Filmmakers to Drive 10,000 Miles to Ask Oprah for $1

LOS ANGELES – Kiefer Sutherland, Stephen Colbert, and Kevin Bacon are just a few of the many celebrities joining thousands of producers to help create “The 1 Second Film,� an online-based non-profit art project being called the “largest collaboration in filmmaking history.� On October 4th, the non-profit collaboration begins a 10,000-mile quest to ask Oprah Winfrey to join their list of producers, simply by donating $1.

One dollar is the minimum amount to be credited as a producer of the innovative micro-collaborative project, which is using the Internet to allow anyone in the world to make a movie together. To date, the production has raised over $170,000 of a $1 million goal with the help of over 7,700 producers from 50 countries. But will Oprah join them? That is the question the filmmakers are preparing to drive 10,000 miles to find out.

On September 21st, The 1 Second Film's “Road to Oprah� documentary crew (and band) kicked off YouTube’s Live Performance series at their corporate headquarters in San Bruno, California. The YouTube visit followed a presentation by creator/director Mullick at Google’s as part of their speaker series. Traveling to the two presentations served as a test-drive for the Road to Oprah bio-bus, and the film crew and band stopped by the Haight in San Francisco and Telegraph Ave in Berkeley for impromptu performances on the journey home to Los Angeles.

On October 4th the Road to Oprah team will embark on a 30-day bio-diesel tour across the US and Canada, starting from the Armory Center for the Arts in Pasadena, CA and ending in Chicago, IL, where they hope to meet Oprah Winfrey to ask her for $1


Along their way to Chicago, The 1 Second Film crew and accompanying band will be visiting dozens of universities and house parties to give presentations about their work in progress. Speaking events are being set up with the help of the film's online producers across the country. The crew will be traveling in a converted bio-diesel school bus purchased with online donations.

"This project has grown very organically," says Nirvan Mullick, an award-winning director who began the project 7 years ago while studying animation at California Institute of the Arts.

One brief second of experimental animation is at the core of the project, which has grown to include an online community and a making of documentary fueled by grassroots and celebrity support. The documentary includes footage uploaded by producers via the website, as well as appearances by many of the celebrities involved. The 24 frames of animation consist of large 5ft x 9ft murals that were painted by hundreds of participants during a collaborative event held at CalArts on March 8th, 2001 (International Women’s Day).

Mullick has formed a non-profit foundation to oversee the effort, and will donate profits from the finished film to the Global Fund for Women. "The film is about the collaborative process," says Mullick, who believes art can bring people together in powerful ways.

After graduating CalArts, Mullick developed a 5 Phase Plan to expand the micro-collaborative concept to address various social issues. The goal- to bring people together, one second at a time.

Three years ago Mullick set out to grow the project beyond his school. Starting with no budget and a simple flier, he began pitching his film to people met on the streets of Hollywood, raising funds dollar-by-dollar.

After capturing the imagination - and spare change - of hundreds, including celebrities like Christina Ricci and Ben Harper, Mullick saved enough to buy a camera and began posting entertaining videos of the fund raising adventure on the1secondfilm.com.

As word quickly spread online, thousands of donations, letters, pictures, and videos came in from around the world. Using the online donations, Mullick developed the1secondfilm.com into a mini-social-network, giving the thousands of producers unique profiles to allow further participation.

“I like to support this kind of artistic endeavor,� says actor Seth Green in a video embedded in his producer profile on the1secondfilm.com. Green chipped in $41 after meeting Mullick at the Sundance Film Festival.

“It’s inspiring to be a small part of something so big,� says David Gallimore, a DMV employee in Georgia who sent in $500 after finding the project online.

Mullick says the idea of selling $1 producer credits came from selling chocolate bars as a kid. Is a $1 Producer credit really valid? "It's as valid as most of my credits," asserts Stephen Colbert, who donated $11 to become a Producer. Colbert even requested the Internet Movie Database add his credit. IMDb complied before being overwhelmed by the film's thousands of producer credits.

In order to list all the participants, Mullick estimates the end credits will last an astounding 90 minutes; producers will be listed in order of amount. Kiefer Sutherland is amongst the top Executive Producers after donating $600.23 at a restaurant. A celebrity-laden making of documentary will play alongside the credits, culminating with the Road to Oprah quest.

“Oprah probably has no idea we are coming yet,� says Mullick. In an effort to let Oprah know, the filmmakers recently launched www.roadtooprah.com where people can click a button to “Tell Oprah� about their quest, coordinate and attend events in their city, and follow the adventures along the way.

“We have no idea what will happen,� says Juli Crockett, lead singer of the folk/Americana band The Evangenitals (www.evangenitals.com) who will be touring with the film and composing songs on the road about the journey, "this film is really about the journey."

The Road to Oprah tour will be the culmination of a one-second film several years in the making, as the production attempts to bring as many people as possible together to make film history.

For more info, please visit www.RoadToOprah.com and www.the1secondfilm.com

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