As an independent filmamker I am very excited by the possibility of having international distribution of my films through a pay for view download service- all of which will depend on a take-up of high bandwidth services.

In preparation for this I am testing services with a trailer and teaser videos on Google - http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1016125377956014689&q=god%27s+companion&pl=true, and also on http://goyo.Blip.tv.

Having international retail supply is something that independent film makers have never had in the past, getting a video on to the shelf of any retail chain was just a dream, because their limited shelf space was used for well known titles, not unknowns.

Of course, downloads will eventually be dominated by major name brands once the major studios adopt it, but even then the fact of having international retail ability is transformational for indies.

For the first time, getting a little local publicity could lead to local sales because the video is available for download. In the past getting publicity for an indie production was virtually worthless because the readers or viewers of the interview would not be able to buy the film even if they were excited to do so.

In the short term there is even the possibility of beating the majors while they worry about their rights and their pricing policy and their angry existing distributors, but eventually the majors will dominate again, but never as completely as they have dominated.

It is an exciting time, and we wait impatiently for Google to go live with a well designed service.