Crowdsourcing: Open up the Dialogue

A key element to building a community around your film is what we call the "2-Way Street." The idea is that by opening up dialogue between you and your fans, you'll build a stronger more involved community.

A great way to do this is to utilize the idea of crowdsourcing. Ask your fans for their input. This builds their commitment to the project by directly involving them in its success, and you'll get to take advantage of a wide range of fresh ideas.

For example, this weekend at "The Conversation", a discussion on the changing landscape of media, Michael Ferris Gibson explained how he took advantage of crowdsourcing for his films 24 Hours on Craigslist and Truth in Numbers: The Wikipedia Story. After creating a simple craigslist post inquiring about whether there was anyone else out there interested in making a film on craigslist, Gibson received around 500 replies overnight with suggestions and requests to help. Likewise, when first conceptualizing Truth in Numbers: The Wikipedia Story, Gibson started a basic Wikipedia post, and Wikipedia users contributed input helping to flesh out the concept. Ultimately, the ideas and connections created by this crowd led to the creation and production of both films.

Simply by using crowdsourcing and getting fans involved, Gibson was able to take two very basic ideas and turn them into completed groundbreaking films with a pre-existing committed fan base.

Your use of crowdsourcing doesn't have to be as all-encompassing as Gibson's to be effective. Crowdsourcing on a smaller scale is just as useful. Maybe allow your fans to help you name one of your characters or pick a location for a certain scene. As we've seen from Michael Ferris Gibson, there really is no limit to what can be crowdsourced. Be creative. Ultimately, what's most important is that you're opening up the lines of dialogue and creating that 2-Way Street.