YouTube Screening Room Brings Professional Video to the Masses

I am more interested in the fact that these are presented using a new player that provides more than twice the usual YouTube resolution (see the interview in Beet TV where the film makers talk about how better quality was a deal clincher.)

If the first four are any indication, the new Screening Room flicks are going to be good enough to compete with anything you might want to play on the big screen in your living room. The first four are award-winning shorts that got lots of attention when they played a year ago in the film festival circuit. Many are created by directors you have heard of, and star actors whose names you will recognize. YouTube has set up an editorial team to select films for the channel.  Google is also hoping to find a few gems that have not previously been released. If you think you have one, feel free to drop a note about it to ytscreeningroom@youtube.com. No kittens on skateboards or air guitar videos need apply.

Like the rest of YouTube, The Screening Room is being set up to collect and display user comments. “The Screening Room is going to facilitate an explosion of dialog between film makers talking to an audience who appreciates unique intelligent work." Said Brent Hoff of Wholphin in a YouTube promotional video. "Film makers who have only had their films shown in festivals will suddenly be able to see 40,000 emoticon riddled comments about what people think about their film.”

What the screening Room won't provide is the usual YouTube support for sharable embed code.  Streaming of these videos is meant to take place only in the screening room.  Google is not saying a great deal about how much film makers are making by putting their work on Screening Room. My guess is that most people who are participating are hoping that YouTube’s huge audience is gong to drum up new business for their work.  Each film is accompanied by a full description and a link to a site where you can get more details about the production team and/or purchase a copy of your own.

Will the YouTube Screening Room open up new audiences for underpaid short film artists? It already has a lot of competition (Auteurs Cinema,  Cinepix, Daily Motion, Exposure Room, Hulu’s Sundance Channel,  iTunes, Lycos Cinema, Zipityzap), but you have to admit YouTube has them all beat in the number of eyes it can deliver. Cinepix,

My favorite prediction about the potential of the YT Screening Room comes from Chris Albrecht of NewTeeVee Chris used to work for AtomFilms, a company that spent years plowing the fields trying to grow an audience for on-line delivery of worthy short films. Chris says the approach never worked for AtomFilms, and he can’t see why it would work  for YouTube.  I love his conclusion.  "Yes, YouTube has a much more massive scale than Atom could have ever dreamed of, but that doesn't change the fundamental situation. People are always going to prefer farts being lit on fire over short artsy films."