The story of the most ambitious project ever conceived on the Internet. In 2002 Google began to scan millions of books in an effort to create a giant global library, containing every book in existence. They had an even greater purpose – to create a higher form of intelligence, something that HG Wells had predicted in his 1937 essay “World Brain”. But over half the books Google scanned were in copyright, and authors across the world launched a campaign to stop Google, which climaxed in a New York courtroom in 2011. A film about the dreams, dilemmas and dangers of the Internet.
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100 Million Views
With dark humour and caustic wit, 100 Million Views uncovers the truth about a platform that promised transparency and democracy, but hides an exploitative, censored and unaccountable underbelly.
After years making Youtube videos without success, Itamar Rose sets out on a mission – to discover the secrets of what makes a video go viral. Along the way he meets with YouTube stars past and present, from early viral sensations such as ‘The Double Rainbow’ and ‘David After Dentist’ to the modern breed of Influencers who have fine tuned the art of audience building, algorithmic tampering and fan engagement.
Itamar’s mission pulls back the curtain on an industry where even the viral success stories begin life with views bought from ‘click farms’, experts explain to us how success still depends on marketing experience and partnerships beyond the reach of ordinary YouTubers, boot camps train the next generation of fame hungry children and even the most unassuming creators are drawn into cynical practices that reward ‘gaming the system’.
As we go deeper, YouTube stars fall by the wayside exhausted by the demands to constantly create and ‘feed the beast’ or disappear from the rankings, and Itamar himself is ejected from a YouTube event for asking difficult questions.
While Itamar’s journey takes him into the heart of the YouTube machine, difficult questions emerge about how exactly this platform that was supposed to give everyone a voice, has evolved.
Driverless
Over 40,000 people will die from car crashes in the U.S this year; the leading cause of death for young people.
The driverless car’s arrival promises to save many of these lives by eliminating human error, but how will the introduction of such a revolutionary technology shape our cities and influence our behaviour?
From the fascinating history of America’s embrace of the automobile to a present grassroots movement against them, Driverless is a documentary that seeks to look beyond the engineering marvel and ask, in what kind of world do we want to live and are we driving down a road that will get us there?