Joseph Gordon-Levitt Wants to Work With (And Pay) Creative Cats Across the World

By Zach Dionne Posted Mar 31st 2010 05:00PM

Joseph Gordon-Levitt has started a production company at HitRecord.org, allowing any creative minds to chip in and be paid

Joseph Gordon-Levitt seems like a nice fella -- the kind of guy you could have a beer with, ask for relationship advice, maybe even pitch an idea to. While there's no official word on the beer or heart-to-heart talks, working with the star of '(500) Days of Summer' and '3rd Rock from the Sun' isn't too outlandish a prospect -- he's started a production company at HitRecord.org (as in press record, like a button) and chatted all about it with Entertainment Weekly.

"Rather than just working within the insular Hollywood industry, I wanted to open my production company up to anybody," the 29-year-old actor tells EW. "There are so many people all over the world who are doing great art, in New York, in the Philippines, anywhere -- whether they're writing or making music or taking photos. So the Web site is just a way for me to collaborate with those great artists all over the place. It's a place for people to come and work with me."

For Gordon-Levitt's full spiel, check out the video below:

Read on for more about the striking idea and a short film born on HitRecord.org.

"The media used to be a monologue -- it's becoming a dialogue," Gordon-Levitt says in the introduction video. It's tough not to be awestruck at the blindingly original, democratic concept he's engineered. Anyone can submit a 'record' -- everything's called a record, whether it's art, photography, video, song -- and anyone can download any record and retool it. Collaborators are also paid fairly for their efforts, which is icing on the cake of creative coolness.

"Rather than 'Okay, audience, sit there and watch me do my thing,' it's a community -- let's all make something together," Gordon-Levitt tells EW. "Anybody who wanted to put their stuff up there, if the community liked it, we could make it happen."

EW says HitRecord.org has primarily resulted in short films thus far. One stunningly unique (and profoundly offbeat) finished product features Gordon-Levitt and two-time co-star Channing Tatum sparring as rivals in 'Morgan and Destiny's Eleventeenth Date: The Zeppelin Zoo.' The writing is alliteration-laden ('tailstring twingltisting betwixt his citrus lips'), the sights and sounds frenetic and fresh. It's no surprise the credits pay due to a whopping 306 collaborators via HitRecord.org, enumerating them as 58 musicians, 54 actors, 95 visual artists and 95 animal creators.

The article notes Gordon-Levitt's interest in one day developing a feature film through his site, but for now, enjoy the clip below:

Fun fact: EW, who met with Gordon-Levitt in Texas, noted the actor's head was shaved bare for his role as a chemotherapy patient in the upcoming Seth Rogen film 'I'm With Cancer.'

Tags: HitRecord.org, Joseph Gordon-Levitt