Worldwide best-selling author Paulo Coelho has announced a joint project with MySpace for an exclusive movie production based on his novel, The Witch of Portobello. Coelho will be using a ‘mash-up’ video concept in which the entire movie will be composed of MySpace user submitted videos and music. Coelho will personally handpick 15 videos and 16 songs to be used for his ‘Witch’ production.
So why is this global competition concept so cool and innovative? MySpace users are encouraged to choose one of the 15 main characters from The Witch Of Portobello novel, and create there very own short film based on one of the narratives from the story. Once users complete their film, they will upload their submission to both MySpace TV and Paulo Coelho’s MySpace page. The same can be done with user submitted music. As far as we know, this is the first feature film produced using a community submission system on a social networking site. And certainly the most exciting.
Coelho makes sure that the contest is an open playing field, not even specifying a language that user submissions must use. The only specification made is that films which are not submitted in English, Portuguese, Spanish, or French should include subtitles. We’re guessing this includes material filmed in Pig Latin and Gibberish.
When asked about his decision to collaborate with MySpace for this mash-up movie concept, Paulo said “I’m an avid MySpace user and have been connecting with my fans there for the past 3 years. When I decided to create my first movie together with my readers, MySpace quickly came to mind as the ideal partner. The site’s ability to connect people – artists, musicians and filmmakers – around the world is unmatched. I am excited to see how this truly unique and innovative project develops.”
Chris DeWolfe, CEO of MySpace, reflects on the marketing possibilities and the current state of social media, “Paulo’s decision to reach out to the global MySpace community is a powerful reflection on both the power of collaboration and the creativity of our users. We hope that through amazing opportunities like this we can continue to inspire thousands of people and make the art of making movies even more accessible.”
Communities have proven themselves through social video before, most recently with The Shins music video for “Phantom Limb” which was composed entirely of the audience members filming video during one live concert performance. But can this outline translate to the feature film structure?
Submissions for the contest begin on June 16th and will be accepted until July 15th. Winners will be announced on Coelho’s birthday, August 24th, 2008. Throughout the submission process, members of The Experimental Witch team will select videos of note to be displayed on Coelho’s MySpace profile.
