By Madhuri Dey
Jan 24, (THAINDIAN NEWS) The video website, Youtube, had declared that it will be foraying into the business of movie rentals. It has declared that the service is only going to be on a trial basis. The rental service would be inaugurated with films chosen from among the independent movies that have been shown in the Sundance Film Festivals in the years 2009 and 2010. The online movie rental service have been open since Jan 22, 2010. However, the bad news is that those outside of the United States would not be able to avail of this service. Also, for the first few days, the collection will consist of only five films. The films will be available for the duration of one to two days.

The move has come as part of the many plans that have been in the pipeline for the Google owned company. The initiative has been taken mainly keeping in mind the expansion of the service, according to David Eun, the vice president for Google’s content partnerships. The move will also increase the revenue for the company. However, it has been made clear by the company that the move is only an experiment, nothing more than a testing of the waters.

According to Todd Barnes, the director of one of the films that are being shown in the 201o Sundance Film Festival, “Homewrecker,” the film rental service comes as a boon for the filmmakers too. Especially at a time when it is becoming increasingly difficult for them to secure distribution deals in the theaters. It is also expected that in the future, it will be possible to rent videos of television shows from the rental service.