes a look at online distribution in "Indie Films Hit the Web," his piece in the Wall Street Journal about the relatively new phenomenon of feature length films making Web premieres. Traditionally, filmmakers have been a bit leery about putting an entire film on the Internet, but more seem to be warming up to the idea as traditional distribtion opportunities dwindle. Says Jurgensen:

Behind the shift: a glut of movies jockeying for theater screens. Last year 603 feature films were released in the United States, a 29% increase from 2002, according to the Motion Picture Association of America. Meanwhile, the once-bullish market for movies with budgets under $15 million recently lost some of its core buyers. For instance, Time Warner and Paramount have either closed or scaled back three of their specialty divisions.

In response to all this, filmmakers are starting to come to terms with the idea of releasing their work on the Web. It's a notion musicians grappled with years ago. Offering art online rarely earns a creator much up front, but it boosts the odds of broad exposure. With no need for old-fashioned film prints, going on the Web is cheap and quick. And directors can get instant feedback from online viewers.

Jurgensen profiles several films in the piece, including Wayne Wang's The Princess of Nebraska; David Modigliani's documentary Crawford, which we wrote about in an earlier post here; and Pete Schuermann's Haze, a documentary about Gordie Bailey, who died of alcohol poisoning during a fraternity ritual in 2004.

The filmmakers had to make some tough choices, as no one has gotten rich (yet) from putting their film online. The ability to reach a wider audience, educate, gain exposure and drive DVD sales were all considered reasons worthy of foregoing the potentially much larger financial reward that theatrical distribution can bring.

In addition to the economics of filmmaking, it'll be interesting to see how online distribution affects the craft as well. If you know that your film is never going to be seen on a 40 ft. high screen, might that change the way you shoot it?

If you've never watched a feature online, now's a great time to give it a try. Check out Haze, courtesy of SnagFilms.