I'm not sure when it happened, but somehow with all the hoopla over MP3s and original music on the net I missed the fact that the same explosion of creativity is taking place with movies and video. I'm not talking about just Flash cartoons or Shockwave animations, or even cartoon animations for that matter, but rather full blown motion picture and short film productions. At present most seem to be short films (anywhere between 5 to 25 minutes in length) and sometimes movies in serial form. Some of these are professional productions and others are good honest efforts at film/video making. Some are pay per view but the vast majority are free for the viewing.

The IFILM site is an amazing place. A quick look will confirm this. There must be over 1000 films to be viewed at ifilm.com, moreover they accept and present films (no porn or home videos) from individual and international film makers. They prefer either Beta SP or DV tape.They also accept S-VHS, VHS or a digital file formats.
Unbelievable as it may sound once IFILM has your work they pay for all encoding, serving and hosting of the film or video work on their website. IFILM makes it"s money through advertising revenue. In addition they state, that they are developing products and services for "film makers, film professionals and film connoisseurs'.

How does IFILM choose what they will present? Here is the answer, straight from their website:
"IFILM's unique content selection process mirrors the democratic nature of the Web. While IFILM's programming team highlights particular works, the audience also chooses, bumping their choices into our Most Watched and Most Popular lists".

In order to view the films available on IFILM or anywhere else on the net for that matter you will need a free media player. Most of the offerings require RealPlayer G2 or version 7 (Basic or Plus versions). Some films run with Windows Media Player or Apple's QuickTime Player. If you don't already have a RealPlayer installed, there are unavoidable links all over the movie pages, taking you to the required destination for your free download.

So, the bottom line is this: If you are a frustrated film maker with a taste of talent and a bare minimum of equipment, looking to be seen there are no more excuses. A quick trip to IFILM will convince you of this. If you just love cinema you can spend hours there.