Seattle - Online retailer Amazon.com announced on Monday that it has partnered with Microsoft on a project that will offer independent films for sale on-demand on next-generation HD DVD discs.

The 1,000 HD DVD Indies Project will be powered by Amazon's CustomFlix on-demand DVD service, and offer free authoring and set-up services for up to 1,000 filmmakers.

Additionally, Sundance Channel will be reviewing the high-definition features for potential broadcast on the network.

In other Amazon movie-related news, the company plans to make "Prom Queen," the Web-based series from former Disney head Michael Eisner's Vuguru venture, available as a full-length feature downloadable from its Unbox service, Variety reported.

The series of 90-second episodes have been repurposed into a feature that runs about 130 minutes, and will be available exclusively on Unbox for the next month.

Related Links:
http://www.webwire.com/ViewPressRel.asp?aId=41271

http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117967845.html

http://www.customflix.com/hddvdindies

http://www.amazon.com/b?ie=UTF8&node=16261631 (Unbox)