Apparently, Robert Redford wants 2007 to be the year of the shorts. No, he isn't referring to the ridiculously warm weather we've been having this winter. He means it is time for short films to get the kind of recognition feature films receive, and he's hoping this year to see it happen. Redford's Sundance Institute has always been a big supporter of shorts, and it showcases a number of them at the Sundance Film Festival, but unfortunately they tend to get overshadowed by the buzz of the better-publicized features. This year may be different, though, as many of the festival's shorts program will be distributed to iTunes, each for sale at the price of $1.99.

This won't be the first time that outsiders will have the chance to see Sundance shorts. For years the festival has streamed a selection of them for free on its website. But the Institute is hoping to reach a wider audience through iTunes, and it sees the deal as predominantly beneficial for the shorts' filmmakers. However, not all of the shorts' filmmakers will get the opportunity. The download service can only offer about half of the 71 films in the program, mostly due to rights issues.

This should be good news for fans of our "Eat My Shorts!" column, which will spotlight Erik's recommended Sundance shorts once the festival gets underway.

Redford's other big plan for his shorts boost is the Institute's commission of short films for cell phones, which was announced last fall. At the time of that announcement, Redford told reporters how he missed the days when shorts were regularly shown in cinemas. "Why couldn't we bring that back?" he asked.

Shorts probably won't make their way back to theatres anytime soon -- except for those ads masked as award-winning shorts. So, iTunes is a good alternative, as are cell phones and computers and other devices. But with shorts available for free on YouTube and elsewhere, people may not be immediately interested in paying for them. Either way, technology has benefited the short film format immensely, and thereby has benefited short film fans significantly.