Not only is this humble blog entry the very first in the story of the production of the CoProducer movie, but the project itself is also the very first of its kind.

Here at YouGov we firmly believe that many heads are better than one. With the CoProducer project, we have put this belief into action by enlisting the help of thousands of people to make a really awesome movie.

CoProducer is the world’s very first movie project where the combined wisdom of thousands of people drives the creative decisions. YouGov is financing the project, but all the big decisions about the movie’s plot, characters, set and props are being made by our panellists. Anyone who joins the YouGov panel can get involved in the CoProducer project and shape the future direction of the movie.

Currently the movie is in “soft pre-production” stage. Essentially, we've got the feature-length story structure in place and we are now refining it – or rather, the panellists are, by giving us their feedback! - before our professional screenwriter turns it into a script. We have produced a set of animatics (that is, voiceover layered over animated storyboards) of the proposed plot, for panellists to watch and rate. Once the whole plot has been rated in animatic form, then the script will be written and we will begin casting. And I'll be keeping you up-to-date with the project throughout the entire process!

In keeping with the theme of movie firsts, here are few famous ones -

First thriller movie

The Lodger: A Story of the London Fog is reputed to be the first thriller movie ever made, way back in 1927. It was directed, not unsurprisingly, by Alfred Hitchcock.

First onscreen kiss

The first onscreen kiss came in 1896 with the movie The Kiss (an original name I know, but at the time it was considered very controversial). The kiss lasted for 30 seconds and caused a great scandal amongst defenders of public morality. One critic even proclaimed that “it is absolutely disgusting. Such things call for police interference.”

First movie star

For many this peculiar title goes to Florence Lawrence. She was a Canadian actress and had the nickname “The Girl of 1000 faces”. She received the first ever screen credit in 1910 with the movie The Broken Oath.

First feature-length movie

The Story of the Kelly Gang claims this prize. The movie was made in 1906 and tells the story of the Australian bushranger Ned Kelly (probably best known from the Heath Ledger movie of 2003). The feature was made for a mere $2,250 and was shot entirely in Melbourne. John Tait wrote the script and the movie starred Kelly’s actual sister, Elizabeth.

First multi-release

A Field of England directed by Ben Wheatley has the honour of being the movie which had the first true multi-release. What “multi-release” means is that when the movie came out, it was released across multiple platforms simultaneously: cinema, DVD and online.

What famous firsts can you think of? What was the first movie you ever saw or the first thriller even? Let us known in the comments below!

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