Sharing Economy Web takes a look at how the world is becoming a more collaborative place, as people trade offices for co-working spaces and hotels for Airbnbs.
In this web series Maria Parente interviews contributors in the shared economy industry about why they chose to take part in this industry and their experiences within it. We chat to creator, Maria Parente, about her experiences creating her web series based on these collaborative initiatives.
What inspired your web series?
I work as a journalist on a website called Colabora, which is an independent journalism initiative here in Brazil. The main themes of the website are sustainability and collaborative economies. One of the editors of “Projeto Colabora” came up with the idea that I should create a web series on collaborative economies in Rio de Janeiro and I was intrigued by the idea. I soon started researching methods that I could use to develop this series and begun planning.
Why did you choose web series as your format?
I was very excited to start researching and discover the numerous forms of collaborative initiatives here in Rio de Janeiro. So, I had the idea of filming each episode about one project. When possible, the plan was to use the service and include clips of it in the video, in order to show how it works. The cinematographer, Mateus Cabral, joined me in the project and developed the project as more of a documentary and less journalistic.
We chose the web series format because it reaches more people, especially the young – that consume a lot of content from the internet.
The first episode is filmed at an organic waste collection, what was the most difficult location to film at in the series?
We generally recorded the episodes in locations of easy access here in Rio, so we didn’t face many difficulties or complications in this sense during the project. The most difficult location might have been for the episode about “Bike Anjo”, volunteers who teach people to ride bicycles, since the park was a public place that was filled with people and the outdoors provided a few complications while filming.
How did you find your interviewees?
I always look for websites about collaborative economies and stay tuned with new projects in this area. Many of the interviewees also end up indicating other projects they know, which is very helpful.
What are the challenges you came across when making your series and how did you overcome them?
The biggest difficulty we faced was the lack of sponsorship. We did received help from Colabora, the website that we work for, however, we don’t have the financial resources to film any episodes that might be outside of Rio and sometimes we are unable to try out projects that need to be paid for, which happens quite often. The solution is to interview people who use the services, in order for the episodes to be more complete.
What do you want your audience to take away from this series?
I think the most important thing is to realise that we do not have to stick to old patterns. We have to lose the fear of reinventing ourselves, especially when several old methods, ideas, and norms have proved to not work out in the best way possible. Several collaborative projects stand to prove to us that the world can be a more generous and connected place.
FOLLOW SHARING ECONOMY WEB