What do a high-school documentary, an Elvis Costello record, and a photo shoot of phone sex operators have in common? They were all recently recommended on Very Short List, a free, daily e-mail that recommends under-hyped media gems to its 110,000 subscribers.

Very Short List helped boost YouTube views of a Zurich Chamber Orchestra commercial from 1,200 to 36,000 overnight, according to General Manager Gary Foodim, pointing to VSL’s high level of audience engagment. Foodim will be working to expand that audience with Web 2.0 features, like a Facebook application, although he says for the most part prospective subscribers find the site on their own.

–Kelsey Blodget