Crowd sourcing online as a method for funding your film may seem unlikely but it actually happens. Sites like aswarmofangels, artistsshare and indiegogo offer filmmakers the opportunity to pitch to potential angel investors who (after contributing) have a collective say in your film (with mixed results). But this is new... Collectively generating content online for a corporately funded film - with confirmed theatrical release - is a groundbreaking development that, coupled with lowering costs in prosumer technology and increasing bandwith, may change the way films are created in the future. Supported by Intel, Mass Animation has created a crowd sourcing initiative on Facebook asking animators to contribute to a new computer-generated animated short slated for theatrical release. This collectively created film will be produced and directed by former Sony Pictures Digital President Yair Landau. "Live Music," the name of the CGI short, is inspired by Shakespeare's "Romeo and Juliet" and early CGI films. Set in a musical instrument store, the story follows Riff, a rock 'n' roll guitar, who, as Landau describes it, "falls in love to the wrong song but ends up with Vanessa, the classical violin of his dreams." The story is conveyed through the universal language of music, allowing the expressions and actions of the characters to be instantly relatable globally. The instruments are brought to life through original compositions and familiar rock tunes played principally by legendary guitarist Steve Vai as Riff and acclaimed violinist Ann Marie Calhoun as Vanessa. - Intel's pressroom An international jury of animation experts will select the shots to be considered for the film but Landau will have the final say as to which submissions make the final cut. The tools and 3-D models that animators will need to collaborate on this project including a limited duration version of Autodesk Maya* 3D Animation software** are provided, and can be accessed through the Mass Animation application on Facebook built by Aniboom. The collaboration will run through January 30th. It will be interesting to see what content is accepted or rejected, how contributors will be compensated (if at all) and how distribution rights will work in meatspace and online. Visit www.facebook.com/massanimation to start collaborating today.