startup.com

View Date: June 17th, 2001

Directed by: Chris Hegedus and Jehane Noujaim 

*This film was viewed as a part of the inaugural Halfway2Hollywood film festival, presented by The Fine Arts Theaters of Kansas City.*

Scientific power is like inherited wealth; attained without discipline. You read about what others have done, and you take the next step. You can do it very young. You can make progress very fast. - Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park)

There isn’t a more relevant movie out right now than Startup.com. This documentary, initially made to be a celebration of the conquering the new frontier of the Internet, it actually becomes an ominous premonition of the dangers of entering unknown waters where the sharks circle everyday.  Today’s unstable job market has made a lot of people nervous and skittish every time they go to work.  Most concerned of all are those overly excited entrepreneurs who initially jumped at the chance to capitalize on the next big thing.  Now, their dreams and dots litter the cyber landscape, and the vultures are not done circling yet.  The film’s contrasting moods of exuberance and instability reflect both aspects of this world.  What may be a gold mine one moment is an empty office building the next.  This is definitely a movie that anyone with a dream, online or not, should see.  It’s emotions go deeper than just the job, reflecting the prioritization of job versus friendship and love, the passion that can blind us to reality, and the ultimate, painful realization that all that glitters, was not gold

The surrounding events were a compound of foresight and foolishness, innocence and ignorance. Nearly everyone involved had moments of great brilliance, and moments of unaccountable stupidity. - Michael Crichton (The Andromeda Strain)

You may, or may not, know who Kaleil Isaza Tuzman is, but the odds are, after this film, you are going to like him less than you do now.  He, along with childhood friend Tom Herman and other friends and relatives, decided to create a website to eliminate the red tape from government.  It was called, gOVworks.com, and in principle, it was indeed a great idea.  The site would have centralized all governmental operations, such applying for licenses, paying parking tickets, property taxes, etc.  The problem is that neither Kaleil, an investment broker from Goldman Sachs, or Tom, a technology expert, really knew what they were getting into.  All they knew was that they had a dream, and a little money, and it was these that drove them onward.  The desire to get what we want can unfortunately blind us from reality, and both Tom and Kaleil realized that starting a business was something difficult, but they really had no idea to what depths they really didn’t have a clue what they were doing.  This is reflected in two scenes in the movie, one where they make a presentation to a large Silicon Valley investment company (VC’s or venture capitalists, as the movie calls them) and the company tells them that they are 2-3 years behind the curve in their presentation and production.  Undaunted, they press on, and secure capital, but not after another embarrassing sequence where their legal counsel is not present during the reviewing and signing of the contracts.  The tension, frustration and ignorance are visible to everyone, except Kaleil and Tom.  We are taken along through their rise, the money, the publicity, the launch, seeing the victories, but also experiences foretelling events of impending doom.  For those who don’t know, the film’s presentation does not foretell the conclusion, but rather is toned to show the contrasting moods of those who undertake such ventures. As things go on, their employee numbers are shown to reflect the meteoric growth into a land that they were not prepared to visit.  Their fall becomes just quick, and even more painful because we are given such an up-close, personal behind the scenes look at the participants.  Documentaries are the truest form of film making because movies are little more than reflections of society as seen through the filmmaker’s eyes.  The touches of embellishment and creativity that litter the cinematic landscape are only successful when they enhance the telling of the tale.  When they are excessive or unnecessary, they distract and dilute the film’s message.  There is no dilution, or subtlety here, just reality, and its painful truths and realities, all at the click of a mouse and the whir of a projector.

In the information society, nobody thinks. We expect to banish paper, but we actually banish thought. - Michael Crichton (Airframe)