EM Media, the UK's East Midlands regional screen agency behind Anton Corbijn's Directors Fortnight hit Control, has joined forces with Warp Films and Film4 to create a new website that will offer downloads of Shane Meadows' large back catalogue of shorts.

Meadows, who most recently made the award-winning This Is England (also with EM Media), will offer about 100 short films through his website. In the early stages of his career, Meadows made about one short film per month. The site will include shorts such as Where's The Money Ronnie' and Smalltime. Shorts that had been shot on video will be digitized.

Warp Films, which has worked with Meadows on other projects including Dead Man's Shoes, has experimented in the past with alternative distribution. EM Media started backing Meadows with his third feature, Once Upon A Time In The Midlands.

'It's nice to give that power back to directors,' Suzanne Alizart, EM Media's head of partnerships told Screen. 'Shane's approach to technology is getting more people to see his work.'

'A lot of other (funding) organisations don't have that freedom we do to experiment with creative talent like Shane and Anton,' she continued. 'We want work that does break the mould.'

EM Media has a further $6m (pounds 3m) to invest in 2008. EM Media put $500,000 (pounds 250,000) - through the European Regional Development Fund - into Corbin's Ian Curtis biopic Control. EM Media executives said they may invest in Corbijn's next film, if appropriate, which will be a non-music related project.

As for other EM Media-backed projects, Wellington Films producers Rachel Robey and Alastair Clarke are in Cannes with their feature Better Things, directed by Duane Hopkins and backed by EM Media and Film 4. Dreamachine is handling sales and Soda Pictures has already taken UK rights.

Producer Jane Hooks is also in Cannes with another EM Media, Screen Yorkshire and UK Film Council investment, Crack Willow from director Martin Radich, who is currently shooting in the UK.

Other recent EM Media-backed films include And When Did You Last See Your Father' (sold by Intandem), Magicians (sold by QED), Mum and Dad (with Film London's Microwave scheme). The agency is also part of new studio Warp X, which is working on films including Donkey Punch (sold by Lumina).

EM Media also has a locations service, which has assisted on films including The Golden Compass, The Other Boleyn Girl, and The Da Vinci Code.

Topics