By SHARA TIBKEN, Wall Street Journal
Google Inc.’s YouTube plans to launch an area on the video-sharing site for independent filmmakers to show their work and generate revenue for the films’ producers.
The site will feature four new short films every two weeks, with feature-length films shown on a case-by-case basis. Viewers will be able to provide comments and purchase films showcased on the site through a “Buy Now” button that allows filmmakers to link to sites that sell their work.
In the past, YouTube limited the length of clips uploaded to its site to 10 minutes to keep bandwidth costs down. The maximum file size for films will be one gigabyte, allowing for significantly longer clips.
The site will show short films from Norway, Sweden, Canada, the U.K. and U.S. in its first month and will expand the countries featured in coming months. The films will include both those that have been shown before and others that have never been screened in front of a wide audience.
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