Long known as a site for music fans as well as its heavy Internet traffic and social networking, MySpace hopes to draw filmmakers as it has bands to its domain.
The MySpace Film site bears a lot of the touches of MySpace. Instead of featuring bands, songs, and videos up front, MySpace Film presents featured filmmakers and videos on its main page.
Blending the appeal of music and film to MySpace’s younger audience should help the service maintain its high traffic volume. News Corp has been seeking advertisers to be part of the MySpace phenomenon while searching for ways to keep its coolness factor intact and hang on to its audience while drawing new users.
MySpace wants to tap the hottest draws for visitors. Currently the featured filmmaker is Drew Thomas. His two-hour film “Coachella,” covering performances at the Coachella Valley Music & Arts Festival, occupies the prime space high on the right side of the MySpace Film page.
Search tools within the site let users search for filmmakers by their names or films. MySpace also runs lists of the top filmmakers, and can find upcoming screenings by location. They also provide a message forum and a Craigslist-style classifieds section for film-related jobs.
MySpace may be able to do for aspiring filmmakers what it has done for bands. By providing a community site with a recognized brand and features to help them find an audience for their work, maybe Sundance will start screening MySpace for films like music label A&R people do for new acts.
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David Utter is a staff writer for Murdok covering technology and business.
