Participatory Cinema

I have been on the look out for new ways to get my projects done. It isn’t easy to make a movie and I feel I can use all the help I can find.

I stumbled upon this Wikipedia article on Participatory Cinema http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Participatory_cinema and it thought it might be worth digging deeper.

The idea encompasses a couple of different ideas: crowd funding and community production.

Crowd Funding

In crowd funding, money to make a film is raised from many small investors who each contribute a small amount toward production of the film. There are several websites that have been created to help with this, and of course you can always set up your own site.

This post has a list of crowd funding websites: http://blog.webdistortion.com/2010/07/18/9-crowdfunding-websites-to-help-you-change-the-world/

 

Community Production

In community production, a community of people contribute to the production. This can include suggestions about the script and material help on the film. I found one website that co-ordinates community production: http://www.wreckamovie.com/, although several individual films have their own websites.

Amazon Studios, http://studios.amazon.com/ , looks similar in intent, although many people have expressed doubts about it. My own script hasn’t generated much interest there.

 

Some Examples

Sauna is a horror film set in 1595 on the border between Russia and Finland. Sauna is finished and can be purchased on Amazon. http://www.wreckamovie.com/sauna

Iron Sky is a story about the threat of an attack from a Nazi base on the Moon. Iron Sky has completed shooting. http://www.wreckamovie.com/productions/show/ironsky

The Cosmonaut is the story of a Russian cosmonaut who is lost on a trip to the Moon in the 1960s. The Cosmonaut is still in preproduction. http://www.wreckamovie.com/thecosmonaut

 

Is This the Way To Go?

This is a fairly new approach and while there have been some films made, many more haven’t. I like the idea in general, although it would take a leap of faith to plunge into a project. I have a lot of fears about legal problems and interference.

I have some elements of collaborative cinema on my website now. I have a donation option that could be used for my own crowd funding. I need a project that will excite people’s interest if that is to work.

Through my blog I hope to get some feedback on my ideas and projects, although I have very few comments so far. If a project is to be successful, it needs to take on a life of its own. I saw that happen with The $100 Film Festival and Line of Taxis. That only happens when others step forward to support the project.

This post is a mirror from my main blog http://www.dynamiclethargyfilms.ca/blog