Open source movie project moves forward

A Swarm of Angels, an ambitious open source movie project that I wrote about in March, is about to move into its next phase, which should see the community grow to 5,000 paying members (from just under a thousand). The aim of the project is to create a UKP 1million ($1.95M) feature film and give it away to over 1 million people using the Internet and a global community of "angels", each of whom pay £25 (approx $47) to join the project, and in return get to have a say on all aspects of the creative process, access exclusive content, and even become part of the film crew.

A Swarm of Angels is currently counting down to the close of phase 2 out of 5, and I'm told that there's only a few hours left (9pm midnight GMT) if you want to join the project before public registrations close and it moves into an invite-only period.

Part of a growing movement in open source culture, the project is utilizing Creative Commons-licensing, crowd-sourcing, and collaboration by members "to create a large scale free cultural work for the first time" says A Swarm of Angels founder, Matt Hanson.

"Rather than the land grab for members used by social networks, A Swarm of Angels is building up a community of subscribed members (who fund and help make the film) in a controlled way through a number of phases."

Each phase marks an important milestone for A Swarm of Angels -- and offers those skeptical of the project 's chances of reaching its goal of producing a 1.95 million dollar movie, the opportunity to measure its success to-date.

Here's a breakdown of each phase:

1. Proof of concept. 100 members only. COMPLETE Develop online presence.
2. Early Development. 1000 members. COMPLETE Script and visual development for 2 scripts. Production of teaser and promotional material. Begin user-generated content initiatives.
3. Advanced development. Open to 5000 members. Produce trailer and documentary material. Finalise scripts and complete development.
4. Pre-production. Open to 25,000 members. Vote to greenlight 1 script. Scout locations, choose cast and crew, plan production.
5. Filming. Open to 50,000 members. Production, post-production, distribution, creation of member-only products.

More important than the number of 'angels' recruited so far, is the creative work that has been produced by members. Keeping the process open (with a CC license) is an intriguing element to the project, and a far cry from Hollywood.

A poster contest for The Unfold (the second of two potential scripts) has just been completed based on film visualisations by Japanese photographer, Palla.

Also check out the official 'Swarm' trailer created by Mark Hough and Timo Hummel (with additional member feedback).

Next up the site will begin publishing video uploaded by members as part of the user-generated documentary that will accompany the project, and which involves members uploading short video profiles of themselves. Additionally, one of the two scripts under development is about to be turned into a wiki.

A reminder, you can join as a member before the project moves into its invite-only period today (Wednesday, 6 June) at 9pm midnight GMT, for £25 (approx $48).