Web surfers searching for an online community of independent artists, look no further. Atom-Bomb.com has arrived.

Atom-Bomb is a one-stop entertainment source, offering independent artists of all types the opportunity to submit their work to the site and reach a global audience.

Brent LeVasseur, CEO of Atom-Bomb, created the site in March of 1998 after finding it nearly impossible to gain any type of exposure.

“I got into independent film, and I had a bunch of films that I couldn’t distribute or get anybody to see,” LeVasseur recalled. “I built Atom-Bomb just for fun. Then I thought, ‘What can I do with this Web site? Maybe I could show my films on it.'”

A short time after the site was launched, other filmmakers saw the potential of displaying their work on the site and began e-mailing LeVasseur, asking if he would showcase their films on his site.

The site grew from there with LeVasseur adding music to the site at the urging of friends, who wanted exposure for their bands.

In the crowded area of online entertainment, Atom-Bomb distinguishes itself from other online entertainment sites by offering a community of independent artists to a community of online users.

“We’re trying to create an artist community, not just musicians, not just filmmakers, but all together where you create synergies between the two because there are musicians who want to be involved in film and vice versa,” LeVasseur said. “So it creates an overlap of resources.

“We’re not just throwing anything up there, we’re being selective. Users don’t have to sort through thousands and thousands of tracks to get to one good track.”

Independent artists of all types are encouraged to submit their work to the site. Once the work is submitted to Atom-Bomb, it is placed into one of four categories: cinema, music, television and radio. Each artist is given a home page, which can be accessed by clicking on the appropriate entertainment category or from the site’s search feature. On their home pages, artists can pitch their films, songs, videos and television and radio shows to a worldwide audience.

For example, filmmakers are given a “Media Detail” page on which their film can be accessed. Browsers can also read a brief description of the film and find out its attributes (genre, running time, premiere, date produced and awards).

A pair of the musicians featured on the site have already been offered record deals.

Cece and the Fishers of Men, a Christian band with three kids, ages 10, 11 and 12, has been offered several record deals since being featured on the site. Also benefiting from Atom-Bomb exposure is Buzzbox, an alternative band that scored a record deal prior to appearing on the site.

“When we get written up in magazines, they get written up as well. So they’ve gotten a lot of added exposure as well,” LeVasseur said.

Atom-Bomb also featured Buzzbox on a Web cast, and similar events are planned for the future.

“We’re partnering with a company called I Beam, which handles satellite broadcasting and streaming media, and they’re going to be handling most of our live concert and live streaming events,” LeVasseur said.

“As we partner more and more with the traditional Hollywood firms, we’re going to be doing a lot more live venues for them as well.”

Atom-Bomb has also forged an alliance with The Moxie!/Santa Monica Film Festival and become the official sponsor of the festival. The Moxie! provides film content for Atom-Bomb’s Web site and also allows it to be the first film festival on-line.

“We enable people who are not in the direct Santa Monica and Southern California area to actually see the films that are being showed through the festival, as well as giving the Santa Monica Film Festival more of a global exposure that they otherwise wouldn’t get,” LeVasseur said. “We’re also going to be helping them and their filmmakers redistribute their films, which will help them make more money to make more films.”

Artists are not the only ones who benefit from Atom-Bomb’s services. Users who register with the site receive access to all of the site’s media features, a free lifetime e-mail account and home page and the ability to interact with other community members — including the artists.

Community members are encouraged to review the artist’s work in all categories and are even afforded the option to send messages directly to the artists. Members can also view the comments of other community members on the artists featured on the site.

The future holds several things for Atom-Bomb, including an independent record label. The site has begun talks with several companies that would enable the site to start the label within the year.

“We’re going to definitely help quality artists who need more exposure gain more exposure,” LeVasseur said. “We’re probably going to be more selective about who we let on the site, and we’re probably going to end up signing a lot of those bands ourselves to our own label and producing our own branded content.”

Also on deck will be the addition of e-commerce and tools that will enable both the artists and community members to take advantage of promotional opportunities as well as customize the site to suit their needs.

Even with all of the upcoming expansion of the site, Atom-Bomb will maintain its focus on the independent artist.

“We’re really out there to help the up-and-coming, un-established artist that needs more exposure,” LeVasseur said. “We are also looking for quality student films and student bands.

“We’re definitely looking to work with the colleges and help the students there get more exposure for their work.”