SXSW V2V Session

I'm honored and proud to have represented our PRINT THE LEGEND team at SXSW V2V. So, here's the video.

Core Ideas from PRINT THE LEGEND

Two weeks ago, I had the pleasure of representing the PRINT THE LEGEND team to lead a closing sessionat SXSW V2V. In prepping the presentation about our 3D Printing documentary, the team articulated some core messages of the film. In part so I always know where to find these notes, I present them here.  ; )

What we witness in the film:

·      We witness people have to confront the limitations of their original vision to "change the world" and have to choose between holding to that vision or letting it go in favor of a business edge. We witness optimistic, loving partnerships disintegrate in the pressures of the business world. We saw the “story” of 3D printing get hijacked from the companies that wanted you to focus on its positive aspects. We witnessed people succeed by every metric of the business world, and with that success came profound threats to their psyche.

What we learned from the film and hope to present within it:

·      The American Dream story we tell each other and our children is whitewashed. In the full-contact sport of American capitalism, ruthlessness is a performance-enhancing drug.

·      This is in itself morally neutral – our great (and typically ruthless) industrial leaders, like Steve Jobs, add amazing value to our country and our world. They create jobs, improve lives, and move society forward.  

·      But we should be honest about the human cost of that ruthlessness – including on those leaders themselves – instead of pretending that success in the market is the same thing as or indicative of success as a human being.

And, yes, I’m coyly avoiding giving background on how the film evolved, as there are plenty of interviews with Clay, Luis, et al with that. I'm also avoiding details of the film’s story in the hopes you’ll just watch it on Netflix when it comes out this fall!

The Golden Age of Documentary

Just for the record, this one. I'm not the only one saying it – which is evidence of its emergence from the zeitgeist – but I want to set it down. I think that when we look back at this era of American documentary film, it will look like the 1970s did for fiction cinema. Right now, documentary filmmakers have at their fingertips affordable, high quality cameras that can roll unlimited "tape" and access to footage on subjects who are being filmed and photographed nearly constantly – by themselves, by friends, by co-workers, etc. – but who are not yet aware of what this ubiquitous footage might mean for them. In another 5-15 years, I predict that the average adult will have grown up so aware of their media personality, even if only the "micro-media" of their social network, that the publicly available footage won't contain the revelations nor have the verite feel it does today.