Liz Miller’s documentary The Water Front explores what happens when a public resource is exploited for private gain. The film not only challenges private ownership of water, it has also inspired her to reconsider the private ownership of information.
Miller began to see parallels with the privatization of water, the subject at the heart of her film. She is interested in the freedom to build on cultural production, and to creatively contribute to a dialogue, despite corporate efforts to control information and ideas. One way The Water Front has created the opportunity for collaboration is through the use of open source software.

Miller has been working with Jeff Traynor, an MA student in Media Studies program in the Department of Communication Studies at Concordia University, to develop the web site for the contest and the film. Traynor, who worked with youth groups in southern Alberta before coming to Concordia, was originally involved in policy research. Through Miller, he began to experiment with Drupal, an open source content management system which encourages collaboration.

He's now the architect of The Water Front website, and has been helping out with the Life Stories website for the Oral and Digital History lab. Crediting Miller for opportunity to shift his direction, Traynor is already building a consulting firm for community group web needs.