Musician-filmmaker-movie producer Michael Stipe of R.E.M. has inked a deal that will help bring the worlds of online and traditional entertainment yet another step closer.

Digital entertainment company RSUB has acquired a majority stake in Stipe's film ventures Single Cell Pictures (which produced "Being John Malkovich") and C-Hundred Film Corp., resulting in Self Timer, the newly formed parent company of Single Cell and C-Hundred.

As a result, films developed by Single Cell and C-Hundred "will become fully integrated entertainment experiences," RSUB CEO Jeff Dachis explained in a statement announcing the venture, noting that Stipe's film projects would now find cross-media representation in audio and in print as well as in the digital environment.

Via statement, Stipe said, "It was important for me to join up with a group of people who understand and are, today, actively shaping every avenue of entertainment and media. At RSUB, it's not just talk

and lofty ideas -- it's the application of lofty ideas.

For RSUB (a former division of Web specialists Razorfish), the new deal is an opportunity to use its command of digital marketing, distribution, and merchandising to bring filmed media to the public in new ways.

This partnership will revolutionize the way motion pictures are financed, created, acquired, and distributed," Michael Simon, President of RSUB, said in a statement. "Now Self Timer can create, promote, and distribute films under the traditional independent and studio systems, while expanding into digital entertainment.

Stipe and film producer Sandy Stern founded Single Cell Pictures in 1995. The company is best known for executive producing the glam rock movie "Velvet Goldmine" and more recently the Spike Jonze-directed "Being John Malkovich," which won an Independent Spirit Award for Best Feature Film, was nominated for three Academy Awards, and appeared on over 175 critics' 1999 top-ten lists.

C-Hundred Film Corporation was founded in 1987 by Stipe and film maker Jim McKay and is known for such films as "Girls Town," Spring Forward," and 1999 Sundance Grand Jury Prize winner "American Movie.

The Self Timer deal has interesting implications in the film and music world as artists continue to turn to the Internet and to Internet companies to finance and distribute their projects. For Stipe, the deal is largely about working with a company that is innovative.

Check out RSUB's Web site," says Stipe. "The proof's in the dot.com.

If you'd like to take Stipe's advice, the address is www.rsub.com.