• by Aaron Baar , April 26, 2013

The old Hollywood joke is, no matter what anyone is doing, they really want to direct. Along those lines, Canon is giving the public a chance to direct their own short films in a creative endeavor along with other celebrities and notables. 

The company is asking members of the general public to create content for its latest “Project Imaginat10n” (which used to just be “Project Imagin8tion”) film contest, asking anyone who so desires to create short films based on a pool of photos and submit them along with similar contributions from celebrities and notables such as Jamie Foxx, Eva Longoria, Twitter founder Biz Stone, LCD Soundsystem founder James Murphy and designer Georgina Chapman. 

Choosing from a pool of 91 photos that have already been submitted, both the celebrities and the general public applicants were tasked with making a short film based on 10 themes: Character, Mood, Goal, Backstory, Setting, Obstacle, Relationship, The Unknown, Time and Discovery (although the Discovery photo will be the same in each film to tile all the films together).

This is the third year for Canon’s Project Imagination program. In 2011, the brand enlisted Academy Award-winning director Ron Howard to use crowdsourced photos as inspiration for a short film project that he would produce. The resulting film, directed by Howard’s daughter Bryce, was called “when you find me,” and was about two sisters whose childhood bond is tested by tragedy. Bryce Howard will speak at several film schools and appear in a webisode series, “Bryce’s Project Imaginat10n Film Contest Tutorial,” as part of this year’s program. 

“My hope for the Project Imaginat10n film contest is that aspiring filmmakers will feel empowered to showcase their work and explore their own creativity,” the younger Howard said in a release. “I’m thrilled to have this opportunity to engage with the filmmakers and support them as they embark on this powerful odyssey into creativity and collaboration.”