Startup.com
Encyclopedia
Startup.com is a 2001
documentary film
that chronicles the dot-com start-up
phenomenon and its eventual end. The film follows e-commerce website govWorks
and its founders Kaleil Isaza Tuzman
and Tom Herman from 1999-2000 as the Internet bubble
was bursting.
and Chris Hegedus. Noujaim had been Kaleil Tuzman's Harvard
classmate and began filming Tuzman as he quit his job at Goldman Sachs, to begin govWorks with his high school friend Tom Herman. Noujaim contacted Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker
for help in financing the project. The film was distributed by Artisan Entertainment
(which was later acquired by Lions Gate Entertainment
).
The film was shot in digital video. The filmmakers shot for over two years, and were editing the more than 400 hours of video and film right up to their Sundance Film Festival
premiere in early 2001. They re-edited the last few minutes of the film just prior to its May 2001 theatrical release.
Since the release of the film, Tom Herman and Kaleil Isaza Tuzman
have worked together at Recognition Group and JumpTV
.
Dot, which featured Simeon Schnapper as Si Phateuxx, the parodical counterpart of Kaleil Tuzman.
2001 in film
The year 2001 in film involved some significant events, including the first of the Harry Potter series and also the first of The Lord of the Rings trilogy...
documentary film
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
that chronicles the dot-com start-up
Dot-com company
A dot-com company, or simply a dot-com , is a company that does most of its business on the Internet, usually through a website that uses the popular top-level domain, ".com" .While the term can refer to present-day companies, it is also used specifically to refer to companies with...
phenomenon and its eventual end. The film follows e-commerce website govWorks
GovWorks
govWorks Inc. was a dot-com company that was founded in 1998 by Kaleil Isaza Tuzman and Tom Herman. It went bankrupt when the dot-com bubble burst in 2000. govWorks's rise and fall is documented in the 2001 documentary Startup.com....
and its founders Kaleil Isaza Tuzman
Kaleil Isaza Tuzman
Kaleil Isaza Tuzman is an entrepreneur, the chief executive officer and elected chairman of the board of KIT digital, Inc., and managing partner of KCP Capital...
and Tom Herman from 1999-2000 as the Internet bubble
Dot-com bubble
The dot-com bubble was a speculative bubble covering roughly 1995–2000 during which stock markets in industrialized nations saw their equity value rise rapidly from growth in the more...
was bursting.
Production
The film was made by Egyptian-American filmmaker Jehane NoujaimJehane Noujaim
Jehane Noujaim is an Egyptian American documentary film director best known for her films Control Room, Startup.com and Pangea Day.- Career :Jehane Noujaim is a filmmaker, born in Washington DC and raised in Kuwait and Cairo....
and Chris Hegedus. Noujaim had been Kaleil Tuzman's Harvard
Harvard University
Harvard University is a private Ivy League university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, established in 1636 by the Massachusetts legislature. Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and the first corporation chartered in the country...
classmate and began filming Tuzman as he quit his job at Goldman Sachs, to begin govWorks with his high school friend Tom Herman. Noujaim contacted Chris Hegedus and D. A. Pennebaker
D. A. Pennebaker
Donn Alan Pennebaker is an American documentary filmmaker and one of the pioneers of Direct Cinema/Cinéma vérité. Performing arts and politics are his primary subjects.-Biography:...
for help in financing the project. The film was distributed by Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment
Artisan Entertainment Inc. was a privately held independent American movie studio until it was purchased by a Canadian studio, Lionsgate, in 2003. At the time of its acquisition, Artisan had a library of thousands of films developed through acquisition, original production, and production and...
(which was later acquired by Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment
Lions Gate Entertainment Corporation is a North American entertainment company. The company was formed in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1997, and is headquartered in Santa Monica, California...
).
The film was shot in digital video. The filmmakers shot for over two years, and were editing the more than 400 hours of video and film right up to their Sundance Film Festival
Sundance Film Festival
The Sundance Film Festival is a film festival that takes place annually in Utah, in the United States. It is the largest independent cinema festival in the United States. Held in January in Park City, Salt Lake City, and Ogden, as well as at the Sundance Resort, the festival is a showcase for new...
premiere in early 2001. They re-edited the last few minutes of the film just prior to its May 2001 theatrical release.
Since the release of the film, Tom Herman and Kaleil Isaza Tuzman
Kaleil Isaza Tuzman
Kaleil Isaza Tuzman is an entrepreneur, the chief executive officer and elected chairman of the board of KIT digital, Inc., and managing partner of KCP Capital...
have worked together at Recognition Group and JumpTV
JumpTV
JumpTV Inc. is a Canadian company, the country's largest internet television carrier. JumpTV operates at the intersection of two growth sectors: Internet Protocol Television and ethnic media services...
.
Parody
The film was parodied by the 2002 mockumentaryMockumentary
A mockumentary , is a type of film or television show in which fictitious events are presented in documentary format. These productions are often used to analyze or comment on current events and issues by using a fictitious setting, or to parody the documentary form itself...
Dot, which featured Simeon Schnapper as Si Phateuxx, the parodical counterpart of Kaleil Tuzman.
See also
- e-DreamsE-Dreamse-Dreams is a 2001 American documentary film directed by Wonsuk Chin portraying the rise and fall of Kozmo.com, an online convenience store that utilized bike messengers to deliver goods ordered online within an hour....
- Startup companyStartup companyA startup company or startup is a company with a limited operating history. These companies, generally newly created, are in a phase of development and research for markets...
- Venture capitalVenture capitalVenture capital is financial capital provided to early-stage, high-potential, high risk, growth startup companies. The venture capital fund makes money by owning equity in the companies it invests in, which usually have a novel technology or business model in high technology industries, such as...