Culture

Spike Lee To Direct Crowdsourced Mobile Phone Movie

by Jarrett Martineau | April 24, 2008 at 10:49 am

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Spike Lee meets Nokia in the latest artist/brand partnership to promote a fascinating fusion of technology, entertainment, and user-generated, crowdsourced content.

It's interesting to note that Nokia is taking an 'assignment-based' approach to the film's construction and I think it's positive that they're allowing a range of content to be submitted: photos, video, text, and music.

Under Lee's direction, this could be a pretty interesting project - and I wonder how many people will participate.

Filmmaker Spike Lee has linked up with Nokia to direct a movie made with cell phone footage from everyday people in what he calls the democratization of film.

The film by Nokia Productions will consist of three acts. An "assignment" for each act will be announced online and people will then have four weeks to produce their submission.

"You are seeing first hand the democratization of film," Lee said in a statement on Thursday. "Aspiring filmmakers no longer have to go to film school to make great work. With a simple mobile phone, almost anyone can now become a filmmaker."

Lee was nominated for an Academy Award for best original screenplay for "Do the Right Thing" in 1990 and for best documentary for "4 Little Girls" in 1998.

The film's theme will evolve around the way music tells the story of humanity, and people can submit text, music, video or images at certain times between now and August 21 to http://www.nokiaproductions.com.

Nokia will choose 25 submissions, then people can vote online for their favorite for a top 10 from which Spike Lee will then choose the winning submission from each act.

Lee will direct the film through the Web site.