Amateur directors have made at least 100 Star Wars fan films, many of which you can watch on the Web. The Mos Eisley Multiplex links to a dozen of the best, including Troops, a brilliant and hilarious fusion of Star Wars and Cops. It's well worth the hassle of downloading it. Horror movie buffs produced a spate of Blair Witch Project fan films last summer.

The ethos of fan films differs from that of fanfic. Fanfic writers tend to be passionate amateurs: They are uninterested in turning their fanfic into TV writing careers. Young directors, by contrast, often make their fan films to grab attention from the movie industry. A couple of fan film directors, including Troops' Kevin Rubio, have parlayed their tributes into snazzy industry jobs.