Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL)'s iTunes just got a new video partner in News Corp (NYSE: NWS)'s Fox movie studio. The deal is the first of its kind, allowing iTunes subscribers to download Fox movies and watch them for a limited period.

According to The Wall Street Journal, "sales of video through Apple's iTunes Store have failed to grow at the same pace as the site's music downloads, analysts say." So, perhaps offering rentals will be a better model than selling content outright.

But the theory makes little sense. Short-term rentals are unlikely to trump sales. Movies sold on iTunes cost as little as $9.99, a visit to the Apple site shows. How much less can a rental be? And what is the incentive for having something that can only be used for a few days?

Nice partnership, but no reason it will increase video revenue at iTunes.

Douglas A. McIntyre is an editor at 247wallst.com.

Are you an entertaining person? Are you a visual story teller? Can you capture an audiences attention and make them respond to you? If you think you have what it takes to create interest, incite and entertain, then there are options open to you. Don't just tell me you're an artist. Grab your video camera and prove it on Metacafe.

Metacafe is not just another video sharing website. Metacafe has something for you. Cold hard cash awaits the future producer of indie films. As of this writing, the top earning video on Metacafe has pulled $26,683. Note that it has taken about two and a half years to do that. Still though, that's not a bad return on less than four minutes of video. Other vid-clips on the site have generated between $3,000 and $8,000 for their creators. While not an amount that you could live on, it's still real money which could help pay the bills.

I myself have several ideas that I'd like to try in pursuit of Internet-based revenue generation. I do call myself an artist and I have the ability to make people sit up and take notice. What I don't have is a high-speed Internet connection...

I guess my gay version of Gumby will have to wait a while longer... and his pony pal Pokie will too.

Warner has decided to launch a line of direct-to-DVD movies. No stopping at the theatre, no passing go. They're planning to launch some 10-15 of these low budget titles a year. That's more than one of these things a month!

There are already a great deal of straight-to-DVD groups. To stand out, Warner is looking to make prequels and sequels to movies that Warner has already made. This way, Warner reasons, a prebuilt audience will be waiting out there for these straight to DVD movies. One of the very first will be a sequel to The Dukes of Hazzard.

One of the thoughts behind this is that it will be easier to obtain profits without the considerable marketing expense of a theatre release. But really, the reason you put out straight to film releases is that you hope one of them is quirky enough, indy enough, or surprisingly good enough, that it takes off. Word of mouth will spread, and you'll make a mint off a cheaply made film. But will a cheap once-a-month DVD really do anything more than take up real estate on already cluttered shelves? These films, in throwing us a few bones, sadly seem as if are already set up for failure.

[photo credit CathyK]