First film inspired by twitter (2009)

What happens when a large number of people from around the world participate in a social experiment? How does knowing that we share similar experiences of using online technology shape our identities?

In the making of a new film entitled 140, 140 independent amateur and professional filmmakers from around the world synchronized their actions around twitter in order to explore themes of home and questions about how people are connected. Directed by Frank Kelly in London, UK, the yet-to-be created film promises to examine how twitter can be used as a positive tool rather than as a distraction.

The film is timely in its inception, with the rise of the micro-blogging site twitter.com and when it is completed by 2010 it will likely be the first film inspired by twitter to surface.

In conversation in May from London by phone, Frank Kelly said with his film he plans to reveal from a distance, with a birds’ eye view, how we can look at social patterns and specifically how humans construct their connections to home.

Kelly explained he got the idea for his film through using twitter. He said he first signed up in January 2009 after hearing of it through actor, Stephen Frye, who he wanted to ‘follow.’ He said he first thought twitter would be yet another distraction, but soon he found himself wanting to follow more people.

He said, “I wanted to know if it can help me and if I can use it as a tool.” Kelly explained what still strikes him most is that, “It’s all about instant connection and immediacy with other people. It’s fast too. People all around the world can see what everyone else is doing, at once.”

Kelly said, “I thought it would be neat to use twitter to… synchronize a hundred and forty filmmakers… So they all film at the same time.” He said, “All a hundred and forty filmmakers will shoot on the same day and time for approximately a hundred and forty seconds.”

In May, Kelly said his plan was to “send a message out for free on twitter and everyone will see it at the same time on their phones or the net. That will be the ‘Go’ signal to start shooting simultaneously around the world… I’d like some filmmakers from Africa and Alaska to get on board to broaden the geographic scope of footage we get.”

So, that’s just what Kelly orchestrated. On June 21 via twitter, Kelly sent the ‘Action’ message to the recruited volunteering filmmakers and they all shot for approximately 140 seconds.

Now the filmmakers are finished shooting, and they’re sending their footage to Kelly from countries all around the world, including Brazil, Costa Rica, China, Mexico, Germany, London, Scotland, New Zealand, Portugal and Australia.

Once Kelly receives all 140 clips of submitted footage he says he’ll edit them and incorporate music.

Kelly said he first pitched his film idea to friends who liked it and then he sent out press releases to media outlets. He got personal contacts on board, and soon the project had snowballed. To date the project has been written up about in the popular Paste Magazine (online), Metro Newspaper (UK), The Salt Lake Tribute (USA), The Irish Film and Television Network and Wired.com.

On Kelly’s website, the names of the 140 filmmakers are listed. On the list are several Toronto area residents: 134. Paul Gitschner; 126. Simone Fried; 99. Stephen Clark; and 22. Jill Carter.

Kelly said he’d like to promote the film by the end of the year and have the feature length film ready for festivals, broadcast and online sometime after January. As an experienced filmmaker Kelly is confident of landing a distribution deal and having a DVD release as well. The film will be produced by Kelly’s own company: Pale Stone Productions Ltd. which he co-founded with Thomas A. Kennedy in 2005 while producing their debut short film called Emily’s Song. That film went on to screen at 25 festivals and on television and it won the Crystal Heart and Unicef awards.

As for 140, Kelly thinks the film will encompass a very broad range of footage from the filmmakers. He said, “I might cut it chronologically – From time zones, starting in China, around the world, and back. Or I might splice into continents or around the themes that come out. I think I’m going to see a lot of landscapes and cityscapes.”

When asked in May how he was going to choose the filmmakers for the project he explained, “I don’t want to say ‘No’ to anybody. I wanted to give anyone who’s interested a chance. I have 17-year-old students and professionals involved. We have two professional feature filmmakers working with us: Adam Abel & Ryan Little, who co-directed Forever Strong last year.”

Kelly explained, “I think it’s a really wide concept and what people’s connection is to home can have so many manifestations. I think it’s a lot for people to grasp: ‘How do I connect to my home?’”

Kelly expects the footage to come to him in many formats. He said, “Some people were concerned they didn’t have professional equipment. I said they can shoot on their phones or digital cameras if they don’t have video cameras. Others are using professional high definition cameras and 16 mm film.”

He continued, “Another filmmaker in Australia reminded me it will be night time when he has to film and he asked about taking lights to shoot with. I think other people are going to head out into the wilderness and drive out to somewhere special. So, people are putting a lot of thought into it.”

Follow Frank Kelly on twitter @frankwkelly.