Production on the upcoming documentary Mass Effect: The Story Of YouTube has officially started. Directed by Alex Winter, the movie will explore the origins of YouTube, from a small project to a machine that moves billions of dollars every year.
Winter is known as the face of Bill in the Bill & Ted trilogy, but his experience as a director is highly focused on documentaries such as Showbiz Kids, The Panama Papers and Zappa. With an experienced director attached to the project, Mass Effect will certainly bring an interesting look to a tool so entangled in our day-to-day life we rarely stop to wonder about its reach. As Winter himself says about his interest in working on Mass Effect, “[YouTube’s is] one of the most significant cultural and business stories of our time.”
Mass Effect will be produced by Winter himself, together with Gale Anne Hurd (The Terminator, Aliens, The Walking Dead) and previous work partner Glen Zipper (Undefeated, Challenger: Final Flight, What’s My Name: Muhammad Ali, Zappa). According to Hurd, this is a movie that’ll focus both on how YouTube revolutionizes the access to content to both creators and consumers, and at the same time can be used for insidious political goals. In Hurd’s words:
"Mass Effect is both an inspirational and cautionary tale as it examines how YouTube has made our lives easier and more enriched, while also presenting dangers that make the world a more perilous place. (...) At this extraordinary moment in history between fake news and an unprecedented pandemic, YouTube has been at the center of it all, for better and for worse."
There’s still no release date for Mass Effect: The Story Of YouTube, but as soon as more news becomes available, you can expect to read all about the project here. Check out the official film synopsis below:
“The feature documentary takes the viewer on a gripping journey from the humble beginnings of YouTube, starting with its creation in the attic of a pizzeria to its explosion onto the world stage, becoming the largest media platform in history and sparking a cultural revolution.”