July 24 YouTube Time Capsule

This coming Saturday, July 24, will mark a milestone for the internet. YouTube and a pair of renowned filmmakers have invited citizens from around the globe to participate in what is being called the first user-generated feature-length documentary shot during the same 24 hours.

Titled LIFE IN A DAY, the experiment is being sponsored by the online clip site and involves such celebrated directors as Ridley Scott (ROBIN HOOD, GLADIATOR) and Kevin MacDonald (THE LAST KING OF SCOTLAND) who are executive  producing the project.  The end result, with entries selected by a blue ribbon panel of editors, will premiere at next year's Sundance Film Festival and will be available free on YouTube. The submission deadline is July 31, with a video gallery scheduled to be posted in August.

The film is meant to celebrates the website's fifth anniversary and showcase its international and egalitarian nature. The date of July 24 (7/24 or 24/7) was chosen because of both its symbolism (the website is available all day and all night every day) and its appeal during the slower days of summer.

The  estimate is that about 10,000 submissions from all over the world will end up being uploaded, including those shot on several hundred cameras that will be made available at no charge in South America, Africa and parts of Asia. This allows the project to lose the digital divide between the "first" and "third" worlds. The final film will run about 80 minutes.

The goal is to create a kind of time capsule of what it is to be alive on July 24, 2010 for both contemporary and future audiences to relish. For more information, visit: www.youtube.com/lifeinaday

Sandy Mandelberger, Film New York Editor