Movieola doesn't mind if you channel surf right past it - there will something different on by the time you flick back in the next ten minutes.

"It's the perfect channel for the flicker," Romen Podzyhun, Movieola's co-founder told globeandmail.com. "If you don't like it, you know it's going to change in seven to ten minutes."

Movieola is all about short films - really short. Ranging from 30 seconds to 40 minutes, the short films will come from all genres, be it music videos, animation or digital media. This includes Academy Award-nominated shorts and other festival winners rarely seen by the general public.

"Life is too short for bad movies," Mr. Podsyhun said, adding that shorts are "perfect for those with the short-attention span."

Setting up Movieola was a way for him a way to create a forum for "the most creative, passionate and overlooked sector of the film and TV industry - the short film." Mr. Podsyhun said he hopes the channel will help aspiring filmmakers. More people are interested in making films than you might think, he said.

"Kids don't want to be rock stars these days - they want to be film makers," Mr. Podsyhun said with a laugh.

Over the past 20 years, Mr. Podsyhun has made 18 short films. People are drawn to shorts because they are creative, innovative, non-Hollywood and non-formulaic, he said.

"There's some great story-telling here. We startled some investors who were interested in the channel. They were shocked, and then they got excited about [these films]."

In November, the channel will begin using its own hosts in The Video Store ("It's a little like the guys who worked in John Cusack's record store in High Fidelity and the guys who worked on the Indies movie Clerks," Mr. Podsyhun said) who will introduce films, and "get people more enthusiastic" about film making" by offering tips in shooting and editing.

The hosts - fictional characters rather than traditional on-air hosts or VJs - will also interview independent filmmakers and others in the industry that can offer the viewer tips on the basics of filmmaking to getting the perfect shot.

As well as the how-to shows, Movieola is setting up its Web site to offer downloadable editing software "so that viewers can create, edit and uplink their short film back to Movieola."

The Web site is a big part of Movieola's plans, he said. It will have information on shorts, the Indie film scene and links to festivals and filmmaker chat rooms.

"What MTV did for rock videos, we're going to do for the short filmmaker," he said.

The digital television channel will feature retrospective looks at the silent short films - such as Charlie Chaplin, Buster Keaton, W.C. Fields and Fatty Arbuckle.

The more modern short films will include Michael Snow's Wavelength, as well as work from students going to the country's film schools.

From midnight to 3 a.m., Movieola will show films that fit into its "Dementia" strand - where pledges to "expose the unexposed."

"These are shorts that push the envelope," Mr. Podzyhun said.

Short fiction to be aired on Movieola includes Bullet in the Brain, Psycho Too, The Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge, Roman Polanski's Two Men and a Wardrobe and the series The Short List.

Documentaries will include retrospectives of Canadian filmmakers such as Don Owen and Michel Brault.

These are short films that are rarely seen in at international film festivals, he said, coming from countries such as Japan, Sweden and Denmark. "It puts the film festival right in your hand," he said.

Best of all, he added, in a 24-hour period you won't see many repeats. When you flick across the channel, it's bound to be something different.