Audience Productions Breaking into the movie biz for dummies...who aren't already in it.

It can be hard to get a movie funded in the current fiscal climate, as no one's ready to risk big money on Marmaduke Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps The Last Airbender...Waterworld 2? Buy your way into the gravy boat, with Audience Productions.

AP's a new online hub where civilians can throw support behind prospective feature films by nominally investing in them, in turn securing an interest in the final product, so...you know you're getting mad DVD copies! First, a team of Hollywood vets (Twin Peaks, Hard Candy...) selects a worthy script (avail for prospective investors to read), after which a budget's determined and they start selling blocks of 2-250 shares (currently $10 per); once the goal's reached, they secure a completion bond, film the flick, and arrange a distribution deal approved by the investors, with any dividends distributed amongst all shareholders, capitalizing on the movie industry's most famed product: financial honesty. Investors aren't privy to major creative decision-making, but're invited to have online chat sessions with the director/actors, preview early clips, and participate in polling events for the selection of scene sequences; when it's all wrapped, you'll even get your name in the credits, though if you think that makes you famous, Grips are a good reminder you need to get one.

As they're just-launched, they have only one project in the hopper: a comedy written by two award-winning NYU screenwriting profs currently titled Lydia Slotnick Unplugged, though good luck getting it made if it stars Martin Lawrence John Travolta aging Friends stars...Mel Gibson?