New and improved Web sites are popping up all over the information superhighway, which can now do what was once deemed impossible. Whether soaps are your claim to fame or movie making’s your game, chances are there’s a site out there that has what you’re looking for.

Leofest

The King of teeny bop is now doing his part to help out young filmmakers and simultaneously save the environment. “Titanic” star Leonardo DiCaprio’s Birken International Studios, established in November of 1997, is now accepting independent movie submissions.

The First Annual Leonardo DiCaprio International Online Short Film Festival will be conducted exclusively on the Internet at www.leofest.com, beginning January.

Young filmmakers will be able to have their films seen for a processing fee of only $35, with all net proceeds going to ecologically motivated groups.

Films are limited to a length of 15 minutes, and as soon as the company feels it is able to handle longer lengths, the length restrictions will decrease.

“Leo’s 100 percent behind this,” says Chuck Smith, director of production for BIS. “He wants to help emerging artists and help the environment. He wants to pass on as much as possible.”

The festival will run for 11 months, with eight winners chosen each week, four from a youth category (17 and under) and an adult category (18 and over). The films will then be shown for one week on the Web site and voted on by visitors to the site, then they will be reviewed by a panel of blue ribbon judges.

At the end of the festival, the final four winners from each category and an award for the best of the festival will be given in person. Birken Studios is currently trying to get the awards ceremony televised.

All films will be marked online, and anyone interested in the films will be able to contact the filmmakers directly.

“We’re going to make sure that everyone in Hollywood knows about it,” Smith says. “We hope a lot of filmmakers will get a lot of calls.”

A personal message from DiCaprio is currently posted at www.leofest.com. It reads, “I’ve been around artists my entire life. Breaking through — especially when you’re just starting out — can seem impossible. This festival seeks to change that; to offer a place for your work to be seen and for you to see the work of others … Basically, this festival strives to offer a level field on which anyone who wishes may play.”

Southern Charm

It isn’t enough that afternoon television is filled with mind-numbing soap operas, now the web has entered the soap opera game. “Southern Charm,” the first Internet serial, will air its first episode Jan. 9, titled “Hot n’ Sticky.” There are eight parts to the series, which continually air at isoutherncharm.com.

Playwright Productions, an independent production company, has found a topic surprisingly not yet covered by the networks. “Southern Charm” deals with gay vampire Larkspur Benhorn’s search for true love, along with the adventures of his eccentric family.

The serial is based on a play, which included many of the same actors from the series and was created and written by the same writer, Angela Randazzo.

According to Larry Roberts, who plays main character Benhorn, the series was shot on location, in full epic costuming, for under $5,000.

“This was an idea born of pure inspiration and a case of being in the right place at the right time,” Roberts says. ” We created all eight episodes ourselves with no backing or studio behind us.”

The Internet was chosen as the venue for the series because “Southern Charm” deals with gay themes and is “a few steps out of the main stream,” Roberts explains.

Ultimately, Roberts would like to see “Southern Charm” move into commercial television or be made into a feature film, providing they have the sufficient funds to get the high production quality needed.

He hopes to inspire other filmmakers and feels that Internet serials are “the wave of the present.”

“When people understand we did eight episodes for under $5,000, this provides an amazing opportunity,” Roberts adds. “They can quite literally realize their dreams and get their social concern or message out there.”

MediaTrip

Just when it looked like all of the George Lucas hype was over, now they’re making a film about him — sort of.

MediaTrip.com was launched on Oct. 12 in order to “provide on-demand film, music and original programming content and deliver entertainment recommendations based on both artist selections and evolving user profiles,” according to the Web site. The site is aimed at the 18-to-34-year-old demographic and includes various entertainment media.

The new site includes a spoof of “Shakespeare in Love,” called “George Lucas in Love.” The nine-minute short has become the most copied film in Hollywood since “South Park” and has even received the approval of Lucas himself.

According to Robert Faust, the site has broken records, with the film being viewed over 150,000 times in three weeks. The next spoof called “Swing Blade” is currently in the works and combines the films “Swingers” and “Sling Blade.”

In addition to new shorts, MediaTrip.com offers new animation in the form of “Lil’ Pimp,” a nine-year-old with all the women he can handle, a documentary on the tattoo world set to new music, exclusive music interviews with MTV’s Matt Pinfield, live concert footage and celebrity music and movie recommendations.

Soon MediaTrip.com will extend its scope of entertainment even further with a stand up comedy show and a hip hop show called “Say Wut?”

“We want to be a home for a specific audience online, where they can easily find the content they want quickly,” Faust says. “We’ve made it very simple with the best content possible.”