It is getting harder each day for filmmakers to connect with their audiences. Outside of popular festivals, audiences rarely get to connect with the artists. And though Online distribution promised to end that, it seems like more of the same boundaries exist. Besides the "hey, I like your stuff!" comments on Myspace, there is very little dialogue happening between filmmakers and the audience. A relatively new site, Spout.com, was created with addressing this very problem. Cultivate a place that makes it very easy for people to talk about film, then use that harvested community to connect with filmmakers.

In my chat with one of Spout's creative minds, Paul Moore, we covered topics such as the site's inspiration, its objective, its similarities with Myspace and more.

So tell us a little about Spout, its intentions, its inspiration?

Spout is a community for people who love film. It started out as four of us as filmmakers going to festivals, seeing really great films that were dying on the festival circuit and realizing that our own films later didn't have much of a chance of getting an audience.

So, we started thinking about the internet and social networking and alternative avenues of advertising and grassroots distribution. Because so much attention seemed to (and still is) focused on delivery of content via a host of different standards and platforms. We saw the limiting factor for independent filmmakers and film as marketing and how filmmakers are finding an audience. We saw social networks and social recommendations as a way to level the playing field.

In an ideal scenario, what do you wish would happen here, on a social level?

We're looking to develop a deep community online where people are finding films that connect to their refined interests...where people are recommending films to each other, spreading word of mouth and where people are having offline experiences around watching film together that are just as enriching as the online experience of Spout.

I did a search on your site and the results were extensive. What database is Spout using?

We're working with AMG. We're offering over two hundred thousand titles to discuss. On any given day there's between 35-45 thousand available to buy right now. We want the database to be robust because film lovers don't necessarily care if the movie is available in DVD if they want to talk about it.

Is there a way of to search for filmmakers?

You can search a director's name and search for their films. But there is no director's page yet.

Adding tags, making lists are very easy on the site. I also love the recommended tag feature.

Thanks. We're constantly making the site more intuitive. It should be getting a lot better in the coming months.

Each user has a blog, how much configuration options does one have? Can you add pictures?

Not many right now. We're still deciding what we want to add. What would you like to see?

Well. I think pictures definitely, to describe certain scenes.

Oh yeah.

What features should we expect to see in the near future?

Better features around building your own strong identity so other users can see it and making some of those features portable to other sites. sites and platforms.

"Portable to other sites"?

Here's an example: we're thinking about having your own tag cloud show up in your own blogspot or typepad (etc.) blog among other ideas we're working on.

It is similar to Myspace. How is Spout different from Myspace and its new film initiative?

As for MySpace, they're really broad with a lot of loose connections. Spout is focused on film and niche audiences. We're looking to build meaningful interaction around film. MySpace is broad and shallow and we're looking to go narrow and deep.

You also seem to be much more elegant with design...

Thanks. We try.

So it isn't like Myspace where artists can potentially gain an audience. Is this just a site for appreciating movies?

No, there's a bigger picture. We want to start by creating a solid audience and tool set. Once the audience is here, we want to bring in filmmakers. If the audience is here, then the filmmakers will follow. We see a continuum of filmmakers, film lovers and casual film consumers. They all have a symbiotic relationship, always mixing around.

We think that the film lovers' interaction with the site will create a better experience for the average film consumer. Unlike netflix or amazon who use the idea of "If you like the Godfather, you'll like Goodfellas," we're going with the approach, "If you like the Godfather, you'll like Bill." It's about building relationships around film, not just finding a film. So whenever you're finding a film, you're finding a person. And whenever you're finding a person, you're finding films. It's messy and fun and has personality.

I notice that much of the discussion is around popular, mainstream films. Will the discussion also cover various online films like podcasts and shorts?

It's about mixing up popular films with more obscure films. We're always going to be looking to expand the amount of film that can be discussed.

So for right now, it is basically the films that have had a theatrical release?

Mostly, but also if films show up at a major festival they'll show up in our database. This is how we're beginning, but a future with filmmakers will include filmmakers putting content in the site before it enters a festival.

Wonderful. I am always thinking as a filmmaker.

As a filmmaker, doesn't it frustrate you that all the hype is around distribution, while leaving out the component of marketing?

Oh yea. That is why I was hoping you'd say "we are building an audience for you filmmakers. now come in and have it." But that is down the road.

Yes...one thing at a time

What would you like the DVgurus of the world to know? What is our role at Spout?

Be thinking about the audience you're creating your film for, so that you know who you're looking for when you come to Spout. Come play on Spout because we know you guys are also film lovers, too. Give us your feedback because we're building the site for you.

Thanks to Paul Moore for spending his time chatting with me. Hope to see many of you at Spout, whether it be to build connections or have a good conversation, it will be fun to hear from you guys for a change!