Hey look a bunch of LEDs on a computer chip. Let's call that Open Source!

Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about the concept of Open Source Entertainment and just what that mash-up of different worlds could be.  …if anything.

Open Source, of course, comes from the open source software movement where a bunch of people from all over the world to work together in a sort of human cloud computer of developing new software.  Linux is the granddaddy of open source software but there are now numerous applications.  OpenOffice is an open-source Microsoft Office clone.  Blender is an impressive open-source 3D modeling application.

What’s interesting to me is the thought of applying open-source principals to creating filmed entertainment.  Part of the reason I’m considering this is my upcoming action/sci-fi series Divergence.  The first season of Divergence is being produced in a manner that has a lot of similarities to open source—that is, a lot of people working together  with the goal of creating something great, rather than immediately profiting.  In that way, low-budget filmmaking and open source software development have always shared a core key idea. (continue reading…)