Media Decoder Blog: G.E. and Cinelan to Produce Short Films About Innovation

LOS ANGELES — General Electric just can’t stay away from the movies. Barely eight months after ceding control of NBC Universal and its Universal Studios to Comcast, G.E. is diving into the documentary world as the financial backer of 30 three-minute films by directors including Morgan Spurlock (“POM Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold”), Joe Berlinger (“Crude”), Barbara Kopple (“Shut Up and Sing”) and Alex Gibney (“Magic Trip: Ken Kesey’s Search for a Kool Place”).

The idea is to join Cinelan, a publisher of videos that tell stories within three minutes or less, in generating very short movies about world-changing innovation, through a project that has yet to be titled, according to both Mr. Spurlock and Karol Martesko-Fenster, a Cinelan founding director.

“We’re really putting a call out to filmmakers, to see what they can come up with,” said Mr. Martesko-Fenster, who joined Mr. Spurlock in discussing the project by telephone last week. Mr. Spurlock suggested that a film about, say, the invention of microfinancing techniques might fill the bill, though no subjects have yet been set.

Mr. Spurlock, Mr. Berlinger, Jessica Yu (“Ping Pong Playa”) and others are expected to join Mr. Martesko-Fenster in introducing the project next month at the Toronto International Film Festival, where Cinelan and G.E. will be sponsoring get-togethers at a filmmakers’ lounge.

The first films should be ready to show at the Sundance Film Festival early next year. The minimovies, whatever their subjects may be, will also appear at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York and elsewhere, and will simultaneously be circulated on the Web, both through a planned site and through syndication.

In a statement, Judy Hu, a G.E. executive who oversees advertising and branding matters, said her company hoped to “inspire people to continue to work to change the world for the better.”

The filmmakers, said Mr. Spurlock and Mr. Martesko-Fenster, will be paid a license fee for initial use of the films, but will ultimately own the rights. As for the festivals, they said, the project is a breakthrough for those who have long been trying to get G. E. on board.

“They’ve been talking to G.E. ad infinitum, to get them involved with the festivals” Mr. Martesko-Fenster said.

Article source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=243ee3f37e644ffd14e1a660ca5c7576