Nina Paley created some buzz earlier this year when she decided to give her award-winning animated film, Sita Sings the Blues, to the public, releasing it under a Creative Commons license. This was another test of the concept that artists can make money by giving their work away. Today, The Wall Street Journal gives an accounting of how this theory played out in practice. Here’s how things break down:

• Total donations from people who appreciate her giving out free content: $23,000
• Profits from her online store which sells merchandise and DVDs: $19,000
• Theatrical distribution revenues: $3,000 (out of total box office tally of $22,350)
• Additional DVD distribution: $3,000
• Broadcast television distribution: $3,000
• Revenue from Central Cinema in Seattle which showed the film: $4,000
• The grand total: $55,000

As the WSJ notes, these numbers don’t reflect the money she spent making the film . (Paley puts the number at $150,000 in hard costs.) They also don’t account for the indirect revenue that she will generate down the line. But putting Sita Sings the Blues in front of so many people, the world now knows a lot more about Nina Paley and her talents. I have to believe that she can trade on that (if she wants to) whenever she agrees to direct a film, or accepts a speaking engagement. The WSJ equation doesn’t take this piece into account (it’s admittedly hard to measure), but it’s probably the most important part of the overall analysis.

You can download Sita Sings the Blues here, watch it on YouTube here, or find it in our collection of Free Movies Online.

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How I Sold My Book by Giving It Away: You should all see this separate post by Seth Harwood. It focuses on similar issues, but translated to the book world.

During his Hollywood golden years, Alfred Hitchcock released The Man Who Knew Too Much (1956) with Jimmy Stewart and Doris Day. This was actually his second time around the block with the film. Before Hitchcock came to America, he directed another version of the movie with Peter Lorre, and you can catch this 1934 British version above. For more Hitchcock films, please see our collection of 20 Free Hitchcock Movies Online.

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Alfred Hitchcock’s Seven-Minute Editing Master Class

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Alfred Hitchcock’s Rules for Watching Psycho (1960

A quick note for US readers: Right now, you can find three films by Luis Buñuel, the great Spanish (later turned Mexican) director. The films, presented by theauteurs.com, include Death in the Garden (1956) and two cinematic works from his earlier surreal period: Un chien andalou (1929) and L’âge d’or (1930). These films are (somewhat ironically) available only to a US audience. But if you live outside the US, you can find many more free films in our Free Movie Collection. As a quick side note, this collection was the jumping-off point for a short interview that I did with Jon Gordon, the host of the public radio show, Future Tense. You can listen to it below, or catch it here. Have a good Thanksgiving.