Cross-media

365 - a film for a dime

Name: 365 - a film for a dime
Released: 2009

2009 · Participatory 20-second film cycle (Projekt 365 - film za 10 lipa) · Independent short-film initiative archive

Community-driven crowdfunding platform centered around a series of workshops where 60-second films were made to be sold in a bundle as a streaming subscription. Crowdfunding and mobile streaming before Netflix and Kickstarter even existed.

Participativni filmski pogon: 365 filmića od dvadeset sekundi po deset lipa, sa zaradom usmjerenom u nezavisnu produkciju.

365 - a film for a dime — production still

This project credentials: Workshops & mentoring

Notes from the producer

365 is my first big infrastructure project ever, first in the line of many where I entirely managed to let my imagine go wild and find the order within chaos when mixed with my technical/geek tendencies. The fact I was laughed out of rooms by potential investors for suggesting people would want, or even technically be able to stream videos on their phone, is a badge of honor i wear since, despite the fact that "beeing early and being wrong is the same thing".

The story

Projekt 365 - film za 10 lipa began in late 2009 as an attempt to turn a pile of loose short-film ideas into something that could run on repeat. The proposition was blunt and countable: make 365 films of roughly twenty seconds each, sell them for ten cents (lipa back then in Croatia), apiece as an ultra-cheap package, and route the proceeds back into financing independent film. The dime in the title is literal.

That proposition got a public stage in Zagreb on 16 November 2010 at 18:30 in Kino Mosor. The launch was built as a panel with a slide deck that kept circling the same practical questions - how an independent feature actually gets financed, what a small crew can realistically produce, and what can be sold - set against the project's own phase markers (autumn 2009, the 9th Revija amaterskog filma in 2010, the Four River Film Festival in 2010, Opuzen film festival in 2011 and 2012). The stated goals were plain: put money behind independent filmmakers, build a network among them, and transfer skills. Matija Radeljak led as producer with Luka Venturin as co-producer and coordinator, working out of the Studio Kubus orbit.

The messaging held together across the press. In early and mid-November 2010 the same offer ran through tportal, net.hr, NoviList, Nacional, CultureNet and Vecernji list - the same 365 films, the same twenty seconds, the same ten-lipa model with proceeds aimed at a fund for independent work. It also went to the street: the 365osmjeha photo series put the PROJEKT 365 brand into ordinary city corners with cameras and microphones in frame, and the web build read like an intake system with registration and activation flows, not just a poster. A SWOT sheet from the same period named the honest risks out loud - weak PR, no money, no equipment, no space - next to the bet on self-sustainability and mass reach.

Work continued past the opening night. A BSS (brainstorming session) on 11 December 2010 assigned roles and pushed new concepts into preparation, and the workshop model traveled south to the Opuzen Film Festival, where five shorts were produced under the 365 banner in August 2011 and a fresh workshop call went out for the 2012 edition with Radeljak and Venturin listed as mentors.

Milestones

2009-10-18 — Dated synopsis master sets the initial slate of short-film concepts
2009-11-20 — Production breakdowns drafted for shorts including Boca vina u 6 slika, Budjenje and Sto si rekao
2010-03 — First public workshop held at Revija amaterskog filma
2010-11 — Launch press push across Zagreb outlets (tportal, net.hr, NoviList, Nacional)
2010-11-16 — Public launch at Kino Mosor, Zagreb (18:30)
2010-12-11 — BSS working session assigns roles and moves new concepts into preparation
2011-08 — Five short films produced in the 365 workshop at Opuzen Film Festival
2012-08-15 — Workshop call issued for Opuzen Film Festival 2012 (OFF12)

Outcomes

Public launch — Projekt 365 launched on 16 November 2010 at Kino Mosor, Zagreb, with opening-event photo documentation in the archive
Press pickup — Coverage at launch across tportal, net.hr, NoviList, Nacional, CultureNet and Vecernji list, all describing the 365-film, ten-lipa model
Opuzen workshop films — Five short films produced within the 365 workshop at the Opuzen Film Festival in August 2011
Workshop expansion — A second Opuzen workshop call was issued for the 2012 festival edition, with Radeljak and Venturin as mentors

Credits

Matija Radeljak — Producer and project lead
Mislav Muretić — Technical coordinator
Ranka Latinović — Photography mentor
Hrvoje Telišman — Mentor
Luka Rukavina — Screenwriting mentor
Sandra Bencun — Public relations
Luka Venturin — Producer / executive producer / coordinator
Vlado Lencur — Concept contributor
Studio Kubus — Production studio