Sundance Online

Cnet: Sundance online poses quandary for filmmakers. "For example, the family of the deceased Scott Gerow, who made a short film chronicling his own battle with brain cancer, decided not to put his film online in case they want to submit it to the Academy of Motion Arts and Sciences. (Those in the business here said the Academy doesn't accept movies that have been published online.)

On the other hand, Tom Putnam, who last year put his film, "Broadcast 23," on Sundance Online, said he went against the advice of most people who suggested waiting until the film had gone through the festival run. Based in part on the enthusiasm of festival staff, he decided it was worth possibly excluding other festivals to be a part of Sundance. "It allows us to open up the film to a much wider audience than the folks who are lucky enough to be able to travel to Park City and buy a ticket to see it," Putnam said." I think in near future, online content providers, like Google/Amazon/Yahoo, will host online film/video competition to drive the traffic and raise brand-awareness. I know I would. Nothing will beat physical interaction, but I will settle for virtual interactions if I can't make it.