MUMBAI: Lionsgate and Massify have formed an innovative partnership to tap online creative talent and develop feature film projects.

The Lionsgate Incubator Project, dubbed LINC, will enable Lionsgate to work with Massify’s growing talent pool to develop original film ideas with the ultimate goal of parlaying them into feature films or shorts using Lionsgate’s development and production resources.

The first project, launching later this year, will produce a comedy short that the studio expects to subsequently develop into a feature length production. The comedy short/pilot will be based on a user-generated script, and a director, cast, and crew will subsequently be attached through Massify’s online network, with Lionsgate’s feature film development team providing input throughout the process.

"There is a revolution of new ideas in filmed entertainment online," said Lionsgate president Digital Curt Marvis. "We intend to be at the forefront of accessing this enormous and largely untapped source of fresh talent and original new voices. Just as we are always looking for ways to monetize our content in a broadband environment, we are equally committed to using new media platforms as a source of new content. Massify’s large and talented community of filmmakers make them an ideal partner to bolster our online initiatives."

"We’re thrilled to be working with Lionsgate, which has already established itself as the leading next generation studio and an innovator in finding new ways to deliver content to its consumers in a digital world," said Massify CEO Geoff Pitfield. "We have great expectations for the partnership between the cutting edge voices of our users and Lionsgate’s bold vision, feature film expertise and development, production and marketing prowess."