99 Percent: The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film is a feature-length documentary film being made by 99 independent filmmakers across the country. Among them are the directors, producers, editors and cinematographers of many award-winning, internationally distributed films. While 100% independent, the film is being made in a production process that mirrors the open and collaborative nature of the movement itself.
The project began when award-winning filmmakers Audrey Ewell and Aaron Aites decided that the most intriguing way to tell the story of the Occupy Movement – a movement that was sweeping across the country and encouraging everyone to have their voices heard – was to make a collaborative film about it.
They called some filmmaker friends and they theirs; within weeks, skilled directors, producers and editors got onboard, PR people, postproduction supervisors; award-winning filmmakers signed on alongside amateur videographers and everyone started pitching in what they could. People started helping each other with their shoots, with equipment and contacts. The film had taken off: the experimental process was working.
Together, the filmmakers are crafting a cohesive and compelling portrait of the movement. 99% – The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film takes a step back to look at how and why Occupy Wall Street erupted in the fall/winter of 2011 and how it has deeply affected the discourse in the United States and around the world. From the personal stories to the big picture issues, this film brings meaning and context to this exciting moment in contemporary history.
This film will be a compelling, cinematic, and honest portrait of the Occupy Wall Street movement, told from many perspectives, but unified and woven into a single, resonant portrait made with a collaborative ethos that mirrors the movement itself.
99% – The Occupy Wall Street Collaborative Film is a uniquely diverse telling of the movement that has swept up America, and much of the world, with its story.