American Girl To Crowdsource Film Introducing New Doll

To hype the August 27 introduction of a new American Girl Doll, the brand has teamed with the Tongal crowdsourcing community to create and produce Web films highlighting each doll. One video will feature the new doll — 1950s historical character Maryellen Larkin — and the other will showcase fan favorite Julie Albright, a doll from the 1970s.

From August 14 to 24, the brand is reaching out to girls 8 to 14 and inviting them to participate in a casting call for the two 15-minute online films. The brand has launched a casting call site where girls and their parents can choose from provided scripts for one or both of the American Doll characters. Then, contestants create and submit a three-minute casting video based on the script. Previously, the crowdsourcing site was tapped to come up with screenplay outlines, screenplays and video demos related to the overall project.

In this current stage, the brand will select ten girls “who best embody the spirit of Maryellen and Julie” and ask the public to vote for their favorites portraying each character. Voting begins August 31. Following the public vote, the brand will select two winners who will each receive $10,000 and a trip to film the movie. Other prizes and dollar amounts will be awarded to other Tongal community members involved in producing the film.

The creation of the two films is being handled entirely by the Tongal creative community, with the final films receiving release on the American Girl website and social channels in the fall.

American Girl has been promoting the casting call on its social channels:

American Girl is casting girls to play Maryellen and Julie—submissions start 8/14: http://t.co/d686yAW74L pic.twitter.com/ZPeMnzgdb1

— American Girl (@American_Girl) August 10, 2015