Sundance 2011: Jeff Deutchman, Ridley Scott and the "History-Making" Doc That Isn't Making History

There's been a bizarre bit of news developing in the past couple of days, as a powerhouse team - the Sundance Institute, YouTube, Ridley Scott and Oscar winning documentary filmmaker Kevin Macdonald - is emploring people to join in what they describe as "the first-ever user-generated film shot in a single day".

The organizers of LIFE IN A DAY are seeking folks from all over the world to shoot footage of their lives on Saturday, July 24.  Then, according to the film's YouTube site:

"The most compelling and distinctive footage will be edited into an experimental documentary film, produced by Ridley Scott and directed by Kevin Macdonald.

The film will premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in January 2011 and will be available right hear on YouTube.  If your footage makes it into the finished film, you'll be credited as a co-director and you could be one of 20 contributors brought ot Sundance to celebrate with Kevin Macdonald."

Hey, it sounds groovy and all, and congrats on one of the earliest Sundance selection notices of all time.  But just one problem - it's not "the first-ever user-generated film shot in a single day", as Variety reported yesterday and as an email from the Sundance Institute trumpets today.

Hat tip to Christopher Campbell, who flagged this for us yesterday with his tweet:

"Someone tell Ridley Scott that @jeffdeutchman already made a user-generated documentary feature shot in one day."

Indeed, Jeff Deutchman debuted his user-generated, shot-in-one-day feature documentary, 11/4/08, at SXSW this year and it's gone on to have quite a life on the festival circuit and is now playing select dates around the US.

As Campbell later tweeted:

"Noticed that 11/4/08 is screening in Indianapolis on July 24. @jeffdeutchman should film at the event and then submit it to Life in a Day"

Now, Deutchman may or may not have made "the first-ever user-generated film shot in a single day" - it's the first I've heard of, but who knows what's been out there in the ether" - but LIFE IN A DAY certainly can't claim that title.  It may be historic in other ways (there's that July announcement for a film screening at Sundance again), but Scott & Sundance & YouTube should give credit where credit is due.

Deutchman beat them to the punch.

Update: Numerous folks have weighed in on other "shot-in-one-day" documentaries that feature some variation on a similar theme.  In particular, Movieline's S.T. VanAirsdale notes 140, a film that premiered at the 2010 Newport Beach Film Festival, that seems pretty much directly on the same page as what Scott & Co. are hyping, although it limited its user-generated material to 140 seconds, a reference to the number of characters allowed in a tweet.

Also, on this topic, Christopher Campbell writes further at Cinematical.  And USA Today's Susan Wloszczyna (who comments below, arguing that 11/4/08 doesn't fit her idea of "user-generated" since Deutchman recruited some of his footage) talks to Kevin Macdonald about the film project.

Comments

[Writerkathymcd]

There's also another crowd-sourced documentary in the works:Same idea w/o the name director/producer or Sundance. http://www.openculture.com/2010/06/document_the_worlds_story_on_101010.html

[Nina Seavey]

Actually, Jeff's film wasn't the first either. There have been several "day of" films emanating from the "Day in the Life" photographic series.

[Susan Wloszczyna]

Not quite the same thing, at least according to the 11/04/08 website. Deutchman recruited 20 filmmakers to shoot on the day that Obama would presumably be elected. That is different than asking ordinary strangers from around the world to send in their clips. In other words, not exactly user-generated.

[police]

well, thanks for policing this important issue and correcting the problem like a good manager. And, actually, Deutchman wasn't the first, either. Keep on ass-kissing, AJ.

[David Wilson]

Wait a minute . . . Whose ass is AJ kissing, Police? Jeff Deutchman's? If he's really on an ass-kissing mission, wouldn't it behoove him more to champion Ridley Scott or Kevin Macdonald or SUNDANCE?

It may appear as a small detail in what otherwise may be a successful project, but I'm glad that AJ was willing to call Sundance out on a clearly erroneous claim.

(and, as my friend Nate points out, one could argue that this isn't even the first time Sundance has shown a film like this - the screened the Beastie Boys concert film "Awesome! I Fuckin' Shot That" a few years back.)

David
[full disclosure - I'm co-directing a film with AJ AND work for Sundance.]

[AJ Schnack]

Susan,

I'd be curious to know whether Scott and Macdonald and company are going all in - 100% for footage sent in blind - or if they might not have a few ringers in the mix. In any case, Deutchman had a mix of recruited filmmakers (although he didn't tell them what to shoot) and footage that was sent to him. In fact, he's still asking for footage, with a notable title card at the end of 11/4/08 stating "This film is not done. Send us your footage."

But as Stu noted at Movieline (and others have weighed in all day), there are other docs waiting in the wings to claim the title of first user-generated, shot-in-one-day documentary, even if one tries to invalidate 11/4/08. It was a dumb move to claim the "first-ever" title without checking and dumb of media outlets to report it without an eyebrow raised.

And as to "police" and David's points, yes, indeed I am trying to kiss Jeff Deutchman's ass. I can't for the life of me figure out why, it's just instinctive.

Also, "police", you do know that I can see your IP address and I know where you work, right?

[140 filmmaker]

"140" took footage from the first 140 filmmakers to sign up to all shoot in a single day, and were given the go ahead on Twitter with the only limitation being that the filmmaker (amateur or professional) submit 140 seconds of footage. Great idea from Frank Kelly, and some of those who participated in 140 include film festival award winners from Slamdance, Heartland and elsewhere, and Academy-nominated screenwriter Zach Helm! You can check out the trailer for it on YouTube and at http://140faq.blogspot.com/

[Jdeutch]

The biggest difference between what I did and what Ridley & co. are doing is that they are famous and thus able to cast a much wider net.
What interests me is not who was "first," however...

See my full response here.

[Connie Bottinelli]

CBS - Philadelphia - mid 1980's. We did "A Day in the Life of the Delaware Valley". Same premise. Our crews from news and documentary units descended on Philadelphia, New Jersey and Delaware starting at midnight. We did a one hour special. Well received. Shortly after that, CBS launched "48 Hours" with a similar premise, but soon shifted it to be broader.

[Frank Kelly]

Hi, Frank Kelly here, producer of 140. Thanks for having my back, above! I'm not so worried about the fact that this or any other film like it is so close to my film. Life in a Day and mine are almost identical ideas, mine had a narrower focus, 140 filmmakers capturing 140 seconds only (I thought as a filmmaker alone in my office with my mac that would be all I could manage, or would want to! - plus the 140 had a nice ring and tied in with Twitter, which is where the inspiration came from.)
Alot people have been outraged on my behalf, even suggesting that the idea was somehow stolen! I don't think that's the case at all! And honestly I'm excited that films like this are getting made, and that filmmakers of Ridley Scott and Kevin MacDonald's stature are taking it seriously.
I doubt Mr. Scott or Mr. MacDonald will see this, but as Jeff mentioned in his blog, I too would like to invite them to view my film, and I'd like to extend that invitation to Jeff as well. They and you Jeff can contact me through my blog www.frankkelly.blogspot.com. I'm looking forward to seeing Life in a Day, I'm sure it'll be great!