Are kids using social media or is social media using kids?
Thanks to social media, teens are able to directly interact with their culture - celebrities, movies, brands - in ways never before possible. But is that real empowerment? Or do marketers hold the upper hand? Douglas Rushkoff explores how the teen quest for identity has migrated to the web – and exposes the game of cat-and-mouse that corporations are playing with them.
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01 Jan 2019
Richard Clay, art historian and expert on semiotics and iconoclasm and the interplay between new technology and shifts in meaning, compares and contrasts cultural symbols from across the centuries, unpicking iconic images, music, and other cultural outputs to explain where ‘stickiness’ comes from.
18 Sep 2024
Chronicles tech visionary Vitalik Buterin and Ethereum's community of builders as they fight for an open internet accessible to all.
21 Jan 2022
With only a photograph and a name, a group of passionate puzzle players have been trying without success to answer the question: "Who is this man?" Finding Satoshi is a playful documentary that finally solves the 14 year mystery.
13 Feb 2020
By the dawn of the 21st century, hip-hop sales had reached an all-time high, but one thing has remained the same. The doors were still locked, and the music industry held the keys. Young artists began to self-market on the Internet, ultimately helping to collapse the music industry as we knew it. It’s Yours explores how it became possible to become a rap star through a Twitter account, YouTube site or Myspace page. It tells this story through the unique perspectives of numerous artists, producers, record industry insiders, and music and cultural critics.
16 Sep 2023
30 years in the making, the film Jan Terri: No Rules tells the story of an irrepressible, and often delightfully perplexing personality. As a child, Jan would dance and sing for anyone who would listen. As a teenager, she began writing and performing her own songs. After earning her BA in Arts and Entertainment Management, she continued making music while working full-time as a limo driver. The income from that job allowed her to hire a studio as well as a videographer to help her make her unorthodox DIY music videos and distributing them on VHS tape. Without her knowledge, her videos made their way to the nascent YouTube. The fact that her most popular YouTube video was given the title “Worst Music Video Ever” didn’t dampen her spirit. Her fanbase grew to include such luminaries as Marilyn Manson and Cynthia Plaster Caster. Over the years, Jan’s independent spirit attracted many collaborators who’ve helped bring her vision to life.
01 Sep 2023
Fame driven Ken Dean becomes the subject of a documentary when he attempts to start a pornography company. Following the failure of the company, Ken uses his father's religious music to start a Christian rock band but finds himself trapped in a gay conversion cult.
07 Apr 2021
The line between justice and revenge blurs when a devastated family uses social media to track down the people who killed 24-year-old Crystal Theobald.
20 Apr 2021
A group of young, risk-embracing day traders used social media to organize a massive stock buy-up. Jordan Belfort provides details about the story, exploring how it shook the world's markets.
28 Aug 2009
In 1999, Internet entrepreneur Josh Harris recruits dozens of young men and women who agree to live in underground apartments for weeks at a time while their every movement is broadcast online. Soon, Harris and his girlfriend embark on their own subterranean adventure, with cameras streaming live footage of their meals, arguments, bedroom activities, and bathroom habits. This documentary explores the role of technology in our lives, as it charts the fragile nature of dot-com economy.
24 Feb 2014
A documentary that follows three women who perform via webcam to paying customers.
21 Jan 2001
Friends since high school, 20-somethings Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman have an idea: a Web site for people to conduct business with municipal governments. This documentary tracks the rise and fall of govWorks.com from May of 1999 to December of 2000, and the trials the business brings to the relationship of these best friends. Kaleil raises the money, Tom's the technical chief. A third partner wants a buy out; girlfriends come and go; Tom's daughter needs attention. And always the need for cash and for improving the site. Venture capital comes in by the millions. Kaleil is on C-SPAN, CNN, and magazine covers. Will the business or the friendship crash first?
16 Mar 2021
Follow 20-year-old Lily Hevesh — the world’s greatest domino toppler and the only woman in her field — in a coming-of-age story of artistry, passion, and unlikely triumph.
12 Oct 2019
Mark Ronson is the music producer who redefined popular music; from his Grammy-award-winning collaborations with Amy Winehouse and Bruno Mars, to his recent work on the Oscar-winning film A Star Is Born. This documentary follows Mark’s creative process, from the studio to DJ’ing and shooting film; with exclusive insights from the man himself. This is combined with archive footage alongside new interviews with the artists and collaborators that Mark has worked with, including Q-Tip, Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.
07 Nov 2023
This documentary reveals how a group of hackers powered the darkest corners of the internet from a Cold War-era bunker in a quiet German tourist town.
19 Nov 2024
This subversive documentary unpacks the tricks brands use to keep their customers consuming — and the real impact they have on our lives and the world.
Using real cases, this documentary demonstrates the extent to which violent criminals can use social media to locate and manipulate victims.
01 Sep 2022
Explores the world of body image through the eyes of children and covers topics including diversity, social media, photoshopping, the influence of media and positive role models.
10 Dec 2020
Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet takes a deep dive into the crypto ecosystem and blockchain technology to discover the good, the bad and the ugly of this controversial industry, its major narratives, conflicts and the major players behind it. Can blockchain technology be used to create a new, fairer, decentralised and uncensored web3.0 where we can control our data and protect our online identities? Or will the potential be squandered as mega corporations once again compete for dominance in this new field. With his unrivalled and exclusive access, award-winning filmmaker Torsten Hoffman (Bitcoin: The End of Money as We Know It) takes us on a journey into the heart of this brave new world.
09 Jul 2010
Jack Rebney is the most famous man you've never heard of - after cursing his way through a Winnebago sales video, Rebney's outrageously funny outtakes became an underground sensation and made him an internet superstar. Filmmaker Ben Steinbauer journeys to the top of a mountain to find the recluse who unwittingly became the "Winnebago Man".
29 Jun 2017
On June 11th, 1997, Philippe Kahn created the first camera phone solution to share pictures instantly on public networks. The impetus for this invention was the birth of Kahn's daughter, when he jerry-rigged a mobile phone with a digital camera and sent photos in real time. In 2016 Time Magazine included Kahn's first camera phone photo in their list of the 100 most influential photos of all time.