Local movie producer Colleen Nystedt believes the old trailer-and-poster method of marketing films is on the way out. TV viewership is down (bad news for studios, because it's a staple of film campaigns) and Internet use is way up. But how can films effectively advertise on the Net?

The judges agree: Nystedt's solution, MovieSet, won the best new-media award at the McLuhan International Festival of the Future, on February 9. The technology, in development since 2004, puts live streaming of movie sets on-line, so fans can watch their films being made in real time.

"People pull over to the side of the road to look at our trucks," Nystedt told the Straight in an interview from her Kitsilano Point home before leaving for the Toronto conference. "There's no question in my mind that people are fascinated with movies."

Peter Jackson pioneered a similar scheme while filming King Kong; one difference, though, is the streaming was delayed by one day. He sold the collected streams and Web logs on DVD for $39.99 after the movie was released.

On MovieSet, fans have access not only to the streaming but to shooting schedules and scripts. They can buy merchandise related to the films, download ring tones and wallpaper for cellphones, and access many other features. Filmmakers can also use the site as a rallying point for staff to confirm shooting schedules and changes.

"All the people who understand convergent media are really hip to this," said Nystedt, noting that indie productions are swifter on the technological uptake than the big studios. "Internet audiences are all about behind-the-scenes. This harnesses the dynamic, nonlinear space of the Web and folds it into movies. This way, you're not dependant on eyeballs glued to a TV set at 5 when the commercial comes on."

MovieSet is still in its beta-test stage, and will hit the market in 2007.