The $2,500 doco about FTX collapse on Amazon Prime… with help from mom

Richard Whittaker’s day job is modifying movies about Arctic reindeer and Pacific Ocean killer sharks — however when an enormous crypto change collapsed in 2022 with the blame pointed at its awkward, curly-haired founder, he knew he wished to make a documentary about it.

Sixteen months later, Whittaker’s home-grown investigation in regards to the collapse, FTX: When Cash Breaks, is streaming without cost on Prime Video in the UK and accessible for lease or buy in the USA and Australia. Not unhealthy for a tiny manufacturing made with the assistance of his mother and with a price range someplace within the neighborhood of $2,500.

Whittaker — who had by no means touched cryptocurrency — isn’t the primary individual you’d suppose would make this sort of documentary. Through the day, Whittaker is a full-time edit assistant for the BBC’s documentary division, modifying wildlife footage on Adobe Premiere for productions just like the Cate Blanchett-narrated Our Dwelling World.

He laughs once we ask how a nature documentarian finally ends up making a movie about magic web cash. Like many individuals, he took an interest within the subject as a result of charismatic however bizarre character of Sam Bankman-Fried, who grew to become a public determine within the mainstream in 2022.

“It was about six months earlier than [the collapse] that he [Sam Bankman-Fried] began to pop up a bit extra on my feed,” he mentioned. 

“One of many clips that I exploit fairly a bit [in the documentary] was that ‘Sam is probably the most beneficiant billionaire.’ Which I assumed was fascinating.”

The world’s most well-known adherent of efficient altruism, Bankman-Fried gave quite a lot of interviews speaking about his grand plan to make billions purely in order that he might give all of it away to charitable endeavors. Journal requested him again in February 2021 if he was making an attempt to rob from the wealthy to provide to the poor.

“Possibly with out the robbing half,” he mentioned, in a quote that drips with irony with the advantage of hindsight. 

Bankman-Fried was uncommon in different methods, too. Whereas most crypto influencers flex their Lamborghinis, huge homes and luxurious watches, SBF’s public picture was all about sleeping on bean baggage on the workplace, taking part in video video games throughout stay TV interviews in a shirt and shorts and puttering round in a Toyota Corolla.

“It was an attention-grabbing antithesis to what I’d seen,” mentioned Whittaker. 

So when every thing collapsed in November 2022, Whittaker simply needed to learn how all of it occurred.

So he requested his mother

“It’s humorous,however the very first thing I did was inform my mother,” says Whittaker. Susan Whittaker performed a key function within the making of the movie. An instructional, she’s additionally a former auditor at a mid-tier United Kingdom-based accounting agency. All through the documentary, Susan gives skilled commentary about FTX’s shady enterprise and accounting practices.

Within the aftermath of the collapse, Whittaker and his mom started drawing up boards and sifting via court docket and firm paperwork to try to work out the way it occurred and the place the cash went — like Sherlock Holmes and Dr Watson, crypto version.

“Yeah, I’m very fortunate in that regard, I believe, as a result of Mother and I’ve very comparable pursuits. It makes stuff like this fairly enjoyable to work together together with her and get a very good report.

“One of many issues I actually wished to do with the When Cash Breaks collection is kind of make issues extra digestible,” he added.

On that entrance, Whittaker does a reasonably first rate job — although it’s apparent the movie was making an attempt to talk to a broader viewers than simply crypto-natives.

The primary constraint on the movie was the price range, which he says was “About 2,000 kilos, together with authorized and licensing and every thing else. So the price range was stretched fairly skinny by the tip of it.” 

That meant digicam rent was restricted, and even inventory footage was out of attain in some cases. Eagle-eyed viewers could discover a quick shot that includes an apparently homeless man holding up an indication saying, “Misplaced all my cash on FTX.” That is really Whittaker himself.

“It was actually humorous usually because there was inventory footage accessible on one web site, and it was a person holding an indication. I used to be pondering of shopping for it and swapping the signal out […] however they wished 300 kilos.”

“I keep in mind I turned to my extremely understanding girlfriend, and I used to be like, ‘May you simply movie me on some steps in a hoodie?’ […] It was cooking [hot] that day.”

One large trace that is citizen journalism and never a fully-fledged doco is the shortage of professional commentary. Other than Whittaker’s mom, the one individuals interviewed on digicam seem simply to be members of the Bistrol public who don’t provide any insights into FTX. Many don’t even appear to have ever owned cryptocurrency. 

“I’m hoping if I make one other movie, that I’d be capable to get extra of the lecturers in entrance of the digicam to speak a bit extra, simply to get a bit extra selection in individuals being interviewed,” Richard mentioned.

“It’s undoubtedly been a studying curve making the documentary. Positively, for the subsequent one, we’re principally going to do a whole belt and braces and possibly get a devoted fact-checker.”

Movie evaluate: FTX When Cash Breaks

FTX: When Cash Breaks begins with the premise that every thing in our each day lives runs on cash, with the narrator asking: “What occurs when the entire system of cash breaks?”

The documentary units the scene for crypto buying and selling changing into a horny “facet hustle” for a lot of at a time of rising inflation, with FTX’s easy-to-use platform and eight% rates of interest benefiting.

The 54-minute movie makes an attempt to elucidate the occasions instantly resulting in the FTX collapse and the loopy revelations that got here up in its wake. Sam Bankman-Fried’s private life will get appreciable display time, with the documentary additionally relating the meat between SBF and Binance’s co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao that led to Binance dumping all its FTT tokens and precipitating the collapse.

It additional brings up FTX’s top-heavy administration construction, its complicated internet of interconnected firms (together with Alameda) and the change’s shoddy accounting practices, which leaned too closely on Quickbooks, amongst different issues.

Sadly, the movie’s launch was delayed, so occasions have overtaken it somewhat. As Whittaker beforehand alluded to, there are additionally a couple of information that might have been extra completely fact-checked.

For instance, the documentary states that the crypto change Binance is predicated in China, although the agency has no official headquarters. The movie additionally suggests there have solely been 120 circumstances of crypto fraud — however in fact, the quantity is much increased than that.

Whittaker admits the movie’s tiny price range solely enabled about three to 4 days {of professional} digicam tools rent. Because of this, it leans closely on inventory footage— individuals in enterprise fits shaking one another’s arms, and many others — and a few footage appears to be like prefer it was recorded with a smartphone digicam, which generally is a little jarring. 

To its profit, although, a few of the lower-budget photographs give the documentary “citizen journalism” attraction and are a few of the most gratifying elements of the movie.

I particularly appreciated a few of the extra goofy scenes that includes Whittaker himself, equivalent to when he tries to make use of Fiver to rent somebody to create a crypto token for him—and relatively befittingly, will get rug pulled. 

A number of off-facts apart, Whittaker’s documentary is a commendable try to elucidate a really sophisticated saga in a brief period of time.

There’s a healthful attraction to all of it, and it’s apparent it’s made with quite a lot of love — which suggests we are able to forgive Whittaker for often getting a couple of information improper.

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Felix Ng

Felix Ng first started writing in regards to the blockchain trade via the lens of a playing trade journalist and editor in 2015. He has since moved into overlaying the blockchain house full-time. He’s most occupied with modern blockchain know-how aimed toward fixing real-world challenges.