Thanks to affordable digital cameras and easy-to-use editing software, filmmakers of all kinds are making their dreams a reality, seeing their stories told and sold without a blockbuster budget.

"It's really opened up the industry," said filmmaker Michael Wohl, referring to accessible technology. "It's available to different groups of people and ends up changing the stories being told."

What used to cost $100,000 now only requires around $10,000, allowing more aspiring writers and producers a medium to tell their stories.

Apple Computer's editing software, Final Cut Pro, helped change the independent film industry forever in 1999, when the software was released and digital cameras were hitting a "sweat spot" as Wohl puts it, in terms of quality and price. The technology's increasing sophistication and usability has made the film industry a viable place for young moviemakers.

And Wohl ought to know about the benefits of desktop software such as Final Cut Pro. As one of the principal designers of the software, Wohl provided the voice of the real-world user and helped a team of Apple engineers make their product easy to use for the budding filmmaker. Wohl used the software to edit and add more than 100 special effects to his feature film, Want, which will have its U.S. premiere at Cinequest.

Want will be shown during the festival's Emerging Mavericks section of screenings, a perfect representation of the growing number of digital movies being shown this year at Cinequest. Fifty percent of this year's screenings were shot digitally, up from 20 percent of last year's films. Of the 1,353 films submitted for consideration in the festival, 75 percent of those chosen are digital films.

Affordability is not the only factor driving the popularity of digital technology; desktop editing programs provide seemingly endless flexibility to a filmmaker on a budget.

A crowd scene in Want, originally shot with some 90 extras, was digitally enhanced in the editing process when Wohl added more composite people to his scene. He shot a controllable crowd scene knowing he could fill in the gaps during postproduction, which not only helped his bottom line but also enhanced the overall story he was trying to tell.

Adding a corporate logo to a highway billboard with the help of his computer meant Wohl was able to avoid an expensive and complicated car-mounted shot of a billboard.

The editing software allowed for flexibility in his shooting schedule while providing creative solutions to a filmmaker's tight budget.

Michael Wohl will attend Cinequest this year to premiere Want and also to lead a digital media forum titled "Digital Cinema: The Future of Digital Moviemaking" on March 6, 7 p.m., at the Camera 3 cinema in downtown San Jose.

For movie screening tickets or to attend a digital media forum, visit www.cinequest.org or call 408.295.FEST.