Now Playing: A Short Film Starring Branded Content

In "Charley," a nine-minute film by Dee Austin Robertson, a young couple visiting New York for a romantic weekend, Courtney and Ryan (played by Alexia Rasmussen and Brian McElhaney), are first seen through a glass door with an Ace Hotel sign painted on it. Ryan pulls along a suitcase with a strap that bobs behind him like a leash leading a dog, a scene that foreshadows the pet-related tension between the couple: Courtney proceeds to talk obsessively about her cat, Charley, ruining the weekend. The significance of the Ace Hotel sign, however, is not about plot but rather marketing. It is one of three short films set in the hotel that were produced in a three-way deal involving the hotel, Massify -- a social media Web site where filmmakers, actors, crew members and editors showcase their work and coordinate new projects -- and Killer Films, the independent film company whose credits include "Boys Don't Cry" and "I Shot Andy Warhol." Massify announced the contest on its Web site last October, and in five weeks it drew more than 500 script submissions. While Massify members were encouraged to vote for their favorites, it was Killer Films that selected the three to produce. Massify, which began in 2008 and has 65,000 registered members, most in Los Angeles and New York, spent $30,000 to finance all three films.