Paul Verhoeven, the 73-year-old Dutch director of Basic Instinct and Robocop, will be attending MIPCOM next month to explain the concept behind his new “user generated” movie that will be made in collaboration with the general public.

He is due in Cannes on Oct 4 to hold a press conference and to meet buyers.

The project is the brainchild of Amsterdam-based company FCCE. It is being supported in the Netherlands by internet provider Ziggo.

The concept is:

Screenwriter Kim van Kooten has written a three minute screenplay (now available online). “The Albrecht family are sitting at the table” is how the screenplay begins. Now, members of the public are invited to make their own three-minute movie based on her screenplay.

Verhoeven and his team will look at all the movies submitted by the public before selecting one.

Then, Verhoeven will remake that three minute film with professional actors and technicians.

Then, the public will be invited to send in a second three minute episode.

Again, one mini-film will be chosen and re-made by Verhoeven. The idea is to build up to a 30 minute film. Both the versions by the public and Verhoeven’s remakes will be shown on TV. There will also be a “making of” series. The public will also be invited to design the poster, come up with the title and edit the trailer.

Verhoeven’s fellow Dutch director Martin Koolhoven (Winter In Wartime) is aboard the project as are leading casting directors and composers. Koolhoven’s job is reportedly to “filter” the best of the films made by the public.

The project was announced by Verhoeven on popular Dutch TV show, The World Turning Round. It is being produced by FCCE’s Rene Mioch and Justus Verkerk.

The completed film will be premiered in the Ziggo Dome in Amsterdam on May 28, 2012.

Speaking at the Holland Film Meeting in Utrecht this week, Mioch has confirmed that FCCE is aiming to licence the format internationally. He has also raised the possibility that Verhoeven’s short film might form the basis for a subsequent feature film.

“There is an interaction with filmmakers and the audience,” explained FCCE Chief Executive officer Mioch. The initiative is in the vein of Ridley Scott’s “Parallel Lines” project in which filmmakers were invited to make short films in different genres with the same six lines of dialogue.

The project is being called The Entertainment Experience. LG Electronics are also partnering on what is being billed in Holland as one of the world’s first user-generated movies.

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