CollabFeature is an award-winning, record-breaking team of filmmakers from all over the world uniting to create multi-story films and series. We collaborate online, co-write scripts with connected storylines, and each film a piece of the story in our home city. Our first film “The Owner” follows a backpack around the world, stringing together 25 short stories on five continents, each co-written and directed by a different filmmaker, in a different part of the world. Our second feature follows the adventures of a single main character, played by 40 different actors and authored by 40 different filmmakers. By pooling our talents and resources with each new project, we create stories that are bigger and reach farther than any one of us can achieve on our own.
What are the past and current projects of CollabFeature?
In 2012, CollabFeature premiered our first international collaborative film, “The Owner” in theaters and festival all over the world. The film received the German IPTV Award for “Most Innovative Platform,” a Guinness World Record for “Most Directors of a Film” as well as extensive media coverage (CNN, the Huffington Post, Vogue, MTV Lebanon, the Times Of India and over sixty other media outlets.) “The Owner” is now available on iTunes, distributed through IndieRights. The film follows a backpack around the world, intersecting the lives of characters from every region of the world. It ties together 25 interconnected segments, each directed by a different filmmaker. Watch "The Owner" now on Amazon Prime.
Last Statement (2014) is a CollabFeature Short film based on the chilling final words of real-life inmates awaiting their execution on Death Row.
Our second feature "Train Station" will be released worldwide in early 2017. The film played over a dozen festivals (including Berlin Independent Film Festival and the D.C. Independent Film Festival) and won several awards including “Best Feature” at the LA Diversity Film Festival and “Best Narrative Feature” at the Kansas International Film Festival. The film follows the many choices of a single character, portrayed by 40 different actors around the world. Each choice the character makes is directed by a different director. .
We are now filming a dramatic series called "A Billion to One" that follows characters in different countries, trying to change the world and prove themselves most worthy to inherit a billionaire's fortune.
Soon, we will be launching our next feature film project and are looking for new filmmakers, screenwriters, and more collaborators to be a part of our groundbreaking team.
Who can participate?
Anyone who has completed a film (short or feature) is welcome to apply to be a filmmaker on the next CollabFeature project. Screenwriters who can provide work samples, as well as actors, producers, crew and post-production teams may apply to be collaborators. Current collaborators vote and democratically decide which new applicants are a good match with each project.
Is there an application fee or any cost to join?
It’s free to apply and free to participate. All of the overhead costs, including our award-winning collaboration log-in site, are covered by CollabFeature.
Will I receive credit and profit share?
Yes. All contributing filmmakers will receive credit and a percentage of any profit.
Will this project make money?
That is the goal of each film and it is a group effort to not only create each project collaboratively but to promote and pool our contacts. There is no guarantee that any independent film or series will make a profit. What gives a CollabFeature product an advantage is that together we are an army of promoters. We will relentlessly pursue distribution and international publicity, while building a grassroots audience.
Is there any funding?
On some projects, there is micro-funding or supplemental funding for the most active filmmakers. Our first two award-winning features were made with no outside funding, relying on all of us pooling our available resources, writing our stories based on what was feasible. Like every aspect of this project, funding is a group effort, made more possible when we unite to attract sponsors, investors, grants, audiences and to increase profitability of our films and series.
With so many directors, will the styles and looks be inconsistent?
By nature, the CollabFeature concept calls for a collision of directorial styles and intentions. Rather than fight it, we embrace the variety in a cohesive context, relying on strong narratives, as well as music, color grading, to carry the audience through the minds of many creators in harmony.
What is the time frame for the project?
Each project will have a different time frame, determined by the filmmakers of each group.
If you have directed a narrative film (short or feature) and are interested in collaborating with directors from around the globe, you can apply here.
