‘We want reality’: YouTube wants you to take part in filming for documentary ‘Life in a Day 2020’

LOS ANGELES - 2020 has certainly been an extraordinary and unusual year. From Australian bushfires to protests around the world that demanded that Black Lives Matter — and even a global pandemic that changed how the world lived — historic events seem to take place every day.

Despite the circumstances, however, life continues on.

Back in 2011, filmmakers Ridley Scott and Kevin MacDonald partnered up with YouTube to ask people around the globe to film themselves over a single day. The result was the 95-minute documentary, “Life in a Day,” that captured ordinary life as it was recorded on July 24, 2010 from more than 80,000 video submissions.

Now, 10 years later, they need your help to do it again.

On Thursday, YouTube announced that Scott and MacDonald are accepting submissions for their upcoming sequel “Life in a Day 2020.” The crowd-sourced documentary will once again detail the ordinary lives of people around the globe, and will depict a portrait of a single day on Earth.

People are encouraged to film themselves on Saturday, July 25 and document their daily lives — that may not be so ordinary during these unusual times, after all.

“There are so many huge important things going on in the world and that might be reflected in what you film. But what’s going to be of interest to you might be something more intimate,” said MacDonald in a promotional video for the new documentary film. “What we don’t want is the glossy, perfect social media version of you. We want authenticity, we want reality.”

Submissions open on July 25 and close on August 2. “Life in a Day 2020” will premiere at the Sundance Festival and on YouTube in 2021.