getting your short film on itunes

there aren't many ways to get your short film on itunes. in fact at the moment there basically seems to be just one. however, that may be changing.


until now getting your short picked up by shorts international, the biggest short film distributor in the world, was about the only way to get your film on itunes, as unlike with music, itunes only deals with major aggregators when adding short film content.

however recently scott kirsner over at cinema tech reported that a new independent short film had made a deal directly with apple. scott has been (rightly) critical of apple not being more accessible to indies for selling content (as opposed to free podcasting), and this seemed like a major step:

"The Tribe," a short film on the connection between Barbie dolls and Judaism, will start selling on iTunes next week, according to filmmaker Tiffany Shlain's Web site. (It played at Sundance in 2006.) That makes it one of the first indie films to show up on iTunes without going through an aggregator like Shorts International. It'll sell for $1.99. Shlain worked directly with Apple on the arrangement.

unfortunately it's not true. i tried contacting apple myself. this isn't easy to do as there's no contact information given on their site for short film hosting, so i did the next best thing and emailed the music contact. i received a short reply telling me to contact another person at apple, glen, which i did. he responded with this:

"Contact Linda at Shorts International"

when i replied and explained i'd already done that but i'd heard tiffany schlain went direct, i got at little more clarification.

"She went through another aggregator - very much a trial case only."

when i asked who the company she worked with was since i was looking at distribution options for my short film, i received the brush off:

"They currently only facilitate shorts we've arranged to add - mostly the Sundance shorts - so not really an option at this time. Shorts International is the right path."

i've since learned that the company is mediastile. however nothing about their relationship with apple or itunes is mentioned on their site. in fact the "partnership" tab simply says "stay tuned for some exciting news..."

back in january it was announced that most of the sundance shorts would be available on itunes. the most interesting part of this deal at least to filmmakers, is this:

"Filmmakers will get the bulk of the $1.99 download price, with Apple, the Sundance Institute and cable television's Sundance Channel sharing the remainder. Filmmakers also will be free to make deals with other distributors, including the Sundance Channel."

getting the "bulk of the $1.99 download price," whatever that is, ain't bad. but also of note is the non-exclusive aspect of the deal. i'd been under the impression that itunes required exclusive distribution rights. however even a post on the withoutabox boards by linda olszewski of shorts international is a little cryptic about this:

"If you want your film on iTunes, they will not approve it to be sold on their store if you are giving it away for free elsewhere..."

the criteria seems to be that you can't post your film where its available for free - like youtube or revver. however that theoretically would still allow you to make distribution deals with organizations that charge for their content, like jaman.

so for now at least, it seems the only serious route to itunes for the independent short filmmaker who hasn't played at sundance is through shorts international.