Whenever a good idea comes along, it doesn't take much time for people to claim they thought it up first. That seems to be the case with Dr. Horrible's Sing-A-Long Blog, the Joss Whedon-created miniseries that streamed online last weekend and is now available on iTunes. Spout reports that legions of commenters calling themselves the Army of Toy Soldiers have been pummeling the site with complaints that Dr. Horrible is a direct rip-off of Dr. Steel, an online show that's several years the senior of Whedon's program. Wired spoke to Dr. Horrible co-writer Mauria Tancharoen, who said they've never heard of Dr. Steel, but don't mind that it exists. The Toy Soldiers, however, appear to be gearing up for a confrontation, possibly one that will go down this week at Comic Con.

Whatever. Dr. Steel offers plenty of entertainment value in its own right, and it does feature a maniacal supervillain with a catchy singing voice (see above). But it also contains more razzle-dazzle weirdness than plot, and Dr. Horrible is pretty much a straightforward narrative. One Toy Soldier member has argued that if they don't speak out, their silence will imply that Dr. Steel stole its concept from Dr. Horrible. That logic holds up -- but either way, we're dealing with two very separate programs here. If anything, the immediate exposure of Dr. Horrible can only help Dr. Steel gain more attention. Once noticed, people should be able to tell the difference.

What's it really like to self-distribute your film? If Arin Crumley and Susan Buice were coming out with a new film tomorrow, how would they go about sharing it with the world? Who are the major players helping young filmmakers today? Does technology get in the way of inspiration? What's it like to be in a failing romantic relationship and a failing business relationship at the same time? And is our future really only one click away? These are some of the topics Arin and I discuss in part two of our interview, which you can watch in full above (from Arin's point of view). If you haven't done so already, I urge you to also watch Arin and Susan's film, Four Eyed Monsters, over on YouTube (where it's playing for free through August 15). Additionally, you can help the filmmakers out by joining Spout.com (which also happens to be a really cool website), and Spout will then give Arin and Susan one dollar for everyone that creates an account; money that will go towards helping them climb out of the $100,000 debt they've accumulated over the past three and a half years. Feel free to check out part one of our interview here, and enjoy.

Cinematical: If and when you make another film, will you go about the process differently now that you've learned so much since first debuting Four Eyed Monsters at Slamdance in 2005?

Arin Crumley: Well it's kind of irrelevant until we have another film completed. But to completely speculate, I really can't say. I can say what I would do today if I had another film. So completely hypothetically, if I had a film right now I would try and submit it to Sundance. Sundance and Toronto and Cannes are still a good platform for the industry to become aware of a film. Now chances are that it won't get accepted, so the very next thing I would do would be to release it. Now this would have to be a final complete thing -- and this was hard with Four Eyed Monsters; we actually changed our edit all the way up till we posted it at YouTube. So we're crazy, and I don't know if I'll be that way the next time. I'll probably be a little more confident in the footage, and I probably won't need to make so many tweaks ... I hope. But provided the thing is actually done and complete -- I wouldn't show it at festivals unless it was done and complete. So if it didn't get in and I have this item sitting there, I would then release it on DVD and download; probably with B-Side because we've been working with them and they have a solid platform for selling your stuff easily -- you can get it up and running quickly.

I first met Arin Crumley and Susan Buice back when their film Four Eyed Monsters premiered at the Gen Art Film Festival in 2005. At the time they were just two run-of-the-mill indie filmmakers who were trying to work the festival circuit and land distribution for their film. Little did anyone know at the time, but these two amazing artists would help pave the way for a generation looking to change the ways in which we watch, promote and distribute films. Since 2005, Arin and Susan have been working full-time to not only spread word about their little film (which never found distribution, but still managed to score two Independent Spirit Award nominations this past year), but also open up new avenues for folks to experience film.

Last month, Four Eyed Monsters became the first film to be shown (for free) on YouTube in its entirety. And, as part of a promotion with Spout.com, anyone who signs up for a free Spout account will have one dollar donated (out of Spout's wallet, not yours) in their name to Arin and Susan. Their hope is to eventually raise $100,000 -- the total amount of debt they've accumulated over the past three and half years. As of now, they've managed to get roughly 36,000 people to sign up -- but they're looking for more. The promotion runs through August 15th, so head on over to Spout to help pitch in. After the jump, you'll find the first part of my two-part interview with Arin. Additionally, for the first time in Cinematical history, you can watch video of our entire 40-minute phone interview (from Arin's point of view) above. In part one Arin and I discuss the Spout promotion, how they managed to accumulate $100,000 worth of debt on such a low budget film, whether the two filmmakers would ever be interested in writing a book about their experiences, the disadvantages of extreme self-promotion, their ultra-popular video podcasts and the pressures that come along with building a massive fanbase. Check back Friday for part two, and enjoy.