November 1999

What is AtomFilms.com?
Atom is a next generation entertainment company that specializes in the best short films and animations from all over the world. It’s the coolest place for consumers to see up-and-coming and established artists.

Why do you consider yourselves distributors?

Twice a week, Marc Bacus comes home from his day-job as an administrator at Southern Illinois University and logs on for a two- to three-hour chat session with a splinter group of screenwriters who call themselves the Viewmasters [www.viewmasters.org]. "There was such fierce competition at Zoetrope's screenwriting site that a few of us decided to start our own group," he says.

What is www.foundationcenter.org?
The Foundation Center’s Web site [www.fdncenter.org, or www.foundationcenter.org—both will take you there] is “Your gateway to philanthropy on the World Wide Web.”

When and why did the Foundation Center come into being?

For all of CPB's lofty intentions, the ultimate shape of public television in the digital age will be fashioned by those who actually ply the trade - the artists and producers. Here is a short list of five CPB-funded projects that provides a peek at the kind of work that's headed our way.

"It's a home for people within the industry to view interesting work," explains Linda Walsh, describing Pitch TV, a new site which debuted this fall. Launched by the folks behind PITCH, the New York City-based animation and commercial company, Pitch TV is a way to showcase their work and that of media artists.

What is www.foundationcenter.org?
The Foundation Center’s Web site [www.fdncenter.org, or www.foundationcenter.org—both will take you there] is “Your gateway to philanthropy on the World Wide Web.”

When and why did the Foundation Center come into being?

"We are basically creating an environment where a user can build their own television show," explains On2.com's Joel Roodman. A former executive at Miramax who also headed Gotham Entertainment, Roodman states, "Everybody believes that broadband is the future; [our] sole focus is on the broadband consumer."

In 1976, Jean-Luc Godard began dreaming of a 35mm camera that would be small enough to fit into the glove compartment of a car. He wanted a camera, in other words, that he could cart along and use to shoot images spontaneously, as he came across them, rather than have bulky equipment determine the time and place. "You're in Holland," he said in an interview in Camera Obscura, "out in the country, and you see a windmill that is completely motionless. . . .

"Shorts are cool and we want to make them a viable part of the entertainment spectrum," says Mika Salmi, founder and CEO of AtomFilms.com To that end, AtomFilms is not only webcasting shorts, but acting as a sales agent and making deals with airlines, cable networks, and other websites for the few hundred short films and animations now in its fold. [see Distributor F.A.Q., p. 46]

Provided we all make it through Y2K safely, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting has another milestone in mind "2K3" denoting the final, April 2003 deadline for all of the nation's 1600 television stations to be broadcasting in digital.