‘Vitalik: An Ethereum Story’ is about humanity, not crypto.

Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple were filming another documentary when they decided to make Vitalik: An Ethereum Story, and they ended up capturing both a deeper, human look at crypto and a use case for future crypto filmmaking.

Filmmakers frequently start a documentary with a vision of what they want to explore, sometimes with assumptions, only to shatter that image once shooting starts, establishing a new path for the movie.

While producing the documentary This Is Not Financial Advice, Zach Ingrasci and Chris Temple discovered they had a different film.

“While we were making that film, we wanted to interview Vitalik Buterin,” Ingrasci told me recently. We met him via a connection, but his unusual tech optimism and ability to break crypto preconceptions impressed us. Though a millionaire, he was modest, witty, eccentric, and dedicated to decentralization. That was so encouraging, we decided to write about Vitalik or the Ethereum community.

Though not crypto-native filmmakers, Ingrasci and Temple were intrigued in technology and communities utilizing it in novel ways. Vitalik and Ethereum simply happened to fit both of those criteria.

Ingrasci and Temple launched a non-fungible token (NFT) crowdfunding campaign, garnering over $2 million in 50 hours, enabling them to debut rapidly during the NFT boom in summer 2021.

Temple explained, “It enabled us to assume ownership of the film without being obligated to any stakeholder, platform, or intermediary who would have otherwise been responsible for directing the content.” I had the unique chance to accompany Vitalik, a global nomad, throughout the globe for two years.”

Temple and Ingrasci investigated Buterin in Ukraine, Montenegro, Toronto, and Colombia to comprehend the technological master. They even visited Buterin’s father and family to learn about their Russian-to-Canadian emigration.

“We wanted to know how Vitalik’s upbringing affected his values,” Temple added. “We talked to Ethereum community members, Vitalik’s friends, and others to understand how crypto technology creators affect the end product. How are their ideals, blindspots, and interests engineered into the product?

Temple and Ingrasci’s first objective was to make a work that would be accessible to a general audience and assist explain some of the Ethereum community’s beliefs and intriguing things to non-crypto natives.

Initially, they didn’t sure what it meant or what it would lead to since they were following other Ethereum stories and individuals. As they edited the documentary, they tested it with crypto-illiterates, who were obviously perplexed.

Ingrasci stated, “It is exceedingly challenging to produce a documentary that is both entertaining and accessible to individuals who are unfamiliar with the crypto space. However, the feedback from these preliminary screenings was unequivocal: when individuals were able to establish a connection with an individual, particularly Vitalik, who is both likable and inspiring, it served as an entry point to delve into these more abstract concepts.”

“We did not set out to make the film only about Vitalik, and I don’t think the film is only about Vitalik,” Ingrasci told Cointelegraph.

Vitalik is our human hook, our tale about someone who will surprise you, shatter your crypto prejudices, and leave you more delighted than you expected after seeing this film.”

Ingrasci said Buterin’s favorite sequences in the film were when he was having tea or preparing breakfast, being his normally quirky, humorous self.

“That makes this film entertaining, watchable and human,” Ingrasci remarked. “Instead of this extremely cerebral Vitalik that we were already acutely aware of, a lot more human story emerges when someone is prepared to be genuine on camera with us as filmmakers.”

Vitalik says he’s a builder and thinker first, Temple stated. “He felt tension during filming because people looked to him as a leader and representative of the crypto movement. He struggles throughout the film with how much to speak up, how much to lead, and how much to disagree. He finally speaks out against speculation, saying that Ethereum wasn’t created to trade million-dollar monkeys and that we can do more to reform systems and benefit people.

A pedestaled tech founder’s humanizing factor shows how we all struggle to stand out on our ideals, particularly when they conflict with our social circles and society at large.

Vitalik has power. The film is about human tales that transcend crypto, just as crypto is the background.

Two “non-native” crypto filmmakers deliver a provocative narrative.

According to Ingrasci, “the documentary space is broken,” therefore it’s fascinating that they’ve employed cryptocurrency for many parts of the film’s distribution process. Independent documentaries are hard to make these days. We had creative control over Mirror since we crypto-crowdfunded early on. Many streamers have a lot of power over the film you produce.

Writer of Dark Knight and Superman develops AI-powered crypto film universe

Ingrasci and Temple used Web3 to drop a trailer on Zora and release the video early onchain on Bonfire in September, raising donations to publicize the documentary to mainstream audiences.

“Many independent filmmakers have no marketing budget; documentaries are cheap. Instead, crypto-crowdfunding lets us spread the trailer, message, and film.”

Ingrasci and Temple have constructed a sub-narrative around creating a film using crypto-native technologies, giving other filmmakers a real-world example of how blockchain platforms may help them succeed.

“Even though we are just getting started, I believe that these tools have the potential to have a significant impact on filmmakers,” said Ingrasci. “It’s just the beginning.” “The complexities are not abstracted enough, making it hard to understand. While a testimony, the film’s brief onchain distribution made it hard for non-crypto users to see.

The film was dispersed theatrically released in 24 nations and 30 places on the same night.