The project lets K-12 filmmakers around the globe shoot segments for a zombie movie set to premiere online May 1.

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As children around the world stay home from school to help contain the spread of coronavirus, one Sarasota couple have started a project to channel their creative energies into a different sort of outbreak — zombies.

Paul and Petra Ratner have launched the “World’s Largest Zombie Movie,” which lets K-12 filmmakers film segments and submit them for free into a movie set to premiere online May 1. The two usually oversee the Sarasota Film Festival, with Paul serving as managing director and Petra as director of development and events, which was set to take place this week until its postponement because of COVID-19.

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However, Paul said this project is separate from the festival and more in line with film education ventures they’ve also helped organize, including the Prague Youth Film Festival. He also saw it as a way to keep children busy and entertained while staying at home, including his own sons Felix, 10, and Alfie, 4.

“Being stuck at home and having our own filmmaker kids, we thought it would be fun to make a film, and to turn the fact that everyone is stuck at home into an unique limitation and maybe even an advantage in making a certain type of film,” Ratner said.

Filming takes place over three waves, with registrations for the third wave being accepted through April 10. Participants will then get instructions, filming tips and storyline scenarios, each given a week to shoot their segment.

Once filming has concluded on April 17, the editing process begins, with Ratner claiming that every submission will be included in the final product even if not all their footage is. Then the movie will premiere May 1 on the project’s website.

About a hundred people registered in the first wave, including submissions from countries such as the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Australia and Israel. Multiple Sarasota-Manatee residents have submitted as well.

Depending on how successful the project continues to be, Ratner said they could expand past the May 1 deadline — perhaps make the first release a chapter one and continue to take submissions after that.

“Part of the fun of this whole idea is that we would love to get as many kids as possible on the screen in the same film, kids around the world,” Ratner said. “There’s something powerful about everyone just being in one big film. That’s what we’re hoping to achieve.”

To register or for more information, visit worldslargestzombiemovie.com.

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