If you have yet to check out Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s experimental filmmaking community, which he now says has evolved into a “full-fledged professional collaborative production company,” then you’re missing out. It’s been around a few years and I’ve been following it since the beginning, when it was little more than a few videos posted by Joe and a forum where others could post and discuss their work. For a while now, they’ve been collaboratively working on a short film titled Morgan M. Morgansen’s Date with Destiny, which Joe took to Sundance this year to screen as an example of the possibilities that the collaborative internet process of bringing minds from all over the world together creates.
On his site where he posted the video, Joe talked about the experience:
Albert proposed an off-kilter writing exercise, and then Metaphorest’s beautifully strange short story inspired it all. I read the story aloud, Jenyffer.Maria started drawing the characters, Tori animated Jen’s drawings, Lula and I did a live-action rendition, Lawrie Brewster took the project to soaring heights with his gorgeous visuals, and along the way there was the help, encouragement and roughly 180 contributions from throughout our community. We brought it to Sundance, and Nathan coaxed the lush and vast music out of the newly coined hitRECorchestra. (Good_Girl_Indie has written out a fabulously detailed timeline documenting what happened and when along this RECord’s progression.)
Not only did we close our (two) official hitRECord screening(s) in the New Frontier Microcinema with this piece, but the next day, Sundance added it as a short film to play before the award-winning feature HOMEWRECKER on a much bigger screen.
I actually watched the thing again just now. And I can whole-heartedly say that, besides the progressive methodology with which it was made, and besides the warm reception it received at Sundance, just purely as a little piece of art, as a short film, as a RECord — I’m as proud of Morgan M. Morgansen’s Date with Destiny as I am of any work I’ve ever done.
This is very cool stuff and I really dug this short film. I’m looking forward to seeing whatever else these folks can put together in the future. And if you’re feeling your creative juices flowing, skip on over to the site and see what you can contribute.
And here’s a video highlighting their Sundance experience:
This discussion currently has one response.
February 20, 2010
If you didn’t watch this, you’re stupid. So watch this. Stupids.