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The Big 3 automakers hardly shined in terms of public perception during their recent Washington foray for bailout funds but Ford recently seems to have scored a modest PR coup in deferring its option to tap into the $9 billion line of credit it secured during the bailout deal. In the Twitter universe, the decision played well and Ford CEO Alan Mulally has won props after a decidedly more awkward start when he joined fellow CEOs in Washington on the initial round of bailout pleas.

In refusing to tap into the line of credit Ford was offered, Mulally said:

“We are not seeking short-term financial assistance from the government. But all of us at Ford appreciate the prudent step the administration has taken to address the near-term liquidity issues of GM and Chrysler. The U.S. auto industry is highly interdependent, and a failure of one of our competitors would have a ripple effect that could jeopardize millions of jobs and further damage the already weakened U.S. economy.”

In a recent article in Advertising Age, Doug Spong, a leading PR executive for the auto industry offered warm words for Ford’s move. “To be able to look America in the eye and say, ‘We’re in a position where we don’t require a helping hand in this time of need, and thank you for offering it, but we will pass,’ shows a lot,” he said in the article.

It is one of the smarter PR moves a major automaker has made recently. It certainly is too early to see if Ford’s seemingly magnaminous gesture will translate into higher showroom traffic. On the other hand, by rejecting the need to immediately tap into the funds, Ford has the opportunity to distinguish itself from the other two domestic automakers.

This is not easy. Ford’s tactics from this point onward cannot seem too opportunistic, especially for consumers who have been worn down by a seemingly endless spate of bad economic news during the last several months. In Spong’s assessment in Advertising Age: “If I’m counseling Ford, certainly I’m not running ads with William Ford III coming out and extolling the virtues of not having participated in the bailout and taking a pass on the free money. That looks too self-indulgent and would actually turn off consumers. They just need to keep doing what they are doing: support the industry and their competitors, continue to talk about how it’s good for everybody when there’s a healthy automotive industry; and support the public discussion and policy that favors the automotive industry and not just Ford.”

In the Wall Street Journal, Mulally kept on message. He said of Ford’s different place in the industry: ““We believe we have sufficient liquidity to get through this recession. But if the economy continued to deteriorate and the industry continued to deteriorate, then even Ford might have to need a bridge loan also.”

Let’s hope so. Mulally’s biggest challenge is to convert widespread, well-entrenched public skepticism about Ford’s viability. After Mulally came on board after leading Boeing, he mortgaged a healthy chunk of Ford’s assets, giving the company $30 billion, certainly enough to weather a loss of more than $8.7 billion this year and a potentially good enough position to survive 2009, especially if industry sales stay in the 12 million-13 million range, which may constitute a minor miracle given current conditions.

Mulally must not deviate from his current message if he indeed wants to alleviate the deep skepticism among American car-buying consumers. Absolute consistency in messaging and practice must be aligned. Automotive News’ Amy Wilson recently reported that “despite a company sales drop of 32.6 percent for November, the monthly market share for Ford’s domestic brands came in at 15.8 percent of industry sales, a 1.6 percentage point gain from a year ago.” Another encouraging sign is that Ford still strongly aligns itself with its credit arm (Ford Motor Credit Co.) unlike its domestic competitors.

Mulally’s experience at Boeing — which emphasized a design-oriented dynamism — is much needed. Other factors are at play as well — not least of which is the need to divest the company of its remaining Ford family members. Innovation pays off handsomely in times of deep recession.

Emerging talent just isn’t confined to narrative and documentary feature films. As the Slamdance Film Festival celebrates its 15th anniversary in 2009, 86 short films in four different competition categories - documentary, narrative/experimental, animation and music video, which is a new classification this year - will be showcased and be eligible for a grand yury award. All accepted entries have been selected to screen by the shorts programming committee comprised primarily of Slamdance alumni filmmakers.

Slamdance’s short films have generated an impressive lineage. Some notable alumni to come out of Slamdance’s previous shorts line-ups include Gina Prince-Bythewood (The Secret Life of Bees), Mike Mitchell (Shrek Goes Fourth), Seth Gordon (Four Christmases), Jared Hess (Napoleon Dynamite), Matt Nix (Burn Notice), and Rian Johnson (The Brothers Bloom).

In addition to the four jury competitions, Slamdance also has two out-of-competition shorts categories, which are the Anarchy Online Film Competition and $99 Specials. Each month, from March through November, three short films (10 minutes or under) are selected to play online here. Anarchy is open to all types of films and the winner is determined by site visitors via online voting. Each month’s winner screens at Slamdance, competing for a prizes and a Slamdance Sparky Award.

