• WebMadeMovies: Mozilla's open video lab for filmmakers
• The problem: video doesn't yet behave like the rest of the web
• Hackers and filmmakers can fix this by working together
• Making compelling films that demo what open video can do
• And creating web video tools and award-winning productions
• Our ultimate goal: a new cinema that tells stories like the web does

WebMadeMovies: Mozilla's open video lab for filmmakers

WebMadeMovies is Mozilla's open video lab and production studio. We're bringing together the world's most innovative filmmakers and web developers to show the world what open video and HTML5 can do. Producing cutting-edge examples and reference implementations that show new ways of telling stories online. And collaborating on new web tools that will be used by filmmakers and web developers around the world. Our ultimate goal: create a new kind of cinema the works like the web.

The problem: video doesn't yet behave like the rest of the web

Video today is *on* the web, but not *of* the web -- difficult to search, link, quote or contextualize. We "embed" videos in pages, usually with closed players sealed off from the rest of the web around them. It's just TV in a web page. More critically: filmmakers lack the tools and techniques to tell interactive stories that break out of this box. They rarely work closely with web developers and don't have examples that show them how to pull the web *into their stories*.

Hackers and filmmakers can fix this by working together

New open video tools and standards like HTML5 can help us to unlock video's 21st century potential. We need to bring innovative hackers and filmmakers together to exploit the creative power of open video and give the world a taste of what's possible. This is what Web Made Movies will do, connecting independent filmmakers, CSS hackers, cross-media scriptwriters, Javascript wizards, PHP developers and graphic designers. All working to create cutting-edge web experiences that showcase what the open video can deliver that 'TV in a web page' can't.

Making compelling films that show what open video can do

We'll start with demos and reference implementations. Mozilla will build open video reference implementations around compelling short films about the open internet, with custom interfaces that enhance the story by pulling in content from across the web. Next we'll collaborate with other filmmakers and feature productions, delivering the interactive open video wrapper around their work.

And creating web video tools and award-winning productions

We'll also develop tools open video needs right now, including "popcorn.js" -- a Javascript library enabling video to interact with the rest of the web, mashing up google maps, image feeds, twitter accounts and other semantic data. We'll help filmmakers use these tools to produce marquee productions that generate buzz, set trends, and become high-profile examples audiences love and other filmmakers reference and emulate. Ultimately changing the market and culture around interactive productions online.

Our ultimate goal: a new cinema that tells stories like the web does

HTML5 and open video have created an exciting opportunity: cinema and journalism that can pull people and data from across the web into the story. Imagine...

• A web layer on every film, with links to Wikipedia, Flickr, Twitter, etc tied to each frame.
• Educational videos that update their content from the web, never going out of date
• Films with rich meta data and footnotes produced collaboratively by creators and audiences
• Dynamically edited videos that pull footage from across the web, letting viewers explore in real time.
• Custom web interfaces tailored to the story a film is telling.

Open web video can make this -- and applications we can't yet imagine -- possible. Creating new ways to inform, educate and entertain online.