For content creators Google's Video Marketplace (see story) may prove a welcome source of revenue. However, the downside is that some people will commercialise what may already be legitimately available for download for free.
Some films are already in the public domain or are free to watch under less restrictive licencing than on pay video sites.
We're only a few days into the year, but already video over the web is looking like it will be a red hot area this year. If last year saw increasingly numbers of users swapping movies over the web, this will be the year that the movie and television industry will really start pushing video downloads on the web.
The acronyms are different, but where High Definition video is concerned the field is set for a rerun of the Betamax vs.VHS battle of thirty years ago. Unable to agree on a single HD format to succeed DVD, the home electronics industry has said it is now up to consumers to choose between the two incompatible formats.
An oft quoted factoid that you hear in Edinburgh is that the city has more pubs per capita than anywhere else in Scotland. There's no shortage of places to drink, with bars at every turn. So you can understand why a recent proposal by arthouse cinema chain City Screen to convert Edinburgh's oldest cinema into a large bar and restaurant met with such widespread protest and disbelief.
Steamy Brazilian film Lower City went down a storm in the Un Certain Regard section at this year's Cannes. An assured and memorable directorial debut from South American Sergio Machado, it depicts a love-triangle set in the urban low-life surroundings of Brazil's Northern Salvador del Bahia.
Lower City has already made a deep impression on critics, but what's Machado's take on his own film?
Self-distribution is often seen as the last resort of a producer who can't get a distribution deal. Producers say they would rather be making films than organising day-to-day screenings with theatre bookers, the auditing and collecting of box office receipts, organising advertising and marketing on a limited budget, not to mention the difficulty in coming up with a successful strategy when you have little experience in the distribution field. Sure, filmmakers are more than happy to turn up for a Q&A at a screening, but self-distribution is sheer, hard work.
Distribution consultant Peter Broderick says filmmakers should consider new strategies for distributing their films to avoid future disappointment.This is the last in a series of articles that came out of the Vancouver International Film Festival Trade Forum that ended last month. Peter Broderick President of Paradigm Consulting was speaking at the closing day of the festival - the New Filmmaker's Day - about alternative distribution channels and we spoke subsequently by phone.
In the right hands, there are few video and photo editing tasks that Adobe Premiere and Adobe Photoshop can't handle. Still, one of the frequent complaints that you hear from inexperienced users is that there is just too much to take on board in these heavyweight packages.
If the steep learning curve isn't enough to deter even the dedicated hobbyist, there's also the not inconsiderable price tag.
The Times BFI London Film Festival ended on a memorably high note with actor/director George Clooney, appearing in support of the closing film Good Night and Good Luck with his girlfriend Lisa Snowdon.
Clooney's film about the real life tussle in the 50's between CBS broadcast journalist Ed Morrow and communist witchhunt campaigning senator Joseph McCarthy, nearly didn't get made with Clooney damaging his back during the filming as a result of his actions on another project Syriana
You may have noticed how much Wal-Mart has been appearing in your news feeds recently. The world's largest retailer - it owns the UK's second biggest supermarket chain Asda - has announced a number of initiatives to reduce greenhouse gases and environmental pollution, to introduce new health insurance for its employees, and a surprising decision to lobby for a higher minimum wage in the States. What's up with Wal-Mart?