Paulo Coelho is an internationally successful author who has written such books as The Alchemist and The Witch of Portobello. It is this last book that inspired The Experimental Witch Project. Coelho decided to explore what his readers saw in the book’s characters and the story he had created. He partnered with HP and created a contest to encourage filmmakers, musicians and artists:
People were encouraged to choose a character in the book and create a short film based on that character. The contest resulted in 6000 submissions and Coelho chose 15 winners. The total amount of footage created by those winners was 380 minutes. That footage is being edited into something that can be presented at a film festival, around 90 minutes, but Coelho intends to create a version of the film that will have all 380 minutes. He is aware that this would be a non-commercial property but believes it is the only way to properly explore all the work created by the various participants of the project.
Film contests aren’t new but what is interesting about this is Coelho’s willingness to embrace social media and New Media as a way of exploring the meaning of his story in the space between the reader and the author. Coelho has actively engaged that world by talking about his books and his life in a diverse number of virtual spaces such as YouTube and MySpace. He believes these are places where a worldwide audience can engage in conversation with an artist that has not been possible in the past. It is not about promotions or ego for Coelho as he is eager to have an opportunity to engage in the imaginative and creative ways that his audience will take his works and make them into something else. His goal as an artist has always been to share what he’s discovered inside his own soul. Using New Media he is now able to instantly gauge his success in the goal by the content and conversations created with his audiences in those online spaces.
