Shane Felux is an independent filmmaker whose Star Wars Revelations was seen by by 4 million public in its first three months. His next project, Pitching George Lucas, reached even more.

But unless you’ve downloaded his online movies — or are part of his fan legion at the comic book convention, Comic-Con — it is likely you’ve never heard of him.

Felux is hoping that could change with Trenches, his 10-episode, short-form, sci-fi thriller coming to ABC.com and YouTube. It is among 20 online programs in development at Disney-ABC Television’s new digital substance studio, Stage 9.

“I’d been saying, ‘I’m the little guy just making movies hoping that the industry raises its head to what the little guy can do and say, All right, we’ll give the little guy a shot.’ So my shot happened,” says the 36-year-old writer-director, who produces films from the basement of his northern Virginia home.

Television studios like ABC Television, CBS, Warner

Bros. and Sony Pictures Television are looking to partner with artists to produce online videos popular with young viewers and men who are abandoning traditional prime-time offerings.

Among the 18-34 set, the proportion who watch online videos on a weekly basis increased 42 percent, up from 28 percent last year, Leichtman Research Group reported in a study released in February. Men 18-34 explanation for 40 percent of daily online video viewers, but prepare up only 17 percent of online subscribers, according to the study.

“The consciousness of video on the Net has elevated pretty dramatically in the last year or so, and the next phase of that is really providing a higher quality video experience for that audience demand,” says Sean Carey, senior vice president of Sony Pictures Television which launched six comedy originals last month on its online comedy network CSpot via Crackle, YouTube, AOL Video and Hulu.

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