It is very likely we are about to see a re-emergence of creativity and cultural advancement the likes of which civilization has not witnessed since the Renaissance. The printing press brought culture to the masses as never before. With the printing press came literacy, public education and cultural dialogue which inarguably changed the world for the better.

The Internet takes the model of the printing press and takes it one step further. Not only does the Internet give the audience the opportunity to read and experience literature and culture on a scale that renders nearly insignificant the entire contents of even the largest metropolitan libraries, but it also gives that same audience the tools to publish to that same audience for nearly zero cost.

This is an enormous and unprecedented cultural phenomenon, and it brings with it categories of entertainment that up to very recently simply did not exist. There are some people who have found that publishing is just as entertaining, if not more so, than reading or watching material that others have published. This is also unprecedented, at least on such a large scale, and the hypothetical ramifications of "publishing as entertainment" are profound.

One large and rapidly growing category of "self-published" entertainment is known as "machinima." The term is a combination of the words "machine" and "cinema," and as such, is a literally accurate description. Machinima is a process by which the gameplay animation of video games is combined with a seperate narrative in order to produce an original work.

For people without the tools, time or money to animate their own characters and settings, this is a fairly convenient alternative production technique, and in at least one instance, it has produced a work that can be fairly described as at least inspired if not truly a major achievement in creativity.

The work is a six-minute animated film called The Return. It was made by Rufus Cubed Productions, an independent outfit run by Ezra Ferguson and Terran Gregory, both fans of Blizzard Entertainment's World of Warcraft multiplayer role-playing game. The film combines animation, music and sound effects from the game with an original narrative and title theme. The results are astounding.

Among many other honors, The Return won the Blizzcon 2005 Movie Contest Award and was nominated at the New York Machinima Awards in four categories: Best Direction, Best Writing, Best Editing and Best "Off the Shelf." The film itself has been viewed by millions of people all over the world, including attendees of both Blizzcon and the Electronic Entertainment Expo.

The Return tells the story of "Voldigar of Stromgard," an aging veteran of many conflicts in the world of Azeroth, which is featured in the World of Warcraft massively multiplayer online role-playing game. His life in the walled city of Stromgard is recounted through a series of flashbacks which introduce his wife, Gwynneth. Voldigar must often leave home to fight in various wars, and after decades of service, he returns to his home only to find it destroyed by the same war that has consumed most of his life. With the help of a seer named "Liadov," Voldigar, true to his nature, vows to reassemble the legendary "Brotherhood of Strom" in a bid to recapture his home and to avenge his family.

What is unique about all this is not necessarily the story or the characters or even the animation or music. What is unique are the production values. The Return is a vehicle that demonstrates the exceptional talent of two individuals who, absent the tools which they so skillfully made use of, otherwise might not have ever acted on their inspiration due to lack of time or equipment. To be sure, the resounding response to this project drew the attention of not a few in the executive ranks at Blizzard and elsewhere, and discussions of a Return series have taken place on at least two occasions, one producing an 85-second "theatrical trailer" for a sequel to the original film short.

Despite the fact The Return was released over a year and a half ago, the audience continues to clamor for a continuation of the story, further proof that what has been unleashed here is not simply a momentary fascination with a fan project, but something more. In an age of sequels and remakes seemingly without end, it is undoubtedly the originality of The Return that intrigues its audience at least as much as its quality.

This is something that is only going to become more popular. The creativity exercised by individuals, the source of such popular activities as fan-fiction, mashups, blogging (hello!), open source software and literally hundreds of other categories of entertainment, business and culture, is destined, by its very nature, to become the primary avenue by which cultures and societies communicate. It is the electronic equivalent of the "town square" of times past, and it affects everything, not just entertainment.

Many ask how people can devote large amounts of time to projects like this. How can they support themselves? they ask. People need to be creative, and people need to be social. The combination of those two basic needs means that communities will always form audiences which will in turn surround performers. Money is often a secondary consideration if it isn't dismissed as superfluous altogether.

One can only hope that projects such The Return will continue to strengthen and inspire those performers to endeavor to fulfill their own inspirations.