Radical Transparency, the Movie: Statement of Intent

in #society7 years ago (edited)

This is the start of a series of posts about a documentary film: the learnings that come from researching it, the journey we take making it, and to explore being transparent — including why we make the editorial choices we do.

Radical Transparency: Weapon of Mass Liberation? is that upcoming Theatrical Documentary, a darkly humorous handbook to the potential utopias — and dystopias — of the (really) fast emerging 4th Industrial Revolution.

Our aim — to entertain and help the ‘average joe’ — shining light on the changes that tech is bringing to how we live, and the world around us. We’re not about the under-the-bonnet tech, VC money, ICOs or the bitcoin gold rush. But how each of our lives are starting to — and will continue to — be shaped by Blockchain, decentralization, AI, Big Data, Cyber-Hacks (by States or organisations) and other emerging trends. That’s what we’re all about.

Image: Big Head Bob on Amazon

We’re the ‘canary in the coalmine’ helping more people understand, and more importantly.. care.

Care enough to keep things in check and be aware of potential (and emerging) dystopian nightmares. But also care and dream for the wonderful utopian possibilities. Then there’s the sometimes fine line that divides the two.

We want you to help drive that journey — not be a passenger on it.

You can’t be upset, or be excited — or even talk to politicians or support a cause, if you don’t ‘get’ how these things will fundamentally and materially affect your daily life.

We don’t want to preach to the converted and engaged, we want to talk to your brother, mother or kid in college and give them — us — the tools we need, in a way we’ll engage with.

What kind of jobs will be around in 5 years or when an app is your Boss? Care that the powerful are finding new ways to not pay tax? What about Equifax and how that data (and leaks of it) affect you life choices? What’s life like when bosses, corporations or governments can get more into your home life? Maybe you care about a better life for the less fortunate. Or maybe you have it real good right and want to know how to game the system in the future — we’re for you all.

Exploring these new ways of working and being, includes us trying new things and striving to be transparent about the processes and reasoning that shape our story.

Vlad Lodzinski

My name is Vlad. Recently I’ve been a media-tech entrepreneur in California, but here I’m going back to my roots as a Storyteller. Hopefully you’ll get to know me — and the team — through our work, and on the journey I document here.

This experiment in transparency starts tomorrow when we start putting up some of our research interviews for all to see, and the videos and blogs will keep coming. Ignore them, challenge them, or use them to keep us in check when the film is out. It’s all good. We don’t know how this experiment will work, but it’s right to try. We’re always happy to hear from you, here or on other platforms.

Follow Us

Our first extract — The Truth Score — is about fake/d news and what journalists need to consider as they respond to current challenges. It’s out tomorrow, Monday November 12th 2017.

This post was originally published on Medium

UPDATE: The Truth Score is now live
https://youtu.be/GO23ubaZiNk

Written with StackEdit.

Sort:  

I find this post to be very interesting. I'm so overwhelmed by everything that's on this website that I really have trouble focusing, but I'm going to make an effort to focus on your topic because it sounds very interesting. Even though it seems like we live in a time when technology should be giving the average person more of a say so in what's going on, exactly the opposite seems to be happening. When are you going to start putting your interviews together into a movie? I'm not exactly clear on what the plan is, but it sounds interesting.

I forgot to ask you, what is the point of the towel graphic?

We realised after we prepped the outline that our film was a bit like the guide featured in Douglas Adams' 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy'. It's a great comedy, and the guide helps a hapless human, unceremoniously thrown into the big bad world of 'outer space', survive.

The graphic - from Big Head Bob on Amazon, is inspired by some of that guide book's advice.