Ridley Scott called. He wants you to co-direct a movie he’s producing.
Let me explain. Yesterday, YouTube began promoting Life in a Day, a feature-length documentary that will be composed of user-submitted videos. On July 24th, users are encouraged to record their day, whatever that may entail, and submit their video to the Life in a Day project on YouTube. The most compelling and distinct clips will then be edited together by director Kevin Macdonald (State of Play, The Last King of Scotland). The result will premiere at next year’s Sundance Film Festival in January.
The goal of the project is to become a “snap-shot of life on Earth during one 24-hour period.” Quite ambitious, but very intriguing. If done right, this could be a very powerful picture of the unity of all people, no matter what race, religion, or language.
So what do you get for participating? If your clip is selected you will be credited as a co-director on the film. Then, 20 of those co-directors will be flown to Park City for the premiere next January.
On the surface this sounds like a really neat idea. I don’t know how compelling the final product will actually be, however. It will take a lot of work to find a single thread – an idea that permeates the entire project, but there is definitely potential for a very interesting doc.
Crowd-sourced projects like this do not have a good reputation (despite successes such as Wikipedia and Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s hitRECord), but its great that more high-profile talent are beginning to realize the potential that this kind of thing has.
Scott really sums most of what I feel is going to be the next big wave in indie film. Especially nowadays, there is no excuse not to make a film if you have the desire to. YouTube and “real” films are starting to intersect, and I think that could be a huge deal. We’ll just have to wait and see.
Go to YouTube.com/LifeinaDay for more information, including a FAQ and more specific guidelines.