The $99 Specials are produced by Slamdance and directed by Slamdance alumni. Slamdance gives $99 to these alums, and sets them loose with the latest in filmmaking technology. Ninety-nine days later they return with a five-minutes-or-under short film experiment. In a profession where it’s not always easy to practice the filmmaking craft, the intention of the $99 Specials is to do exactly that – and to keep the filmmaking process heading in the right direction. $99 Specials are shown at the festival in January and online here.

Slamdance is pleased to expand its short film slate by showcasing special programs in partnership with CurrentTV, LUNAFest, and Real Ideas Studio. For the second year, Slamdance and CurrentTV teamed up for “A Chance at Slamdance 2009,” which received an increase of more than 40 percent in submissions this year. This program will showcase five short documentary films created by CurrentTV viewers as a special screening at the festival. New this year, Slamdance is also proud to feature a screening of LUNAFest short films showcasing exceptional storytelling by, for, about women.

Slamdance has additionally established a partnership for the 2009 festival with Real Ideas Studio, which is offering selected students a chance to film behind the scenes at Slamdance and in Park City. Real Ideas Studio student films created during the festival in this immersion program will be showcased at Slamdance on the final day of screenings.

“Short Films, more than any other type of filmmaking, really allow artists to experiment, to find their voice, and to tackle topics that are taboo and untouchable, and are proud to include that powerful creative energy to our festival,” says Sam Roberts, the festival’s director of film competitions/co-chair of shorts programming.

Working toward a goal of providing a truly supportive and enriching learning environment for filmmakers, Slamdance is hosting a number of new events this year to expose filmmakers and attendees to the best opportunities, resources, and companies for independent creatives. Based primarily in the Festival’s expanded Technicolor Filmmaker Lounge at TMI, these events include daily Filmmaker Technology Demos sponsored by Media Distributors and Panasonic, themed days to focus on current issues important to independent film, such as Do-It-Yourself Marketing and Distribution Day sponsored by Spout.com.

Also new this year is Slamdance’s recently formed online venture with Indieroad.net, a website created by a team of veteran entertainment and business executives to address the lack of robust distribution options available to promising new talent in the independent film field. Through a combined Slamdance/Indieroad.net site, Slamdance films will stream anytime throughout the festival period. Bringing the festival to a worldwide audience for the first time, this ground-breaking partnership will allow audiences, press and buyers the opportunity to see the festival films from a location of their choosing, even if they cannot physically attend. Each online viewing of a Slamdance film or shorts will cost $9, and one-third of this amount for each film viewed will go directly to the filmmakers.

Also, for the first time, Slamdance will be screening select music videos. “Besides being biased to the format due to my own history, adding a music video line-up this year seemed like a no-brainer, what with the paradigm shifts in the music industry and the artists’ easy access to talented low-budget filmmakers,” said the festival’s Drea Clark, executive director/ chair of music video programming. “We were really looking for a full range: experience, technique, musical genre, performance capture, narrative and animation. Music video has long been one of the most envelope pushing mediums around, and I’m excited with the broad spectrum of talent that’s represented in our premiere outing in this arena.”

The music video programming is beginning auspiciously. Among the artists and filmmakers who are in this year’s competition are Blonde Redhead, whose “Top Ranking” video was directed by Mike Mills, who directed Sundance’s Thumbsucker (2005) and stars Miranda July (Me And You and Everyone We Know, Sundance 2005). Also, featured will be director Patrick Daughters, who is a rising star in music video and whose previous Feist clip “1, 2, 3, 4″ was nominated for a Grammy. Feist is a well-respected name in the indie-pop world, gaining fame and outside interest when her track “1, 2, 3, 4″ launched the new iPod commercials.

Also, director Chris Milk made a name for himself doing multiple award-winning videos for Kanye West (”Jesus Walks”, “Touch the Sky”) and was the 2008 MVPA Director of the Year. His video at Slamdance, for Grammy award winners and certified platinum recording artists Gnarls Barkley, is the only in the music video category to feature dialogue overlaid over the entire video — a rarity in the format, and approved by the artist and label.

As it does every year, Slamdance will run concurrently with the Sundance Film Festival. Slamdance and the box office will be headquartered and films will screen at the Treasure Mountain Inn, 255 Main Street, the Festival’s headquarters since 1998. For more information and for a complete listing of films in the Festival, visit here or call 323/466-1786. Festival passes are now on sale on the web site and individual tickets are now available online.