YouTube Introduces Movie Rentals

SAN BRUNO: YouTube is entering the online rental model with five films from the Sundance Film Festival, which kicks off today in Utah with the popular video sharing site as a sponsor.

"Independent filmmakers have been critical contributors to our platform ever since we launched our site almost five years ago," the company said in a blog post. "In that time, we’ve increasingly come to understand some of the challenges facing these filmmakers: technology has made it easier and cheaper than ever to produce films; more films have led to more competition for audiences; more competition for audiences has led to more films needing massive marketing budgets to cut through the clutter. And these high costs have made it difficult for independent films to compete, leaving too many films going unseen.

While YouTube has offered an easy and economical way for filmmakers—as well as content creators of all kinds—to instantaneously connect with fans around the world, many of them have told us that the ad-supported business model doesn’t always meet their distribution and monetization needs."

Five films from the 2010 and 2009 will be available for rent for U.S. users starting this Friday and running through January 31. YouTube is also putting out the call for more independent filmmakers to join the rental program as part of its "Filmmakers Wanted" campaign at the festival.
"These are early days and in the coming weeks we’ll also invite a small group of partners across other industries, in addition to independent film, to participate in this new option," the blog post continued.