Ron Howard and Daughter Bryce Collaborate on Project Imagin8ion Film

Ron Howard and Daughter Bryce Collaborate on Project Imagin8ion Film

: Published on Tuesday, November 29 2011; Written by Super User

For the first time in history, a user-generated photo contest, held by Canon, was made to inspire a Hollywood short film by filmmaker Ron Howard.

The contest was called “Project Imagin8ion” and was held in L.A. over the summer, and soon the short film will be ready for it’s premiere to the public! Howard, along with the Canon and Project Imagin8ion community, selected eight imaginative photographs to set the stage for the Hollywood production. The eight pictures were picked to inspire the various themes for the film: setting, time, character, mood, relationship, goal, obstacle, and the unknown.

Once Ron chose the winning eight images (out of 96,000 entries!), he began to collaborate production with his daughter Bryce Dallas Howard, who ultimately directed the short.

The winning photographs (see below) are: an old and deserted cockpit, a shinning and isolated white tree, a little girl swinging on a swing, a young woman looking out a spaceship window, a woman and her husband passionately hugging in a hospital, two girls running in a field, an old gate to a graveyard, and a young girl looking at a skyline.

Filming commenced in September and continued through October, but before production began, Ron voiced his concerns about the possible lack of focus, because although selecting the photos gave him a sense of control, he was not guaranteed that the photos would be able to be strung together to form a sensible plot.

Once the photos were finalized, Bryce and her writing partner Dane Charbeneau came together to write the script in different directions to correspond to the different themes and were eventually able to choose their favorite one: about two young girls who have to cope with the loss of their mother, and an emotional reconciliation years after.

Throughout the film, each photo is featured amid the story. Due to the broad spectrum of the photos, Bryce and Dane had to turn the short film into a sci-fi/fantasy — always an interesting twist!

Eventually, the short film was titled "when you found me" and had a beautifully modest premiere at New York’s American Museum of Natural History earlier this month. Although the red carpet was not studded with the high-powered producers or A-list actors as silver screen productions usually are, you cannot forget that Ron Howard is an Oscar-winner himself, and Bryce Dallas Howard has a flourishing career, having recently stared in 50/50. The "when you found me" red carpet did, however, feature the eight winning photographers, who were seen taking in the once-in-a-lifetime moment with amazement.

Bryce grew so inspired by the process of this film that she plans on merging public participation with much of her future film directing in the hopes of creating a new collaborative method of filmmaking.

Project Imagin8ion was such a success this summer that it has started another contest of entering photographs based on short excerpts from a script, which is almost the exact reverse of the first contest. “You inspired a Hollywood screenplay. Now let the screenplay inspire you.” is the quote featured on the project’s Website where a photographer has the opportunity to submit their work into the contest.

If you are curious about this contest-made-film, you can watch various videos about it’s creation, behind the scenes, the winner selection process, and much more on Project Imagin8ion’s YouTube page.

Watch the film’s trailer below and let us know what you think: