Grants:Project/Òscar Piera/Catalan Wikipedia Documentary Film
gmail.com
Project idea
edit- The idea is to create a documentary film (45 min. length, aprox.) relating the history of Catalan Wikipedia and its sister projects as the final gift for the community during the 20th anniversary celebrations. We need to buy archive footage (and achieve that it is released under a free license) as well as to record new footage, including music.
- The film will be released under free licences, so it can properly work as a promotion campaign of Wikimedia projects, and because free licences are the only which align with our philosophy.
- Also, footage can be reused for online campaigns and graphism is intended to be reused in future Catalan Wikipedia help-videos, as discussed by our advisor with Amical Wikimedia’s board and video commission.
- We will provide subtitles, to have a broader audience than Catalan speakers only.
- In order to make more meaningful the expenditure of money, a podcast version will be done reutilizing the film materials.
What is the problem you're trying to solve?
editWhat problem are you trying to solve by doing this project? This problem should be small enough that you expect it to be completely or mostly resolved by the end of this project.
Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
The documentary aims at several problems. One of them is the lack of institutional memory inside the Catalan speaking community, which has had several internal problems during the last two years. With the creation of a film that covers the evolution of the project, we want that new members are able to identify the actors, projects and ideas that have made what Catalan Wikipedia is today.
Also inside the community there have been debates about what is the model of Amical and which are the particular characteristics of Catalan Wikipedia, if there are any. Unlike internal written documents, a documentary can be shared outside internal networks, so it can also have an important role in explaining to our society who wikimedians are and their mission, and hopefully gain more viewers, readers and editors. Readership was identified by Amical’s Strategic Plan as their weakest point, so for the Catalan community is also very important because readership is one of the entrance doors for new editors.
Also, explaining Catalan-language project philosophy, how are developed and the Amical way should also be a great introduction card for partners, hopefully increasing awareness and interest in Wikimedia projects and, eventually, gaining also editors though that way. This workline aligns with Amical Wikimedia’s current Strategy Plan, reinforcing the Discourse and Community areas, so this project is aligned with local affiliate’s needs. We are in touch with the local community, particularly the Valencian one, in order to make the project fruitful and aligned with the community values.
Lastly, the Catalan language community, as any other, can be an example of a mature community useful for new and emerging communities. The new Wikimedia linguistic communities will, by force, come from minoritized or minority languages, and the Catalan experience might be closer to their situation than, to say, Italian, Russian or Japanese. So, this documentary might also work as a formative tool for emerging communities.
And, from a non-editor point of view, it is great to better understand and discover how Wikipedia works and how the Wikimedia Movement emerged in our linguistic context.
What is your solution to this problem?
editFor the problem you identified in the previous section, briefly describe your how you would like to address this problem.
We recognize that there are many ways to solve a problem. We’d like to understand why you chose this particular solution, and why you think it is worth pursuing.
Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
For the Catalan community the film will work as a mirror: “we will see ourselves and what we have done so far”. It can work like a testament to new members, but also will work as food for thought for the established or veteran members. We plan to release the film on several online platforms, and we expect to have it aired by any public TV station in our area, with the objective of having the most audience possible, and making of the documentary the Catalan Wikimedia Projects’ introduction card for newbies and curious people who might become Wikimedians but haven't dared yet. When it comes to emerging communities, it will be a good example of the evolution of a wikimedia community, and we plan to subtitle the documentary in order to make it easy to understand for people around the globe. Once again, to be in touch with local wikimedians and communities around the world is key to success, so we contacted some editors to overlook our work.
Project goals
editWhat are your goals for this project? Your goals should describe the top two or three benefits that will come out of your project. These should be benefits to the Wikimedia projects or Wikimedia communities. They should not be benefits to you individually.
Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
Our goal is to raise awareness about the Catalan projects among the Catalan-speaking people, both making Wikimedia projects easier to understand and inviting them to join the community. When successful, this would lead to an increase of partnerships and also an increase in editors, whether new editors or by motivation or reengaging existing ones.
Another objective is to make the film a document that captures the first 20 years of Wikimedia projects and the 10 years of Amical Wikimedia (2008-2018), in order to provide internal memory to those communities. That would help the community to have a better understanding of itself, increasing Community Health and the sense of belonging to a shared entity. Besides, having the option of knowing in a fast, coherent way, what has been done in the local sphere of the movement before, should increase the leadership skills of the community and make faster the time required for emerging leaderships to have a consistent knowledge of their own community.
The objective of using the documentary as a formative tool for Wikimedia Communities can be exported to emerging communities by providing subtitles, providing a fast-to-share document with a study-case of Wikimedia community in a minoritized (and, somehow, minority) language.
The rationale to make a documentary film instead of any other tools (Research paper, wiki-essay, etc…) comes from Strategy Discussions and the Innovate in Free Knowledge recommendation. Currently, especially among youngsters, the visual content is far more consumed than written one, so the idea of a free-licensed, editable audiovisual document aligns with what we plan to build in the future.
Project impact
editHow will you know if you have met your goals?
editFor each of your goals, we’d like you to answer the following questions:
- During your project, what will you do to achieve this goal? (These are your outputs.)
- Once your project is over, how will it continue to positively impact the Wikimedia community or projects? (These are your outcomes.)
For each of your answers, think about how you will capture this information. Will you capture it with a survey? With a story? Will you measure it with a number? Remember, if you plan to measure a number, you will need to set a numeric target in your proposal (i.e. 45 people, 10 articles, 100 scanned documents).
Remember to review the tutorial for tips on how to answer this question.
When it comes to participation in the film itself, our objective is to cover the whole history of Catalan Wikipedia, with relevant agents from every period of time. We have confirmed the participation of more than 15 different people, volunteers of the different projects, covering the whole timelapse.
Our final objective is to make most of the Catalan community, including partners, feel part of this.
Also, the film will appear in a moment, 2021, where several GLAM projects are going to start or reignite, at least in the Land of Valencia and Balearic Islands area. Thanks to those partnerships that are being arranged right now, local wikimedians can have a series of meetings or edit-a-thons, probably virtual, that can be used as an entrance door for new members. Providing them with Multimedia content can generate interesting sinergies when gaining trust and fidelity with those partners.
The idea of a documentary isn’t new, as in 2012 the Catalan Public Broadcaster already produced and aired a documentary film that worked well in terms of public perception, so it can be reasonable to assume that this time it will also work that way. To have a documentary film about ourselves also makes Wikimedia projects, their communities and editors to appear as “more serious” at the eyes of society and partners, so improving the image of the movement, which should provide a growth in engagement and members.
The objective of gaining editors and reinforcing the discourse and leadership skills of the community is hard to measure, and somehow is a long-term effort. But by the end of 2021 we should be able to, at least, measure the impact of the film when it comes to feedback and social media sharing.
Project plan
editActivities
editTell us how you'll carry out your project. What will you and other organizers spend your time doing? What will you have done at the end of your project? How will you follow-up with people that are involved with your project?
When it comes to the Recording and Production phase, activities will be adapted to the current medical situation, but the original plan is to record those agents with a strong role in the history of the movement in the Catalan-speaking areas, while geting online participation from agents that might be important but will have a reduced screen time, so having them at a lower resolution can be justified. We contact the agents, we get their statements, and we make a film with the footage.
The most interesting part comes when releasing, as the previous work would be useless if nobody watches the film. Our intention is to upload the film on several online repositories (Youtube, Commons…), to appeal to partners, our community, etc, and share it on the internet, as we usually do with many media works covering us.
Another line of work is to get it aired by the local public TV stations. We are in contact with some of the Public Media Corporations in the Catalonia and Valencia area, and while we can’t assure anything, our objective is to make them interested in our product.
When it comes to foreign communities, our plan is to provide subtitles in some languages (Spanish, Arabic, French, English, Chinese or Hindi) to get into a wide variety of emerging communities, that must be contacted either directly or by repeating the online strategy.
To reinforce the idea of the film as an entrance door for editing, we plan to do a premiere in Valencia, that will be followed by an edit-a-thon if in-person activities are allowed, and we can also support ourselves on the activities arranged by the local community, in a two direction channel: the documentary as a “motivator” tool before or after the workshop, and the local activities as a “hook” to make people watch the film.
Recently, we got an offer by the Provincial Council of Valencia to use the Neobyzantine chapel of the Centre Cultural la Beneficència as the venue to premiere the film. It would be a nice place, as the Cultural Center, that already hosted Viquipedia’s 2016 AGM, would allow us to make a parallel edit-a-thon during the premiere. It’s a good venue, it can be adapted to Covid-19 safety measures and they have been a partner of the local community for over five years, with three museums at their charge, so it’s an attractive offer (and cost-free, aligned with the austerity values defended by wikimedians).
Budget
editHow you will use the funds you are requesting? List bullet points for each expense. (You can create a table later if needed.) Don’t forget to include a total amount, and update this amount in the Probox at the top of your page too!
‘’’Preproduction’’’
- Documentation and redaction: 1744
- Administrative expenses: 423
- Script: 1050
‘’’Recording’’’
- Filming: 2455
- Production: 1939
- Diverse expenditure: 830
‘’’Mounting’’’
- Archive footage: 1757
- Edition: 1989
- Sound: 1500
- Calibration: 800
- Ex. Production: 1360
‘’’Communication’’’
- Press: 1743
- Publicity: 900
‘’’Postproduction’’’
- Dubbing and podcasting: 1000
- Subtitles (8 languages): 1000
- Various expenses: 500
TOTAL: 20990 EUR VAT: 4407.9 FINAL: 25397.9 EUR
In case of obtaining funding by alternative ways, such as public funding, any unspent funds would be returned to WMF. The post production phase has not budgeted any rental cost for premiere as we already have an offer for a free venue.
