AOL will launch its first annual short-film festival showcasing 1-15-minute shorts from amateurs and professionals on Moviefone.com, its cinema information and ticketing site, AdWeek writes. The festival is part of AOL's effort to both open its content to non-subscribers and emphasize broadband video. Next month, AOL will officially launch its new AOL.com portal, which will revolve around online video, an area of growing interest for web users and advertisers.

Ford's Mercury division will be the sponsor for all of the short films for at least the next 12 months, reports ClickZ. Placements will include branding for the Milan sedan on AOL's media player, a :15 pre-roll video ad and other executions on the AOL Network.