"This literally went from my desktop computer to a worldwide distribution deal in less than a year," Caouette says. "It's really something of a miracle."

Computer chips have become so inexpensive and speedy that power-hungry video and audio editing software now run smoothly on the average home computer. At the same time, everyday folks have become more comfortable with computers — thanks to the popularity of the Internet — so they are more likely to embrace digital tools for music, photos and movie making.

This combination of accessible tech tools and pervasive Internet usage has touched off a do-it-yourself revolution in movies, music and art. Amateurs are using computers and multimedia software to create a panoply of digital content. And they are proving to be dexterous at drumming up fans and patrons over the Internet.

"The beauty of all this is you don't have to wait around for people to give you money to create art," says Bruce Haring, founder of the DIY Convention, a popular do-it-yourself-themed trade show.

The influence of digital do-it-yourselfers has begun to reverberate through popular culture. Respected movie critic Roger Ebert hails Caouette's documentary, made for less than $300 in out-of-pocket expenses, as a "powerful and heartbreaking ... collage that envelops us in his family story."

The pinnacle of do-it-yourself financial success: the hit movie "Open Water," produced by Chris Kentis and Laura Lau for $120,000. To make the shark thriller, the New York City-based husband-and-wife team invested $6,000 on two Sony "pro-sumer" digital camcorders, aimed at serious hobbyists, and $10,000 on an Apple Power Mac G5 dual processor computer, with Final Cut Pro editing and special-effects software.

Kentis and Lau did all of the camera work, and Kentis did all of the editing at home on his Mac G5. The film earned $31 million in U.S. theatrical release last fall, and is expected to more than double that in DVD sales and foreign screenings.