Community engagement
editHow will you let others in your community know about your project? Why are you targeting a specific audience? How will you engage the community you’re aiming to serve at various points during your project? Community input and participation helps make projects successful.
To make a documentary film about a given Wikimedia Community, the participation of that Community is mandatory. We have confirmed the participation of more than 15 Wikimedia members, covering every phase of the internal history.
The reasoning can be very quite redundant after reading the Activities section. Basically, we need to engage communities to participate in the film to make it possible, and we have to make them watch the film and share it if we want to make the project useful.
Get involved
editParticipants
editPlease use this section to tell us more about who is working on this project. For each member of the team, please describe any project-related skills, experience, or other background you have that might help contribute to making this idea a success.
- Òscar Piera: Multimedia producer, with Tresdeu has been in charge of two different TV shows for Valencian Public TV. Also, they’ve worked with cultural centers such as Las Naves, and creating videoclips for multiple bands, receiving several awards.
- With Tresdeu Media, he has previously released free media to Wikimedia Commons, 1, 2 and videos. Also, Tresdeu has covered local wikimedia activities several times: link, in partnership with Francesc Fort. Tresdeu also is a partner of La Represa, multimedia project released with Free Licenses made by local wikimedia advocacer Francesc Fort.
Among confirmed collaborators there are:
- Francesc Fort: Catalan Wikipedia editor for more than 10 years, he knows the history of the Catalan-speaking communities and will help with script being in contact with communities. He was a writer and the producer of the first music programme of the Valencian Public Radio.
- Marc Torner: Music producer, he has worked for some of the bands Tresdeu worked with, such as Aspencat or Xavi Sarrià, who have a big name in the Catalan-language scene. He will be in charge of both of the sound and will make the soundtrack of the film.
Community notification
editYou are responsible for notifying relevant communities of your proposal, so that they can help you! Depending on your project, notification may be most appropriate on a Village Pump, talk page, mailing list, etc.--> Please paste links below to where relevant communities have been notified of your proposal, and to any other relevant community discussions. Need notification tips?
An announcement was made before the creation of the proposal. Amical Wikimedia's members know the existence of the project since past October, with mailing list announcements been done.
Some of the participants have already been contacted and their participation is confirmed. Because of the nature of the project, community members will be periodically updated and receive information, as they will be the film protagonists.
Once finished, the film will be shared through several channels, and uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. Everything will be announced on Village Pumps, so anybody missed the chance of watching the film.
Endorsements
editDo you think this project should be selected for a Project Grant? Please add your name and rationale for endorsing this project below! (Other constructive feedback is welcome on the discussion page).
- I wholeheartedly support this project, not only for the immense value of "writing down" part of the Wikimedia Movement History (something we wikimedians usually have a lot of difficulty doing, even if we love to chat about it all the time) and an important chapter of it (I think, the building of the first ThOrg) but also the History and journey of a nowadays thriving, successful and mature community. It's a document that will certainly be useful to the Portuguese speaking community. I look forward to seeing the final result, and frankly expect it to not only do it to the regional TV stations, but beyond that to national and international level. I surely would love to see it here on the Portuguese TV. - Darwin Ahoy! 20:48, 7 February 2021 (UTC)
Support I strongly support this initative. Tiputini (talk) 13:39, 8 February 2021 (UTC)- Support I believe we need to explain our story and share this very special moment. Documenting and disseminating Wikipedia are two important tasks. Marcmiquel (talk) 22:45, 7 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support twenty years is an important milestone for the Wiki project, and also for the Catalan community. Keeping the memory is a legacy to understand what we did and to encourage us to continue doing this wonderful project. Amadalvarez (talk) 06:44, 8 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support Very interesting project, useful both for the Catalan community and emerging Wikimedia communities around the globe. Subtitling will be a key for impact. Looking forward to watching it. Encouragements to the team ! :) --Opsylac (talk) 10:05, 8 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support As per Amadalvez, with also some language diversity added. B25es (talk) 16:58, 8 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support I support this project for the main reason that this will be the documentary made by the community for the community. There were other documentaries about Wikipedia from various media, but nobody will make a documentary from our perspective, unless it is us :) Therefore I give a strong support to this initiative. -- Anass Sedrati (talk) 19:46, 9 February 2021 (UTC)
- SupportGeneral Basset (talk) 20:51, 9 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support Some comments and suggestions in discussion page. Toniher (talk) 17:34, 12 February 2021 (UTC)
- Support Millars (talk) 11:22, 19 February 2021 (UTC)
