SnagFilms puts documentaries in millions of virtual screening rooms

Entrepreneurs Ted Leonsis and Steve Case, formerly of AOL, and other investors, launched the Web company SnagFilms.com earlier this year to distribute documentaries for free.

The site says it is committed to finding the world‘s most compelling documentaries, whether from established heavyweights or first-time filmmakers, and making them available, free, to a wide audience. Combining high-quality video streams with an easy to manage format means documentaries that in the past might be seen by a few dozen people now have access to millions of virtual screening rooms.

These aren't amateur YouTube clips, but hundreds of full-length  documentaries from small independent filmmakers and sources such as PBS and National Geographic.

The films can be watched on the site for free, or you can “snag” a film on a cause you care about and put it anywhere on the web.

Users can go to www.snagfilms.com  look for a documentary by topic, alphabetical list or by channels, pick up the free widget, and put it on their blog, social network page, Facebook or MySpace profile, thus supporting a good cause and the filmmakers.

SnagFilms intends to generate revenue through advertising, which will be split  between Leonsis's company and the filmmakers. The snagger gets no revenue from posting the films, but is donating space to support the cause, a decision SnagFilms calls "filmanthropy."  The filmmaker also can make money from DVD sales, paying SnagFilms a commission.

SnagFilms is also reaching out to filmmakers, producers, or distributors with documentaries in need of distribution, asking them to email them at submissions@snagfilms.com.