Redford backs making films for mobiles

Actor Robert Redford is putting his considerable movie industry weight behind the making of short films for mobile phones. Redford’s Sundance Institute will commission a total of six independent filmmakers to make movies specifically for the smaller screens of mobiles and handhelds. Such a move brings added spotlight to an already burgeoning trend, of developing increasingly complex content for very small screens.

The films, which will be just 3 to 5 minutes long, will make their premiere at a GSM conference in Barcelona in February. Among the filmmakers tapped to produce one of the new films is Valerie Faris, whose debut feature film Little Miss Sunshine has become a mainstream hit.

A spokesman for GSM said that mobile phone customers would not pay extra charges for downloading the films.