REGINA — A Regina filmmaker has created a new interactive film that lets viewers choose the outcome of the story.
Singleness, created by Aaron Sinclair, follows Seth, a millennial navigating life while looking to get back into the dating world.
“Viewers can choose multiple outcomes that come throughout the experience,” Sinclair said.
Sinclair said the story takes two different branches, each with multiple outcomes.
“There are a couple of shorter endings that happen if you sort of choose certain things. There’s a longer way through, and you get a lot more entertainment and content if you choose those options.”
Shooting for the film took place over multiple days in different locations in Regina, including at Skye Café and Fireside Bistro.
“Businesses and restaurants tend to be pretty willing to support and lend a hand to help make a film come to life,” Sinclair said.
The idea behind Singleness originally began as a short Instagram reel until Piotr Matyja, CEO of Choosewise, reached out to Sinclair.
“When Piotr reached out to do an interactive film, he had seen one of my other films, Awake. He looked at what I had, and I thought this would make a great film.”
Choosewise helps filmmakers produce and distribute their own interactive films.
Matyja said his inspiration behind the app was to help filmmakers evolve in a changing industry.
“The traditional distribution [of films] is not exactly there anymore.”
“Even the biggest media outlets are consolidating, like Netflix buying Warner Brothers, Skydance buying Paramount,” Matyja added.
Since launching eight months ago, Matyja said seven films have launched on the app, with four more coming soon.
Looking ahead, Matyja said interactive films won’t replace traditional films, but will instead become a “nice add-on.”
As for Sinclair, he said he hopes to shoot more interactive films in the future.
The film Singleness can be found here.
