Originally Posted by Geir Inge (Post 1791084)

Uwol was conceived in 2006 by Chris Hurd and the first competition (Uwol # 1) in January 2007 with Meryem Ersoz as our guiding star and leader.
What if we made ​​a film about us participants, being a part of Uwol and what we do?
After so many years we have accumulated a lot of material, from all continents.
Uwol is best known among us who participate, not that known for the rest of the world.
What if we made ​​a nature video with Uwol as theme and starting point?
A film that deals with how we work together across continents and countries, with the Internet as a venue? And we are celebrating the 25th round?
I think it will be of great interest for many TV stations around the world.
Few of us have met, still we talk to eachother as good old friends.
I think it will be a scoop; "world cooperation of nature videographers".

This is only a thought, but why shoot new footage when we have so much unused and ready to be broadcast? It does not matter whether we use what we have presented in Uwol.
In Norwegian we call it recycled, which is good for the environment ;o)
This will be a feature film that shows "Best of Uwol". The job is to edit the monster :/
AND pick the right tracks.
AND ask Chris if we can use this forum.

Imagine, 5 minutes on each will be a feature length nature films from around the world.

Originally Posted by Meryem Ersoz (Post 1792063)

Wow, it's great to see the UWOL energy still going strong and pioneering into new realms of ambition! and insanity!

also glad to hear that Chris still has the archives and can make them available...some remarkable, inspirational, unforgettable, and touching moments are in those archives....

I think that making collaborative projects is a logical and intelligent step towards developing yourself as a filmmaker. it's always great to be able to run around by yourself with your camera. collaboration, however, is a great teacher and will, by its very nature, take you all (UWOL) to new arenas of development in the craft.

Trond asked me to supply a few notes - words of advice - whatever. The more I know, the less I know but here goes:

Keep your core concepts simple. Let complexity arise from the simplicity. I cannot stress this enough. The more people you involve, the more that complexity will arise naturally - you don't need to create it.

Have core concepts which you stress often and refer back to often. Express those core commitments periodically so that you can re-commit to them. Otherwise the proliferation of opinions and ideas, which are great in the beginning when the energy is high, will create a "dispersal effect" where lots of great ideas and opinions get bandied about but nothing gets done.

A director is a good idea. Someone who holds the vision and the core concept for everyone with unflagging energy and enthusiasm. As a corollary to that - it's much harder than it sounds. What looks easy from the outside, is a lot of work, on the inside.

UWOL is lucky to have a guiding hand like Lorinda, in that regard, who keeps it light and makes it look easy - when it is not! Which she may only admit over beers (or some other weird adult beverage, in the wee hours of the night). Keeping the juice flowing and the energy directed is almost a fulltime job itself. It is a tried and true, efficient way to get things done.

That director will need core support - I was lucky, very lucky, to have Railsback and Thompson drop into my lap. I could not have asked for better teammates. We disagreed frequently and sometimes vehemently but respected each other, always, and remain bonded for life to this day, from our UWOL experiences.

So having a committee is a good idea, it keeps things collaborative but also keeps the energy centralized - at the same time.

Let your leaders and your players make mistakes. It will happen. Be forgiving. Be loving. Release judgment.

those are a few ruminations, for what they are worth. But I think, as in all things UWOL, the infamous rule #11 is always the key.

Have fun!

Originally Posted by Geir Inge (Post 1792257)

Here is the same comment I added to the Cattle Uwol project:
Every second year, the Wildlife Vaasa International Film Festival continues in Finland.
I think next will be in November 2014, with the filing deadline in August.
If the time frame for the project is for one year, maybe it might be a secondary goal that we try two include both Uwol projects of this festival?