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ON a plane recently, Danielle Lurie learned that her seatmate was on his way to meet his high school sweetheart -- a woman he hadn’t seen in 62 years. Lurie, as part of a new band of citizen video-makers, immediately pulled out her camcorder and asked if he would be willing to be taped. She edited the piece on her home computer and on Valentine’s Day, the six-minute video, “81-Year-Old Sweethearts,” aired on Current TV.

This is one way programming works at Current, the 9-month-old network Al Gore and Joel Hyatt created to encourage every citizen, especially the young ones, to become both television viewer and programming contributor.

Last summer, many observers scoffed when the former vice president announced the venture. But since then, the idea of user-generated content has spread so fast that the Internet and cable networks are flooded with viewer videos, many of which take public access to a new level of sophistication. Now Current, whose creators see themselves as pioneers, is poised to spread its vision of democratized television worldwide.

David Neuman, Current’s president of programming, said his experience in a similar capacity at Channel One taught him that many young people could create quality short films. “We were thrilled that the audience -- that we knew had this ability -- stepped up,” he said. Hundreds of twentysomethings, from digitally literate amateurs to professionals seeking an outlet beyond traditional television, contribute 30% of the network’s total programming, covering a wide range of topics, including pieces on heroin use in downtown L.A. and comic book fans in San Diego, rhinoplasty in Iran and bodybuilding in Afghanistan. Most of the short films, called “pods” in Current-speak, run from three to eight minutes long.

As might be expected, some pieces take shots at the political right, such as an animated parody of President Bush. But others, such as a pair of pods on immigration, try for balance and describe both sides of an issue. Viewers can also contribute commercial advertisements.

In a few years, Neuman said he expects half the programming to come from viewers. “We have a long way to go,” he said. “The quality could be better, and the quantity could be better. But it feels to us like a remarkable start.”

Current also offers tutorials in filmmaking, journalism and storytelling from veterans including Sean Penn, Ira Glass, Dave Eggers and Catherine Hardwicke on its website (www.current.tv).

Not every contributor gets right on the air like Lurie, who had already shown a short piece on war photographer Mark Brecke (“A Slideshow of Genocide”) on Current, which is available in 28 million homes. Typically, hopefuls upload their videos on the website, where they compete with fellow members for a spot on television. An intricate system of online viewer voting determines the winners, but producers may also pluck something out of competition that is particularly newsworthy or timely, such as one viewer’s experience of using a boat to help victims of Hurricane Katrina.

Some viewers have complained that the network replays the same videos too often or that the tone is too establishment or the pay too low. One VC2 contributor, Current’s name for its viewer created content, recently posted a complaint online that he had not been told about editorial changes to his short film about a Mississippi couple left devastated in the wake of Katrina. Staff responses acknowledge that editing does occur and that they try to make the process as collaborative as possible.

For her part, Lurie, a 27-year-old Stanford graduate who had worked as an intern and a production assistant in Hollywood getting directors coffee, can’t help but sound like a paid advertisement when she describes how Current is offering her unparalleled opportunity for experience. Lurie is the younger sister of producer Rod Lurie (TV’s “Commander in Chief,” “The Contender”) but said that even with her connections, she needed to learn how to make films. “What gives you the ability to be a filmmaker is practice. Going out and making movies, all the time.”

Current’s main operations are headquartered in San Francisco, where teams of employees evaluate hundreds of submissions from around the world in dozens of categories. Gore is not involved in day-to-day matters but serves as a “spiritual leader” of sorts, offering guidance and ideas, Neuman said. A smaller studio operation in Los Angeles produces interviews from Hollywood talent and introductions for local pieces.

Last month, two of Current’s six young hosts, Jason Silva and Max Lugavere, introduced a segment they produced on how easy it is for illegal immigrants to obtain false documentation in L.A. Dressed in T-shirts and jeans, they had taken their cameras to the neighborhood around MacArthur Park, where they spent $100 and obtained a false ID for Silva, who grew up in Venezuela. “I’ve never seen anything like it,” Lugavere said on camera. “It’s really crazy.”

The next day, the story received national attention when CNN’s Anderson Cooper ran an interview with the pair. He referred CNN viewers to Current for the full documentary. In Los Angeles, Current TV can be seen through Time Warner or Comcast cable channels.

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Team effort

LAST year, Silva, 24, and Lugavere, 23, were roommates studying filmmaking at the University of Miami. They won the attention of Current producers when they submitted a short film, “Textures of Selfhood,” about their lives in Miami. “They were looking for passionate storytellers,” Silva said. “We’re passionate storytellers.”

If young people turn away from traditional television, it’s because they don’t have a say in it, said Lugavere, 23. The Internet and “American Idol” have become runaway successes because they offer people a chance to participate, he said. “Now we’re bringing that to TV, 24/7.”

Similarly, IFC will introduce a half-hour series, “Media Lab,” in June to showcase short films by aspiring filmmakers. More than 1,000 short films have been submitted to the ongoing show. Like Current, the highlighted films will be determined by the public’s online vote. MTV has had film contests and E! collaborated recently with the YouTube.com website in a video contest. Viewers also contribute a variety of videos to other sites, such as Google, Yahoo and iFilms, which was recently purchased by Viacom, owner of MTV.

Current executives are concerned about the competition moving in their direction, but “we’re not pausing,” said Hyatt, chief executive, in a phone call from London. Financed by private supporters, Current does not disclose financial figures, but “Our future is secure,” Hyatt said. The challenges ahead include improving the quality of the content, expanding the scale of operations and creating an international operation, he said.

Already, Current runs videos from soldiers in Iraq, from a team of global reporters recently returned from the Congo, and from VC2 contributors in Iran and Israel.

Noting that almost every newer digital camera and cellphone can also shoot video, Silva said that in a year, “we might upload a video from our cellphone to the Current website and it can go on the air anywhere I am on the planet. And right there, you’ll have a point of view you have nowhere else.”