Lansing Community College will host a screening of a world-record holding feature film on this week. “Train Station” has earned a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for being the film with the most directors ever: a total of 40, working around the world.
You can see "Train Station" at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday at LCC’s Dart Auditorium, and co-creator Marty Shea will be there to discuss the project.
Shea says breaking the record hadn't been a goal, but he learned that with 25 filmmakers, the first CollabFeature film, "The Owner," had set the record. "We realized we had beaten that," he explains, "so we decided to apply to break it, and then we, of course, did that with our second film."
As for the story, Shea says "Train Station" follows the choices of one character, who is played by 40 actors. "Every time the character makes a choice," he continues, "he or she is played by a different actor, ranging in gender, age, race and sexual orientation. The plot goes in many different directions because each of those choices is written and directed by a different filmmaker."
The locales jump from city to city, 25 in all. Languages change, and English subtitles are employed when needed.
Up next for CollabFeature is a series with nearly 100 different contributors. It's the story of people around the world competing to win a billionaire's fortune at the end of his life.
