Demand

The films will be available on the Sundance website for three months only.

Filmmakers will get the bulk of the download price, with Apple, the Sundance Institute and cable television's Sundance Channel sharing the remainder.

So far, at least 33 of the 71 film shorts to be shown at the festival are slated to be distributed through the Sundance site and iTunes.

They will be made available for download from 22 January.

Mr Cooper said a few more will be shown on the website only, and added that he expected demand to be reasonably robust.

But he said there were no plans to make full-length festival films available online.

"What Sundance is really known for is as a platform for people to sell their films, and that's mainly the feature film," he said.

"We didn't want to really interfere with that yet."

Hollywood star Robert Redford, who founded the Sundance Film Festival, said short films were an important aspect of the annual festival.

"I have felt, from the earliest days, that if people really care about independent film, they should pay particular attention to short filmmakers, who are the best indicators of what is coming down the creative pike," he said.

The Sundance Film Festival is held each January in Park City, Utah.