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

1. Collaboration makes things better.
2. Individuals should be recognized and rewarded for their contributions
3. Teams of artists can jointly “own” works while still maintaining individual authorship.
4. Together we can make better movies for less money than any one of us could by ourselves.
5. 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).
6. 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.
7. Artists should be empowered (not forced) to be as open with their work as they are comfortable. 
8. Everyone has something to contribute; great movies are rarely the product of sole genius, but collections of talented individuals working together.
9. We will work with whatever resources we can obtain and are not afraid of failure.  It may take many tries to make something worthwhile. 
10. 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.

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!

It’s very simple: just fill out the comment form below.  In the subject say something about signing the manifesto. If you create a free account before you comment, it will show your picture and be linked to your profile (This is highly recommended).