Jehane Noujaim's wish:
I wish to bring the world together for one day a year through the power of film.
As revealed at TED2007:
"TED encouraged me to just throw a dream out there," Jehane says. And her grand, complex, invigorating dream is becoming real, thanks to the TED community.
Starting in June 2007, Pangea Day has been asking people around the world to create short, powerful films that deal with universal themes, such as food, home, water, laughter, sorrow, hope, landscape, despair and joy. (Deadline for submission: February 15, 2008.) Noujaim and a jury of top filmmakers will select films to be featured on Pangea Day, May 10, 2008.
On Pangea Day, live sites in Brazil, Egypt, India, Israel, Rwanda and the United States will be videoconferenced to produce a four-hour program of powerful films, visionary speakers and great music. The program will be broadcast live through the Internet, television, digital cinemas and mobile phones. Organized in a Meetup-style model, millions of people from different countries will meet in cinemas, at outdoor screenings and in private homes to watch the Pangea Day program and connect with each other.
Of course, movies alone can't change the world. But the people who watch them can. So at these screenings, we'll give people immediate, practical opportunities to put their inspiration to work through diverse organizations working to solve the challenges that -- sooner or later -- touch everyone on the planet.
How it came together:
- Hundreds of offers were received from the TED Community -- however, because the nature of the wish was creative, the first step of this wish was brainstorming the best way to make it happen, and the next step was building an infrastructure around the idea, in build a foundation for the offers of help to land on
- TEDster David Alberts, from What on Earth Is Going On, gave many hours of his time around the development and creative of the wish
- TEDsters Jim Hornthal, of CMEA Ventures, and Jon Kamen, of @radicalmedia, championed the idea with introductions and advice
- TEDster Richard Fox, of Pinstripe.com, built a temporary Pangea Day website
- The Sapling Foundation committed up to $1 million in organizational funding
- Avenue A / Razorfish volunteered creative services, redesigned the permanent website at www.pangeaday.org and provided advertising and marketing support for the organization
- Sunny Vanderbeck, of Data Return, is hosting the Pangea Day website
Into the future:
TED and many heros from the TED community are working closely with Jehane and the Pangea Day team as they set up this global event. For more details on Pangea Day and how to become involved, please visit www.pangeaday.org or send an email to info@pangeaday.org
