Selling Authors with Documentaries

I saw this story in the New York Times. It's a fascinating idea - instead of relying on in-store readings, authors and publishers could create films about the author or title and let people watch them. You could include a reading, interviews with the author and experts, and put the results anywhere from a book's web site to YouTube (some authors are already doing this) to online sellers like Amazon.com, I suppose. According to the article, bookstores are planning screenings of the film, but given its short nature and the lack of personal connection to the author (oh, right there before us!), I suspect that it will become yet another advantage of online sellers.