Submissions for YouTube’s Life in a Day project came to a close on Saturday, July 31, 2010, with the total number of submissions reaching 80,000 and representing 197 countries, in 45 different languages. Of the results, Executive Producer Ridley Scott (Robin Hood, Gladiator, Black Hawk Down) said, “I’m thrilled at the success of the Life in a Day project to date. The sheer number of uploads to the channel is astonishing and exceeds our expectations. I’m as fascinated as anyone by what kind of videos people have uploaded and the kind of film which will result from this innovative endeavor.”
As the project moves into its next phase, Director Kevin Macdonald (State of Play, Last King of Scotland, Touching the Void) has assembled a team of 20 to log and vet the submissions. Macdonald says of the process, “We’re excited by both the quality and quantity of submissions. We’re now faced with the daunting task of selecting and shaping the wonderful array of diverse stories that have been captured around the globe. Luckily, I have an amazing team of skilled researchers who speak all manner of languages currently helping me catalogue and distill the clips. We’re hoping to soon have a more manageable 100 hours worth of footage to edit down into feature length form. It’s a mountain, but we’re eager to climb it.”
Users will also be able to view the submissions when the gallery goes live on YouTube’s Life in a Day channel in early September. The final, feature-length film will be completed in time for a January 2011 premiere at the Sundance Film Festival and will simultaneously be made available at YouTube.com.
Footage from remote regions in South Africa, the Middle East and Africa have been uploaded to the site thanks to the efforts of many groups and organizations that participated. Scott Free Productions worked with Against All Odds to distribute 500 cameras to these areas of the world in an effort to ensure that the film is as inclusive and representative as possible. The Sundance Institute also had participants of their first-ever East Africa Theatre lab, taking place in Kenya, upload their own footage.
Life in a Day is a historic global film experiment that enlisted the global community to capture a moment of their lives on Saturday, July 24 and to upload that footage to www.youtube.com/lifeinaday. Individuals whose footage makes it into the finished film will be credited as co-directors and 20 of these contributors will be flown to the 2011 Sundance Film Festival for the film’s world premiere.
Life in a Day is one of several efforts by YouTube to push the boundaries of music, art, and now film. YouTube Symphony Orchestra and the recently announced YouTube Play partnership with the Guggenheim are examples of the convergence of online video with traditional arts and Life in a Day takes this effort into the cinematic realm. The channel received 18.7MM page views with visitors from 220 countries since it went live on July 7.
Life in a Day is also being supported by LG Electronics as a key part of its long-standing Life’s Good campaign and to support the creation of quality online content that can be shared and enjoyed by all.
About YouTube
YouTube is the world’s most popular online video community allowing millions of people to discover, watch and share original videos. YouTube provides a forum for people to connect, inform and inspire others across the globe and acts as a distribution platform for original content creators and advertisers large and small. YouTube, LLC is based in San Bruno, Calif., and is a subsidiary of Google Inc.
About Ridley Scott, Producer
Ridley Scott is a renowned filmmaker who has received three Academy Award nominations for Best Director over the course of his distinguished career, most recently for his 2002 film BLACK HAWK DOWN. Additional credits include GLADIATOR, which won the Academy Award, Golden Globe and BAFTA for Best Picture and THELMA & LOUISE, which brought Scott his first Academy Award nomination for Best Director in 1991. Other films include AMERICAN GANGSTER, BODY OF LIES, A GOOD YEAR, the groundbreaking film BLADE RUNNER and the classic ALIEN. He most recently directed the hit film ROBIN HOOD. Scott, along with his brother Tony Scott, is the founder of Scott Free Productions, a company that produces a wide range of film and television projects. In 2003, Scott was awarded a knighthood from the Order of the British Empire in recognition of his contributions to the arts.
About Kevin Macdonald, Director
Kevin Macdonald is an award-winning filmmaker, whose first feature film, ONE DAY IN SEPTEMBER, supported by the Sundance Institute Documentary Program, won an Academy Award for Best Documentary in 2000. His second feature, TOUCHING THE VOID, premiered at the Telluride Film Festival in 2003 before becoming the highest-grossing British documentary in UK box office history. Kevin’s first dramatic feature, THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND, starring Forest Whitaker, also premiered at Telluride before winning a BAFTA for Best British Film and Best Adapted Screenplay; Whitaker also won an Academy Award and a BAFTA for his role in the film. Kevin is currently working on his next feature, EAGLE OF THE NINTH, starring Channing Tatum, Jamie Bell and Mark Strong. In addition to being a filmmaker, Kevin is a journalist whose work has appeared in numerous publications including the Guardian, Observer and Telegraph.
About Sundance Institute
Founded by Robert Redford in 1981, Sundance Institute is a not-for-profit organization that fosters the development of original storytelling in film and theatre. Internationally recognized for its artistic development programs for directors, screenwriters, producers, film composers, playwrights and theatre artists, Sundance Institute annually presents the world-famous Sundance Film Festival and has nurtured such projects as Angels in America, Spring Awakening, Boys Don’t Cry and Born into Brothels.
About LG Electronics, Inc.
LG Electronics, Inc. (KSE: 066570.KS) is a global leader and technology innovator in consumer electronics, mobile communications and home appliances, employing more than 80,000 people working in over 115 operations around the world. With 2009 global sales of 55.5 trillion Korean Won (43.4 billion US Dollars), LG comprises of five business units – Home Entertainment, Mobile Communications, Home Appliance, Air Conditioning and Business Solutions. LG is one of the world’s leading producers of flat panel TVs, audio and video products, mobile handsets, air conditioners and washing machines. LG has signed a long-term agreement to become both a Global Partner of Formula 1™ and a Technology Partner of Formula 1™. As part of this top-level association, LG acquires exclusive designations and marketing rights as the official consumer electronics, mobile phone and data processor of this global sporting event. For more information, please visit www.lg.com.
About Scott Free UK
Scott Free has offices in London and Los Angeles and has a number of feature films and television programmes in development and production including recently completed, Cracks, directed by Jordan Scott, starring Eva Green, Welcome to the Rileys, directed by Jake Scott, starring James Gandolfini and Kristen Stewart, and upcoming Cyrus for Fox Searchlight directed by Mark and Jay Duplass starring John C. Reilly and Jonah Hill.
Recent productions include Unstoppable, directed by Tony Scott for Twentieth Century Fox and starring Chris Pine and Denzel Washington, Robin Hood, directed by Ridley Scott for Universal starring Russell Crowe and Cate Blanchett, and The A-Team, directed by RSA Films director, Joe Carnahan and starring Liam Neeson and Bradley Cooper.
The company is also producing top quality TV projects such as “Numb3rs”, currently in its sixth season, and “The Good Wife” set for a second season, both for CBS, and big budget, independently financed mini-series “The Pillars of the Earth”, based on the best selling novel by Ken Follett, which was shot in Hungary and is currently in post production. Most recently, Scott Free’s film Into the Storm for HBO and BBC was nominated for 14 Emmys.
Scott Free works closely with RSA Films, the commercials company started by Ridley Scott more than forty years ago. RSA Films represents many established and up and coming filmmakers and one of Scott Free’s roles is to assist these directors in their feature film and television projects.
