Remember the group projects we had to do back in elementary school? One person was in charge of the doing the research, another was responsible for writing up a summary, and the last was supposed to make it presentation-ready. Supposedly. I’m sure we’ve all had that one frustrating kid who just didn’t want to participate or help. Although I did whine and complain like any other 10-year-old would, I secretly liked when there was a kid like that because it meant an opportunity for me to take the spotlight. But there was also times when the group worked so well together that all of us basked in glory. Nothing feels as great as when everything you plan works out.

If you haven’t already heard, in 2005, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and his brother started an online collaborative production company called hitRecord. The basic gist of the website is that it allows artists, producers, performers, musicians, writers, anyone who wants to help, from all over the world, to work together to create short films, songs, books, etc. You can be any age, race, sex, anything really. This website gives you an amazing opportunity to work with incredibly talented people from wherever you want to be. You might have heard of "Don Jon" (2013), "Morgan M. Morgansen’s Date with Destiny" (2010), or "The Tiny Book of Tiny Stories" series. They were all produced through hitRecord. It's a chance for those previously dreaded group projects to surpass any previous standards.

On top of all that, Joseph Gordon-Levitt filmed episodes specializing in certain themes to bring the magic of hitRecord to televisions. It was released on Netflix earlier this year, so of course I binge watched the entire thing in one night. This short is from RE: The Number One, the first episode of hitRecord.

The episodes on Netflix document the entire collaboration process, including the number of different contributors. It's pretty incredible seeing everything come together. The site allows people to freely publish and access one another's work in order to create something extraordinary. JGL just puts it all together. The behind-the-scenes clips also show that if you're lucky, you might even get to work 1-on-1 with the talented Joseph Gordon-Levitt himself! hitRecord is an incredible source of creativity and community power. Whether or not you have experience, you can create and produce as much as your mind allows. You get the opportunity to partake in creating something wonderful with thousands of other people from all over the world, which is something that can't be replicated.

Check out hitRecord.org to collaborate, share, watch, purchase, and more!