The 1 Second Film is a non-profit collaborative art film that combines social-networking with collaborative art to empower many small contributions to make a difference. Anyone in the world can help produce the film by donating as little as $1. The producers of The 1 Second Film range from celebrities to great-grandmothers.

The “1 Second” of The 1 Second Film refers to one-second of animation (made of 12 large paintings), which is followed by 90 minutes of producer credits that also include a feature-length documentary. The entire film will be printed on 70mm film, making it the "World's Biggest Shortest Film".

All profits raised by the finished film will be donated to the Global Fund for Women, a grant-making organization helping to advance women's human rights around the world.

The 1 Second Film is a production of The Collaboration Foundation. It is the start of a 5 Phase Plan to bring the world together, one second at a time, using collaborative art to address critical social issues.

The title derives from the fact that the actual content of the film is just one second long, created by animating 12 large frames (9 ft x 5 ft collaborative paintings). The frames were painted by hundreds of people during a multi-disciplinary event on March 8, 2001 (International Women's Day). Each frame/mural had an art director that engaged the audience as participants; color design for the frames of animation was selected by Jules Engel. Each of the 12 paintings is filmed twice (on 70 mm film) to create the 24 frames in one second of film.

The one second of animation will be immediately followed by 90 minutes of producer credits which will play alongside a 'making of' documentary.

The film is financed entirely by donations. Virtually any individual in the world can purchase a production credit on the film for a minimum of US$1.00 (with no maximum). Depending on the amount of money donated the contributor is given credit either as Associate Producer (US$1–9.99), Producer (US$10–99.99), or Executive Producer (US$100 and up). Every producer also receives a Producer Profile on The 1 Second Film’s social networking website.

The film is built around 'micro-collaboration’ — lots of people that work together in many small ways. Whether it's helping to paint one-frame of the animation, donating $1 to help finance the film, submitting content for the ‘making-of’ documentary, or telling a friend about the project, the creators of The 1 Second Film believe that every little bit helps make a difference. Collectively, thousands of small contributions are helping to create a film that is much larger than one individual could create alone.

The 1 Second Film began as a student project by Nirvan Mullick while at California Institute of the Arts. To raise money for the film, the director began selling producer credits on the streets of Hollywood for $1 or more. After getting several celebrities to donate, and a petition drive along with the help of Stephen Colbert, he was able to get the credits listed on the Internet Movie Database.

The Internet Movie Database began to list all of The 1 Second Film's credits, thus making contributions to the film a major draw for aspiring actors, directors, or producers. The project began utilizing this in its promotions, utilizing the ability to be included on IMDB.com as a selling point for potential donors. However, due to the high volume of submissions, IMDb replaced the producer credits for this film with a single credit for "Producers of The 1 Second Film", who are not listed individually. This angered many who donated solely for that privilege. As of now, the entire project itself is not listed on IMDB, for unknown reasons.

A variety of high-profile celebrities have donated to become producers of the project. Producers include (ordered by donation amount) Kiefer Sutherland, Tom Green, Andy Dick, Tom Arnold, Tony Kanal, Mark Ruffalo, Seth Green, Bob Odenkirk, Jesse Bradford, Robert Carradine, Tyson C. Beckford, Selma Blair, Patrick Fugit, Spike Jonze, Stephen Colbert, Bill Pullman, Ian Flaig James Cromwell, Bobby Cannavale, Kevin Bacon, Pierce Brosnan, Steve Coogan, Atom Egoyan, Charlie Kaufman, Christina Ricci, Jason Ritter, Don McKellar, Mark McKinney, Steve Buscemi, Alan Cumming, David LaChapelle, John Leguizamo, Pauly Shore, and Bradford N. Smith. Zoe Jackson, Samuel L. Jackson's daughter, is also on board.

After the one-time 70 mm world premiere of the film, the 12 pieces of artwork will be auctioned off to benefit the Global Fund for Women. All profits raised by the film will also be donated to this charity.

The 1 Second Film is the beginning of a 5 Phase Plan by The Collaboration Foundation to create collaborative art on a global scale while raising money and awareness for various social issues. The "sequels" will consist of films animated during simultaneous collaborative animation events around the world, with each phase increasing in length and scale.