Open Cinema Manifesto

The world of cinema is changing. Digital technology, online distribution, and the power of social media are fueling a revolution in the way we tell stories. You are a part of this revolution and an active player in deciding what movies, music, and art mean to you, how they're made and who profits.

Primary Beliefs and Tenets

Collaboration makes things better.
Individuals should be recognized and rewarded for their contributions
Teams of artists can jointly “own” works while still maintaining individual authorship.
Together we can make better movies for less money than any one of us could by ourselves.
Those who do the most work on a project should have the most say in the direction of that project. If votes are used, they should be weighted by participation (called a Meritocracy).
Any revenue earned from artistic creations should be split fairly with its creators. Most of the revenue should go directly to the people who did most of the work.
Artists should be empowered (not forced) to be as open with their work as they are comfortable.
Everyone has something to contribute; great movies are rarely the product of sole genius, but collections of talented individuals working together.
We will work with whatever resources we can obtain and are not afraid of failure. It may take many tries to make something worthwhile.
Stop wishing, stop the “what ifs”, stop critiquing, and start doing. When passionate people work together, anything is possible.

The Control

The Control wants to own everything. They believe quality is maintained by giving power to the elite, to the proven, or to those connected. Every yes decision a big risk. Every green light costs enormous amounts of money. In this world, every completed project is a rarity. In the land of film-making, people on the bottom clamor to have a chance to even get in the game.

To offset the enormous risk and financial burden, the Control reuses the same proven gimmicks until they no longer work. They exploit people as much as possible to increase profits. They tighten down access to the content and leverage each resource to its fullest. They stifle innovation in favor of status quo profits. They are slow to change anything until they absolutely have to or risk extinction.

Open Cinema Characteristics

“Controlled” Cinema Characteristics

Accessible. You can watch it, share it, and experience it freely.
Allows for collaboration which may include:
- Audience Participation
- Artists or Creator Collaboration on the movie creation
- Artist, Fan or Audience Reinterpretation or modification after release
- Artists and Creators can maintain authorship over their work while others are free to modify, recreate and change them.
- Self-organized and based on a system of , decentralized power, knowledge sharing, and freedom.
- Shared outcomes through loose voluntary associations
- Resources available dictate budget and scope of projects, exploratory and experimental. Start small build on what works.
- Small or no financial investment is required.
- Open collaboration opportunities for everyone.
- Opportunities are based on ability, availability, dedication and passion.

Production is done in secret by restricted teams
Protection and security against copying and distribution are employed. Employs lots of lawyers.
An elite group control which projects get made and by whom, artists and creators are commoditized and often lose complete control over their work.
Strict management and authoritarian organization structure built around financers (producers) of expensive content.
Huge capital intensive initial investment even before a project begins shooting.
Can’t afford to try new things, because of the huge capital intensive initial investment to launch new projects.
Employs just a small elite group of artists, creators and business people.
Opportunity is based on closed casting and hiring processes and connection to the industry elites

Cinema is changing and together we are fueling a creative revolution. We can empower artists, encourage more films to be made, and foster creativity. The old system is slowly failing and being challenged by creative people from all over the world. By reading and singing this Manifesto you are declaring your support for open cinema, collaboration and intellectual independence!

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