Crowdsourced Cinema 2026: Shrek

That’ll Do, Crowdsourced Cinema, That’ll Do

From its origins in the Etruscan god Orcus to its use in Italian as orco for monster, from the appearance of “ogress” in a version of Sleeping Beauty to popularity in the 1970’s roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons, the term ogre will find its way to new expression in the language of our community as we spend the summer of 2026 remaking the classic film Shrek.

Crowdsourced Cinema is back, and like ogres, and onions, it will unfold in many layers as teams from the greater Northampton area sign up and recreate this classic animated romantic comedy, scene by scene. There will be no budget, no front money, no residuals, except for the joy of making, the bond of community, and the celebration of what we create together.

Sign Ups Below…

You may like your privacy, but we are all called to save someone from the dragon. So gather your neighbors, your friends, your family. Dust off your props and your costumes. Meet us in the swamp and sign up for a scene for Crowdsourced Cinema Shrek.

Each team (which is one or more people) signs up to participate in the project and are randomly assigned a one-to-three minute scene from Shrek. They have all summer to remake that scene. That remake can approach the scene in any format and teams are encouraged to be creative – they could be filmed with live action, remix, puppetry, or other visual styles. The scenes are stitched together at the end of the summer, color corrected, audio normalized, and we’ll all get together at the end to celebrate the premiere. We also need to remake the soundtrack for the film, so musicians and composers can sign up to participate in that aspect of the project with or without making a scene.

The Crowdsourced Cinema project now runs in parallel in four geographic regions, run by Northampton Open Media in Western Mass, in Boston led by Brookline Interactive Group as Crowdsourced Boston in Vermont led by the Media Factory as Crowdsourced VT and in Fresno, CA as Crowdsourced Fresno. We’ll all be making our own remakes of Shrek.

CROWDSOURCED CINEMA SHREK SIGNUPS OPEN APRIL 9, 2026 at 5:00PM EST

“Creation is an act of bravery,” said Northampton Open Media Executive Director Albert Williams. “The act of making something is an act that exposes your voice. It opens you to judgment. It is intimate. While many people feel the desire to make art, the concept of being an artist is culturally reserved for a privileged group. Part of our role with the project, and with our work at large, is to help people give themselves permission to be brave with us, to identify as an artist, to make something. Crowdsourced Cinema is a playful project, because play is safe. We believe that becoming fluent in arts-like media making makes us more fluent in describing ourselves. We are more thoughtful. We are a stronger community.”

Crowdsourced Cinema is open to anyone in the regional community.