Reel Deal: "The 1-Second Film"

What if I told you that you could be a movie producer? It’s a (extremely) short film from a no-name animator, and the credits will run for about an hour after the film ends. There’s no pay involved, but celebrities like Kiefer Sutherland, Stephen Colbert, Jonah Hill, and Spike Jonze will share producer credit with you. No past experience necessary. All you need is a buck.

For ten years now, animation artist Nirvan Mullick has been making pitches much like this one to nearly everyone he’s met. His film project, which has been gaining an impressive amount of attention in cinema circles, is founded on a concept that’s bafflingly simple yet truly avant-garde: A non-profit film funded by anybody willing to cough up a buck. It contains twelve paintings that each occupy two film frames, making for a total of 24 frames, or one second of film. Then the hour-long credits list everyone who donated.

My first reaction: Count me in. This is one of those rare opportunities where you can be broke and still be a patron of the arts. Plus, if they alphabetically list the names of celebrities and average-Joe’s together, my name will be right next to Paul Giamatti’s.

I was right about the first part. It doesn’t cost much at all to get your name on the credits reel. It just depends on what title you’d like. If you donate between anything between $1.00 and $9.99, you’ll be listed as “Associate Producer.” You can buy a credit for “Producer” by donating anything between $10.00 and $99.99, and an “Executive Producer” credit requires a donation of $100.00 and up. Or, if you’re lazy like me, you can go to the film’s website (www.the1secondfilm.com) and create a free user account, which will land you a spot in the “Special Thanks” section of the credits.

However, even if I was compelled to donate something besides the precious two minutes it took to create my account, Mr. Giamatti and I probably wouldn’t share the screen. According to Mullick, donators will be listed in order of how much they contributed, which has gotten everyone donating $1.01 instead of $1.00 (that puts you ahead of almost 5,000 names).

This project was first conceived in 1997, when Nirvan Mullick was a student in New College, Florida. After reading Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Nausea” in a philosophy course, Mullick became enamored with Sartre’s concept of “perfect moments,” and vowed to create such a moment sometime in his life. He spent two years teaching himself animation, and by then knew for sure what his moment would consist of. Inviting hundreds of artists together for an overnight painting party, all twelve 9×5 frames were completed in one night. By 2001, Mullick was traveling everywhere with miniature copies of the frames as well as notices explaining the one-second film. Armed with cheesy fliers and a video camera, Mullick approached everyone he could find (including George Clooney, who turned him down), filming many of his encounters. In fact, several of Mullick’s celebrity interviews can be viewed on YouTube (here, Stephen Colbert).

All profits made from the one-second film will be given to the Global Fund for Women, a San Francisco-based charity committed to improving women’s health and education.

According to the film’s website, Mullick plans on a world premiere in 2011, but it’s unclear when the film will be through with the editing and post-production phase. Though a production timeline of the one-second film lists March 8, 2011 as the premiere date, Mullick writes “This date is a goal. We still aren’t sure when the film will be completed. How long it takes us to finish our film largely depends on the rate in which we fundraise for post production.”

The sooner the better. I can’t wait to be famous. However, in addition to the production of the film itself, Mullick is also working on an hour-long making-of documentary that will play alongside the credits reel. I suppose you need to keep us “Special Thanks” cheapskates entertained while we wait fifty minutes for our few moments of stardom.