Focus Forward expands to platforms including Amazon, Comcast, iTunes, Vudu

GE and Cinelan’s Focus Forward short film initiative will now be released July 9 across multiple platforms including Amazon Instant Video, Sony PlayStation, iTunes, CinemaNow and Vudu and through cable operators Comcast, Time Warner, Cox, Charter, Verizon and Rogers. The distributors were arranged in partnership with Cinetic Rights Management.

This includes its first 10 three-minute short films under the banner Short Films, Big Ideas.

The news was announced at the Los Angeles Film Festival, which hosts the world premiere of four new shorts — Eddie Schmidt’s Good Bread, Liz Garbus’ [pictured] Robot, Jeff Reichert & Farihah Zaman’s Remote Area Medical, and Supriyo Sen’s New Gift. Those will premiere online on Monday at Focus Forward’s site on Vimeo.

“As our program progresses, we’re finally seeing the full blossoming of what’s possible for short films in the digital era,” said CINELAN co-founder Karol-Martesko-Fenster. “Getting films seen has always been the toughest obstacle for short-form storytellers, so we’re proud that the ambitious distribution strategy we’ve developed at CINELAN for FOCUS FORWARD has been met with such enthusiasm by our partners and participants.”

Douglas Dicconson, CINELAN’s Managing Director, added, “It was always our goal to put these films in front of as many people as possible—these stories are meant to inspire and engage the world in conversation. Now on-demand viewers and broadband consumers alike can experience FOCUS FORWARD films for free on virtually any platform available.”

The series of 30 shorts focus on innovative people being catalysts for world change.