Nobi Nakanishi writes: The Smalls is an online short film showcase - our goal is to connect talented filmmakers with companies looking for content, partners and collaborators, or just a solid base of admirers. Over the past two years, we have gained popularity with everyone from broadcasters, creative agencies, freelancers, artists and anyone remotely interested in short films.

June 23rd, 2008- an anthropologist from Kansas presented a talk to the Library of Congress about the sociological effects of YouTube. It's worth a look. You may also be interested in his other widely popular video about Web 2.0.

(via Digg) Wired has an article posing the question "Can the Internet save Indie film?" While some don't think indie film NEEDS saving, others disagree strongly. What do you think?

In a recent interview, Moby talks about licensing some of his music free for non-commercial use in indie films:

MOBY: Well, when I went to university, I was a philosophy major, but because I'm not very bright I chose to study philosophy at a performing arts school, maybe because the philosophy program there wasn't too rigorous or challenging. And at school I made a lot of friends in the independent film world. They have always complained to me that the most difficult part of making a film is actually licensing the music because they have to deal with record companies and publishing companies who don't want to return their calls. It's also expensive and onerous and time-consuming.

So I started this Web site, mobygratis.com, which very simply gives away free music to indie filmmakers, nonprofit filmmakers and experimental filmmakers. Right now I've got about 70 pieces of music up, and any filmmaker can go there and download the music and use it in their film.

David Lynch. You Tube. And the iPhone.

Absolutely hilarious. And really makes a fantastic point.

So says Torrentfreak in this article. Another good argument for network neutrality?

Steve Colbert calls it, "As valid as most of my credits." Keifer Sutherland is in for $600.23. Kevin Bacon chipped in $10, meaning if you help this not-for-profit one-second film project, you will have a bacon number of 1. From you, all they want is a buck. The web site's video explains the concept, so check it out! Oh, and if anyone knows Oprah, let her know they're coming.

Just got an email about Moviola the training company , which is having a sweepstakes where they're giving away more than $20K worth of filmmaking-related prizes. Looked interesting, and they asked me to pass the info to the readers, so here goes...

Deadline for entry is June 18, 2007 at 11:59 am (PST) and winners will be chosen randomly from all eligible entries received by the close of the Sweepstakes. Winners will be notified on or about June 19, 2007. Winners must claim prizes in person at Moviola Digital Education Center in Hollywood, CA.

The sweepstakes is open to all California residents 18 or older. Enter here.

Wow, taking a look at the prizes...damn, I should enter this myself. Hmm..

...Are presented here. I think YouGooTube has really changed the playing field. But the best thing perhaps one can get from film schools are your fellow students. Be sure to check out LOAFS for specific reviews...

Here it is-- a list of the best free, open-source (in most cases) screenwriting software that you may not be familiar with...
Celtx --- free, open-source screenwriting/pre-production software. Somewhat comparable to Final Draft. Works on Mac/Windows/Linux. Online support via a forum where you can ask the developers and other users questions, or request features, submit bug reports, etc. I've been following this project for a while and it seems pretty good. To transfer scripts from Final Draft into Celtx, save as "Formatted Text" and then import into Celtx. Then check to make sure it did it right. Also allows you to markup script for production breakdown, etc. See site for video demo of how it works as well as a list of new features and bugs fixed in this new version.
Openoffice.Org and NeoOffice -- Free, open-source alternatives to Microsoft Office. Compatible with (ie, reads/writes) MS Office files as well as open document format/PDF/HTML/etc. Includes word processor, spreadsheet, presentation (Powerpoint-like) software, and more. Neooffice is for Mac OS X, openoffice.org is for Windows/Linux. Also can read Wordperfect files. I recommend 2.0 "alpha" version (very stable), with the new 2.0 beta to be free at the end of August. This upcoming beta has much more OS X-like interface.
Chicken of the VNC (mac) -- VNC is a free program you can use to "mirror" screens with a writing partner so that you can both observe the same application simultaneously. First thing to do is get both computers on the same network. This can be the Internet, a subnet (like you might have at home with an Airport, Linksys, etc. router), or via a direct-connection ("Create Network..." on Macs). Once the computers are both connected, the "host" computer (if it's a Mac running 10.4.x) goes to the Apple Menu, chooses "System Preferences", then "Sharing". Under "Services", check "Apple Remote Desktop". Then click "Access Privileges" and allow remote users to "Observe" and "Control". Make sure "VNC viewers may control screen with password" is checked and supply a password. Then save all the settings. Now the OTHER Mac can use Chicken of the VNC (that's the first link above) to connect to the host computer using the password. Once it does, the host's screen will be mirrored on the other computer. If you don't have a mac, or you have an older version of Mac OS X, you will need to run a VNC server manually. They are available for OS X (), Windows, and Linux. (If you use Windows or Linux, Google "VNC" for the server/client.) Finally, be sure to turn off the VNC server when you're done as a security precaution. Even though VNC is password protected, it's still a good idea to shut it off when not in use. The new version of OS X ("Leopard") will have a desktop sharing feature built into iChat.
Cinelerra -- A linux-based non-linear editor. Open source. I've never used it, but it's gained quite a following and has been around for a few years now so is probably fairly mature. Don't know if I'd edit something REALLY important with it, but might be something to fool around with if you are comfortable with linux.
Audacity -- very simple audio multitrack audio editor. It's free, and a new version is coming soon that can do a lot more than the one that's released now. But something to keep an eye on if you need very basic multitrack editing. Mac, Windows, & Linux.
Blender (and Blender Nation) - Blender used to be a commercial 3d modeling/animation package, but the Internet raised the $ online to buy the source code out from the company that owned it. At that point, development really took off, and many cutting-edge types of features have been added (the source code is free, so lots of programmers have been fooling with it) including fluid dynamics, inverse kinematics, hair, clothing, etc. Here is a short film where all the visuals were created with Blender. Bad story, impressive visuals, released under a creative commons license, and all source files for the animation are available. Blender works on Mac, Linux, & Windows.
Cinepaint (formerly FilmGimp) is an open-source paint program developed for and by film studios for retouching high-resolution image files. Used in quite a few movies you've heard of. A spinoff of the GIMP image processing software (www.gimp.org), Cinepaint is going to be releasing a brand new version called "Glasgow" on July 20th. Best when used in Linux.
And finally...
Ubuntu-- yes it's needed for some of the above -- the best Linux distribution for non-techies. Download a (free) CD image. Burn the CD. Then boot off the CD and you're in the Linux desktop, experiencing a fully-functioning preview of Ubuntu without even touching your hard drive. Play with it, see how it works on your computer, etc. Then, if you like it, you can do an installation from the same CD. PC (x86) and mac (PPC) versions available.
So there you have it. Got any more free tools you want to plug? Just comment below!