Filmmaker Sean DunneMeet filmmaker Sean Dunne. At just 28 years old, Dunne is amassing a body of documentary shorts that’s garnering a smart, appreciative reception on the Internet.

His first short, “The Archive,” about ailing record-collector Paul Mawhinney and his huge archive of music on vinyl, is an emblem of analog life in a digital world that took Dunne to the Sundance Film Festival and Silver Docs. Still, it has enjoyed long and enduring popularity online, where it’s found a huge audience. Nonfiction Unlimited, which represents Dunne for commercial work, said it was recently picked up by PBS.

His latest film, “The Bowler,” features Rocky Salemmo, the kind of character whose screen presence couldn’t be conjured in a fiction film — a bowling hustler, he brings on the kind of restless, un-selfconscious energy that can’t quite be duplicated by an actor. That oversized personality, coupled with carefully captured pictures, translates well to a small video window embedded in a web browser. (Watch the film, below.)


Language is NSFW

In “The Bowler,” Dunne’s talent for interviews is supplemented by a great eye for location. Shot with a Sony EX3 (by DP Hillary Spera), the imagery invests bowling alleys, wood-paneled lounges, and living rooms with a melancholy sense of place that suggests a period piece. And it’s edited smartly (by Kathy Gatto), covering a lot of territory in less than 15 minutes. Again, Dunne is picking up fans on Vimeo, where the film has played to more than 33,000 viewers to date, picking up thoughtful and complimentary comments from many of them. That’s one way to build an audience, and it’s interesting to see increasingly serious work finding an outlet online.

As anyone who’s struggled to monetize popular web content knows, it might not be a great way to make money. But Dunne’s body of work is evolving toward branding, and his rostermates at Nonfiction Unlimited include such well-known names as Barbara Kopple, Albert Maysles, and Stacy Peralta. You can see more of his work, commercial and otherwise, at his web site: www.veryapeproductions.com