Amazon helps bring indie films to HD-DVD

SEATTLE Amazon.com and Microsoft have partnered to create the 1,000 HD-DVD Indies Project, designed to lower the barriers to entry for filmmakers to produce and distribute movies in the HD-DVD format through the innovative manufacturing-on-demand technology of CustomFlix, a part of an Amazon group of companies. Jointly sponsored by Amazon and Microsoft, the project will provide free authoring and setup services for up to 1,000 selected indie titles.

The project will be spearheaded by CustomFlix, which will bring as many as 1,000 feature-length independent films to Amazon customers using the CustomFlix DVD on demand technology, which produces and ships DVDs only as they are ordered. According to the companies, this model greatly improves the cost structure for independent filmmakers by eliminating the need for costly inventory.