Florence is my city of birth. With 370,702 inhabitants and thousands of years of history, it is known as the cradle of Renaissance. With thousands of medieval buildings and monuments, Florence is the destination of millions of tourists every year. They come to admire the work of artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo Da Vinci. Every statue, palace, every stone and red roof of Florence deserve to tell its story, a digital story that was never told.

Film Annex is my city today with 283,658 registered users and inhabitants, of those 40,000 filmmakers, with many supreme artists and innovators. Film Annex's inhabitants created 3.5 million pages and uploaded 35,000 professional films. The citizens of Film Annex, their work of art, articles and films, attract 60 million unique viewers and tourists every month, generating advertising revenues from over 30 international Ad-Networks.

One of my points of reference in my life has always been Tiziano Bonanni, friend, Judoka and artist. We discussed in depth what Film Annex is doing in Central and South Asia, the value of education and the importance of the Afghan Development Project. In Tiziano's opinion, Florence gives eternity to those that contribute to its history. This inspired me to take a further step on my current visit to Italy. I want to connect the eternity of Florence with the reality of Film Annex.

This morning, Tiziano Bonanni and I visited Professor Luca Toschi of the University of Florence and later in the day Giuseppe Andreani, director of the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence. We invited Florence's students to enter the city of Film Annex and participate in its life and business. We invited them to become citizens of the city of Film Annex, share their stories and the stories of Florence with Film Annex's world.

The citizenship of Film Annex depends on special circumstances and the conditions are very interesting:

- Film Annex's citizens receive payment for their citizenship. They are paid 50% of the advertising revenues generated by their properties, articles and films. The income is determined by the quality and quantity of their content and by the social media impact on the World Wide Web. We call it the Buzz Score.

- Film Annex's citizens improve their status and income by adding professional articles, video and films. Images are also welcome when presented with a professional article.

The University of Florence and the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence have the type of citizens that Film Annex needs. They host valuable information, ideas and know-how to enrich Film Annex's library and the  Examer educational software, dedicated to the development of Central and South Asia, the countries of Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan.

Today, 30,000 Afghan students connected by the Examer Educational software can learn from educational institutions like the University of Florence and the Academy of Fine Arts of Florence. The Afghan students contribute with new creative ideas and their massive social media impact, we are also working to connect 160,000 students by 2014 and enter the world of 3D printing and put at best use the 2,000 years of artistic experience of Florence.

The work groups are composed by individual students collaborating worldwide through digital files like this article or the videos embedded in this article. The pages created by Film Annex users and inhabitants are the equivalent of real-estate properties. The advertising revenues generated by the pages are the equivalent of rent income from the properties. The more creative, entertaining and educational the content and properties are, the more page views are collected and consequently the more advertising income is received. Imagine 3 students and professionals interacting between Kabul, Florence and New York City, the exchange of ideas and the realization. Here is an example that comes to my mind: 3D printing + Stop Motion productions + Advertising + Creativity of Florentine and Afghan Students.

 

Florence's incredible beauty and art attract millions of people. Film Annex's professional films and articles attract million of viewers. Florence's inhabitants charge tourists for their services and generate revenues with traditional businesses like retail and hospitality. Film Annex's inhabitants generate revenues with advertising banners and video pre-rolls (15-30-45 second ads before a video, just like TV commercials). The higher the quality and quantity, the more eyeballs and page views per visit, the more income.

The students upload their articles, describe their ideas and concepts, they film their documentaries and interviews. The students take their digital knowledge further and create more valuable content. They upload the articles, films and videos, attracting more eyeballs, creating more awareness, generating more revenues and recording very valuable demographic data on their viewers and followers. Quantifying the demographics of your viewership is more valuable than the monetary income. It's the insurance of a great financial security and the way to better understand people's opinions and reactions to art and visual concepts. Demographics is what advertising companies want to buy. The world of advertising is a 700-billion dollar industry growing every year online and slowing down every year in the print world.

This same concept can also apply to other areas in Italy. Professor Toschi mentioned in his recent visit to the polytechnic of Scampia how determined and creative the children of this controversial city near Naples are. This city is sadly known for the power of the Camorra and organized crime. The students' determination can be fueled into the creation of valuable articles and films or videos that can populate the city of Film Annex and provide them with an income. This is what we are doing in Afghanistan with the Afghan Development Project, where the creativity and will of young women like Roya Mahboob, Fereshteh Forough and Elaha Mahboob allowed the creation of a platform with over 4 million monthly viewers, a monthly cash-flow of over $35,000, and a community of 30,000 students, soon to be 160,000.

Spend one minute watching the video here below, titled New Herat. This is my personal interpretation of the Afghan city of Herat merged with New York City. We created a new dimension of life. Soon Florence will be part of a new dimension, with its eternity. It will tell stories that were never told and that were only part of people's imagination and dreams.

My Florence will have no cars and a few surprises...