Talking with Brian Chirls about Online Audience-Building

Last Wednesday, I had a chance to sit down for a few minutes with Brian Chirls, the tech guru who helped Arin Crumley and Susan Buice build an audience for 'Four Eyed Monsters.' More recently, he has been working with John Sayles on the online marketing for 'Honeydripper.'

Brian's a smart guy... we mostly talked about the importance of collecting information about your fans (and who's a super-fan versus someone who's just mildly interested in your movie). We also touched on the deal that 'Four Eyed Monsters' did with YouTube and Spout, where YouTube offered the full movie for free, and Spout served as a sponsor, paying the filmmakers a buck for every new member who joined after watching the movie on YouTube.

Wednesday linkage: iTunes movie rentals, more opera on digital screens, 'Honeydripper' Q&A

- An Apple analyst suggests that the company may start renting movies on iTunes in 2008, and perhaps even delivering them directly to an AppleTV.

- Following the lead of the Metropolitan Opera, the San Francisco Opera is going to start transmitting pre-recorded operas to about 200 digital cinemas, starting in March. The plan is to do six a year. (The Met, by contrast, does live broadcasts to cinemas.)

- Jane Green of the blog Film Publicity Help has a Q&A with Maggie Renzi and John Sayles, who talk about the marketing and distribution of their latest film, 'Honeydripper.'