There are all kinds of schemes and innovations emerging in financing and marketing, and it’s no surprise that veteran producer Christine Vachon and her production company Killer Films are at the forefront. Vachon has teamed up with online film production network Massify and the uberhip NYC Ace Hotel (the Seattle and Portland locations are favourites of mine) to produce a series of short films- with sponsorship money from the hotel and the website but basic creative freedom (the films are set in a hotel, but that is hardly a constraint).

At tonight’s IFP fete for Bob Berney and his new distribution company Apparition (whose first release BRIGHT STAR had a genius love letter/tweeting contest), I spoke with consultant Jennifer Warren, who specializes in obtaining sponsorships for films. A promotional investment in your film seems to be more viable than ever before with the increasing sophistication of online social networks. It’s worth considering possible partners and seeking out mutually beneficial relationships through your own contacts or via a specialist.

Comcast is negotiating with NBC to assume 51% ownership of the TV giant, with holdings including the broadcast channel NBC, USA Network, E!, and a number of other cable and local stations. They would also be the owner of Universal, the movie studio, and its subsidiaries.

Stockholders didn’t seem too pleased with the plan , as shares dropped on the news of the talks. That would probably have something to do with the unsuccessful Time Warner merger and the fact that NBC has been slipping in the ratings and ad revenue game as of late.

However, Comcast’s acquisition of a major content deliverer is right in line with the idea that that the cable companies may be the only eventual strongholds of copyright management. If Comcast owns the copyright of content and they also can control how much bandwidth you can access- and potentially manage that bandwidth through their own proprietary content access points, there’s more chance content can be monetized significantly online, at least until there is broadband access that is significantly competitive to cable/FIOS.

How you feel about this will depend somewhat on your ratio of desire to make money with content (especially existing content) vs. your desire to access things online for free.

Missed this in time for the submission deadline, but interesting to note that Sundance has added a new section for no-lo budget films it’s calling NEXT (represented by the symbol < = >). How these play at the festival will be a great experiment- will they be assessed on the same merits as other films or given a handicap? Given that the ultra-low budget level seems likely to emerge as viable (or even dominant?) in a troubled time for the industry, and given that these films don’t need distribution of the traditional sense to break even, there may be a new paradigm beginning to emerge right in the epicintre of indie buying buzz.