Blender Institute is internationally well known for pioneering using Open Content production as a development model for Open and Free Software. Since 2005, five projects have been realised this way, including the short films Elephants Dream, Big Buck Bunny, Sintel and Tears of Steel. For each project the technical targets were defined first, which became the main lead for a challenging creative concept for a mixed artist/developer team to realize with Blender and other Open Source tools.

The success of this model has led to much improved software and a more professional user/coder community. Productions of short film with Blender are common now. With so many small studios and teams around the world now using Blender and other open source tools, it’s a logical and challenging next step to bundle them in a massive online project to work on their own film. This has been nicked »Project Gooseberry«.

The best way to develop free software is by using it.
Jimmy Wales - Wikipedia
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Dieter Telfser 2014

At SXSW conference, Blender Institute launched the first crowd-funded, open production computer animated movie - the Gooseberry Project. This feature length film will be created by 12 production teams from all over the world, collaborating online using the newly launched Blender Cloud service. People who want to support the project can choose to split their contribution into small monthly payments, which then gives them access to the Blender Cloud, which will serve as the creative hub for the film’s production. In doing so, the supporters will be able to watch and share the progress of the animation teams, and even participate in the process.

French animation director Mathieu Auvray [Babioles] will develop the script alongside Esther Wouda [Sintel]. Both will work in Amsterdam with producer Ton Roosendaal, in the Blender Institute studio- where central production coordination and development will take place. The story is a funny, absurd, adventurous love story about a sheep named Michel, who longs for a more interesting life. »Project Gooseberry« will bring the makers back in control - they will be owners of the movie, and they will be in direct connection with their audience. »No big studios are needed here, no film distributors nor TV channels,« Chairman of Blender Foundation and Producer of Blender Institute, Ton Roosendaal said. »Everything goes into the cloud nowadays - which has great benefits for users. Contrary to other graphics companies - our cloud will be 100% free and open source software.«