Twenty-five Short Filmmakers from Around the World Make a Feature Film.

May 26, 2010 - São Paulo, Brazil

On May 29, 2010, the first of twenty-five filmmakers involved in an international collaborative film project will start principal photography in São Paulo. Rafael Yoshida answered an online ad seeking independent filmmakers to “make a small part of a feature film in your own city.” This weekend Yoshida will shoot his segment in a small country village in Southern Brazil—a segment he conceived and wrote for the CollabFeature project.

Twenty-five filmmakers in nineteen cities, fourteen countries and five continents used email, instant messaging and a special web application to communicate, plan and brainstorm ideas. The group came up with an outline for an episodic feature about a lost backpack that gets passed from person to person and country to country. Each wrote a screenplay for a four minute segment set in his or her locale.

“This isn’t just another anthology film or a contest with an assignment. This is true collaboration,” said project co-founder, Marty Shea—a filmmaker from the US. Each segment connects to the other episodes in an interesting way. When geography permits, some segments share actors. In others, characters communicate by telephone, mail and via the Internet. The directors were encouraged to craft segments that express their individuality and their own diverse cultures. “We wanted a clashing of styles and perspectives. We have over a dozen languages. It makes for a very exciting script.”

A week after Yoshida’s segment wraps, the next shoot will commence in Hong Kong, followed by Berlin and Mumbai. The remaining segments will shoot throughout the summer of 2010. The edited segments will be sent to Detroit, Michigan where they will be compiled into a single feature. The finished film (working title “The Lost Backpack”) will then try its fortune on the film festival circuit.

Shea and longtime partner Ian Bonner came up with the idea for the project after completing several award-winning short films. “Making shorts has been a great experience for me,” said Shea. “When your shoot only lasts a weekend it’s easy to pull favors, get equipment discounts and the like. When working on independent features, it can be difficult to pull together all the resources. I figured there must be other people who feel the same. Why not join forces?”

About CollabFeature
CollabFeature was started by filmmakers Marty Shea and Ian Bonner in Detroit, Michigan, USA to facilitate collaborative projects between international filmmakers. The pair has written and directed seven short films that have screened and won awards at dozens of film festivals internationally.

About Rafael Yoshida
Rafael Yoshida is a 23-year-old Brazilian director, graduated in radio and television. He started his career as a location magazine, has been a producer and editor and currently works as a 1st assistant director for Gatacine Productions. After CollabFeature, he will be moving to New York City to pursue directing. Rafael has directed two short films, the Internet series, A.li.bi. as well as sporting events.

CollabFeature Contact:
Website: http://www.collabfeature.com.
Contact:
Marty Shea, Project Director
681 W. Canfield #1
Detroit, MI 48210
(312) 307-6413
info@collabfeature.com

This release was published on openPR.