Lionsgate and author Stephanie Meyer are collaborating with Facebook to make a new series of short films based on the New York Times Best Seller YA Novel and popular movie Franchise "Twilight"
"The Storytellers: New Creative Voices of The Twilight Saga", A "multiphase contest," will be held to reveal atleast five female filmmakers to create the new shorts.
Meyer, lead actress Kristen Stewart, Kate Winslet, Octavia Spencer, "Frozen" writer Jennifer Lee, director Catherine Hardwicke, "Modern Family's" Julie Bowen, and Women In Film President Cathy Schulman will join in the selection and mentorship of the filmmakers.
The ultimate winner will be determined with the help of the fans.
Fans will be included in both the development and the production of the individual films, via both Facebook and the crowdsourcing platform Tongal.
"More people than ever before are creating, discovering and engaging with videos on Facebook," Facebook vice president of partnerships Dan Rose said in a statement. "This collaboration with Stephenie Meyer, Lionsgate and Women In Film is a great opportunity to engage Twilight's massive global audience on Facebook through an innovative premium video program."
The project will give a potential glimpse into Facebook's video strategy moving forward.
In 2011, Warner Bros. announced that it will begin movie rentals on Facebook as part of a trial but eventually did not catch on.
Facebook continued to improve the strategy by testing auto-laying video ads last year in connection with the YA franchise Divergent.
The "Twilight" contest will allow Meyer to connect with the passionate fans of her franchise and enabling their own creative input at the same time. "The female voice is something that has become more and more important to me as I've worked in the film industry," said Meyer in a statement. "I'm honored to be working with Women In Film, Lionsgate, and Facebook on a project dedicated to giving more women a chance to be heard creatively."
