Author, users conjure "Witch" film on MySpace

By Alex Woodson

LOS ANGELES (Hollywood Reporter) - News Corp.'s MySpace is collaborating with best-selling Brazilian author Paulo Coelho to make a user-generated movie of his book "The Witch of Portobello," which centers on a mysterious goddess figure, a Transylvania-born woman who as a girl is orphaned and adopted by a wealthy Lebanese couple.

Users can submit videos focusing on one of the book's characters to MySpaceTV or Coelho's MySpace page, myspace.com/paulocoelho. Up to 15 winning submissions will be molded into a video "mash-up" called "The Experimental Witch." Users can also submit songs for a soundtrack to the film, with as many as 16 selected for the project.

Coelho said that his agent has been approached by "quite a few people" interested in buying the finished product for a 52-minute TV film. No decision on final distribution of the project has been reached, though.

"Witch" is not the only Coelho title that will get a film treatment. Last month, it was announced that his 1988 novel "The Alchemist" would be made into a $60 million-plus film for the Weinstein Co. with Laurence Fishburne directing and starring.

Coelho, the Guinness World Record holder as the most translated living author, said that "Witch" will be the only project that he's doing with his readers.

"I don't have any sort of idea of what's going to happen," Coelho said, "which makes the project much more interesting."

The submission period for the project begins June 16 and closes July 25, with winners to be announced August 24. Coelho said that winning filmmakers will receive a reward of 3,000 euros ($4,638).

Reuters/Hollywood Reporter