Editor’s note: this article was initially based on an interview and promotion sent by Cinema Purgatorio. Please read the comment below: it looks like I had this all wrong. The idea of putting up a segment of a film for free is still available and untried- let me know if you give it a shot!

All filmmakers face the challenge of finding innovative ways to sell digital downloads. Cinema Purgatorio, aka Ray Privett, has come up with a novel way to sell Science Fiction film ZENITH online as it is reaching the end of its theatrical/semi-theatrical run.

CP is putting the first third of the film up for free through Vodo and Bittorrent. The basic idea here is familiar- the “drug dealer model” in which the unwitting viewer will become so enraptured by the free taste of the film that she will be forced to go looking in dark alleys (or on iTunes) for satisfaction. It’s a great idea because it gives viewers a chance to see if the film is worth their $11.99 and offers a sense of “getting something for free” which may attract more casual viewers.

In this case, the release is a part of a crowdfunding effort to complete the series of films. The film has been downloaded 455545 times through Vodo and has gotten $4808 in donations. I’m not sure how pleasing that math seems- does a penny a view cover the bandwidth? (Sorry, I forgot, it’s P2P!)

I’m often asked, ‘how can filmmakers get people to buy their film when it’s available to download for free?’ I think helping people to see the value of the work and to feel invested, even in some small way, is a good way to start.

Today, thanks to BuisnessofVideo.com I attended the eMERGING MEDIA FORUM, a day-long conference presented by BMO Capital Markets and featuring talks from CEOs of such internet media and tech companies as BitGravity, BitTorrent, TiVo, GridNetworks, and MLB.com. Though I anticipated Doug Walker from BitTorrent would be the most interesting to indie filmmakers, as it turned out, it was Tom Rogers from TiVo who really stole the show (and not just because he began his talk with a five minute Simpsons clip).

Most of the presenters had the same basic message- give the consumers what they want, and what we think they want is media on demand, across any platform, in high quality, quickly, easily, and then somehow make money off it. TiVo seems to have one of the better plans to achieve this end- they are partnered with a cable company, Comcast, so they can get to the existing consumer base. They are putting R&D into the concept of being “the Google of TV”- i.e. through their infrastructure, you would be able to look both at television programs that are available and find available video on the web- they are already partnering with a bunch of online video sites including YouTube.

TiVo also is working on another key customer desire- universality. One set-top box, one remote- no “partial solutions”. Rogers argues that the television is still second only to the car as a major household purchase for Americans, and with new HD models getting bigger, flatter, and cheaper this will only continue.

Naturally the most fascinating thing about TiVo is that much of its appeal to consumers is its ability to enable “commercial avoidance.” Television was basically invented to frame commercials- it’s a little strange to think people can continue to be entertained in quite same effective way without them. TiVo offers companies “solutions” based on the metrics they have discovered by studying people using their product to fast forward ads.

For indie filmmakers, the issue of advertising is not quite the same, but the mechanism for getting films to viewers matters- and TiVo is not a bad bet.

Also: thanks to Steve Freitas at BMO for the hook-up.