Lady Geek

Great idea from Nokia:

They are working with director, Spike Lee to make a series of short films comprised of video captured by regular folk on their mobile phone.  Nokia intend to create the world’s first social film. People will be asked to film content on their mobiles (which need not be Nokia devices) and submit them for consideration. The end result will be a film in three acts around the theme of humanity.

I love the idea that power is in the hands of people now.   All you need to be a filmmaker now is a mobile phone. Nokia claims that by 2012, “one out of every four consumers will create, edit or share entertainment with friends, instead of getting it from traditional media outlets like television or movie studios.”

Pundits and corporate spokespeople have been making claims like this for a very long time, and despite my most profound yearnings big-media is still around. I’m not fully convinced that the mobiles of 2012 will be able to replicate the cinema experience, nevertheless the trend is clearly in Nokia’s favor.

This is where most brands seem to be going.  There are 3 elements to this strategy.  First, to get real people to be part of the brand story and inspire user generated content.  Secondly, rather then tell and sell (the old advertising model), to inspire people to tell their story demonstrating the capabilities products (like the Sony foam ad).    The third element is not a new one: to get people to be part of the distribution of their story. This is clearly in line with Nokia’s strategy to be much more than a phone, more of the swiss army life for the information society.

As Spike Lee states, all films will be made like this in 5 years.  Technology has made this possible.  What an exciting time to work in the technology space.