You know it’s big when they’re making movies about it. An award-winning documentary filmmaker and a Portland writer are teaming up to create a feature-length documentary about cryptocurrencies, and running a Kickstarter campaign to crowdfund the project.
Coined: The Story of Cryptocurrency, which is already in production, is less a movie about the workings of digital money and more about the people who use it.
“The media usually focuses on fear-mongering (‘Bitcoin was used to launder money!’) or hype (‘this changes everything!’),” the film’s Kickstarter page says. “We’re cutting through the noise to tell more personal stories, which are just as fascinating.”
The production team, composed of documentary filmmaker Adam Cornelius (director of gaming movie Ecstasy of Order: The Tetris Masters and People Who Do Noise, a film on the Portland music scene) and writer/photographer Chris Higgins, started filming on their own dime in January.
They’ve already done interviews with Billy Markus (cofounder of Dogecoin) and Josh Wise (NASCAR driver of the famous Dogecar), among other activists in the cryptocurrency community, and are asking for help in funding more.
The creators wrote:
“What does the rise of cryptocurrency reveal about the nature of money and economic concepts that we previously took for granted?
“Why are some people embracing cryptocurrency while others seem to fear it?
“Why did we blow $1,200 making a mining rig that heated Adam’s apartment this winter?
“We’re making a film that explains what this stuff is and why it matters.”
Coined has already secured $US 8,320 from 172 backers through the Kickstarter campaign, though the film’s creators say they need a total of $US 72,000 by July 17 to fully fund the project, which will shoot at least through the end of the year.
To sweeten the deal, Higgins and Cornelius are offering rewards to contributors, including signed books and movie posters of their previous work.
Ironically, though, backers can’t contribute with Bitcoin or Dogecoin because of Kickstarter’s policies, which limit donations to fiat currencies.
Check out the Coined trailer here.