Alchemist Author Goes to the Web for Witch

Best-selling author Paulo Coelho is working with MySpace to integrate UGC elements into his filmThe Experimental Witch, which is an adaptation of his book, The Witch of Portobello.

Users can select one of the 15 characters from Portobello and create a short film or music video based on one of the narratives in the book. Entries will be posted to MySpaceTV and to Coelho’s MySpace profile, and Coelho himself will select 15 videos that will be edited together to create a 52-minute TV movie. Winning filmmakers will also receive $4,638.

Using the community is a natural extension for Coelho, whose previous work The Alchemist is about following one’s dreams. And it looks like this MySpace UGC movie will have a little more “U” in it than its other community film, Faintheart.