$2,500 Document on FTX Collapse on Amazon Prime… with mom’s help

Richard Whittaker’s day job is editing films about Arctic caribou and Pacific killer sharks. But when a massive cryptocurrency exchange collapsed in 2022, blaming its awkward, curly-haired founder, he knew he wanted to make a documentary about it.

Sixteen months later, Whitaker’s own investigation into the collapse FTX: When Money Breaksis streaming for free on Prime Video in the UK and is available to rent or purchase in the US and Australia. Not bad for a small production made with the help of my mom and a budget of about $2,500.

Whittaker, who has never dabbled in cryptocurrencies, isn’t the first person to think he would make this type of documentary. By day, Whittaker works as a full-time editorial assistant in the BBC’s documentary department, editing wildlife footage in Adobe Premiere for productions such as those narrated by Cate Blanchett. the world we live in.

When asked how the nature documentarian ended up making a film about the magic internet coin, he laughed. Like many people, he became interested in the topic of Sam Bank Man-Fried, who became a mainstream public figure in 2022, due to his charismatic yet strange personality.

“It was about six months before the collapse that he (Sam Bankman-Fried) started appearing more on my feed,” he said.

“One of the clips I use quite a bit (in the documentary) was ‘Sam is the most generous billionaire.’ I thought it was fascinating.”

Bankman-Fried, the world’s most famous proponent of effective altruism, has given numerous interviews about his grand plans to make billions of dollars and donate them to charity. The magazine asked him in February 2021 whether he had tried to take things from his rich to give to the poor.

“Maybe there’s no stealing part.” He said in a quote that, in retrospect, is laced with irony.

Bankman-Fried was unusual in other ways too. While most cryptocurrency influencers show off Lamborghinis, huge homes, and luxury watches, SBF’s public image shows him sleeping on a bean bag in the office, playing video games in a shirt and shorts during live TV interviews, and driving around in a Toyota Corolla. All I could do was go around.

“It was an interesting contrast to what I had seen,” Whittaker said.

So when it all came crashing down in November 2022, Whittaker had to figure out how it all happened.

So he asked his mom.

“It’s funny, but the first thing I did was tell my mom,” Whittaker says. Susan Whitaker played a key role in the production of the film. As an academic, she was also an auditor at a mid-sized UK accounting firm. Throughout the documentary, Susan provides expert commentary on FTX’s questionable business and accounting practices.

In the aftermath of the collapse, Whittaker and his mother began writing papers and combing through court and company documents to figure out how it happened and where the money went. Like a cryptocurrency version of Sherlock Holmes or Doctor Watson.

“That’s right. I think I’m lucky in that respect. Because my mom and I have very similar interests. She makes things like this so much fun interacting with her and getting good reports from her.

“One of the things I really wanted to do was When money breaks Series kind of makes things more digestible,” he added.

In that regard, Whittaker has done a pretty good job. But it’s clear that the film is trying to reach a broader audience than just cryptocurrency natives.

The biggest limitation of the film was its budget. He said: “It was about £2,000 including legal, license and everything else. So by the end of the budget, it was pretty thin.”

This meant camera rentals were limited and in some cases not even stock footage was available. Keen viewers will notice a brief scene of an apparently homeless man holding a sign that reads, “I lost all my money on FTX.” This is actually Whittaker himself.

“I saw some stock footage on a website, and it was actually really funny because it was the guy holding the sign. “I thought about buying it and changing the sign, but they asked for 300 pounds.”

“I remember saying to my incredibly understanding girlfriend, ‘Can you take a picture of me walking a few steps in my hoodie?’ (…) I was cooking that day.”

One big hint that this is citizen journalism and not a complete doco is the lack of expert commentary. Aside from Whittaker’s mother, the only people interviewed on camera appear to be members of the Bistrol public who offer no insight into FTX. It seems that many people have never owned cryptocurrency.

“If I were to make another film, I would hope to get more scholars talking on camera and have more diversity in the interviewees,” Richard said.

“Making the documentary was definitely a learning curve. Definitely, next time we will basically build a complete belt and brace and probably have a dedicated fact checker.”

Movie Review: FTX When money breaks

FTX: When Money Breaks Starting from the premise that everything in our daily lives is driven by money, the speaker asks, “What would happen if the entire money system collapsed?”

The documentary shows how FTX’s easy-to-use platform and 8% interest rate benefits make cryptocurrency trading an attractive “side hustle” for many during a time of rising inflation.

The 54-minute film attempts to explain the events that immediately led to the FTX collapse and the crazy revelations that occurred in its aftermath. Sam Bankman-Fried’s personal life takes up a significant amount of screen time, and the documentary also touches on the events that led to a fight between SBF and Binance co-founder Changpeng “CZ” Zhao, which led to Binance dumping all of its FTT tokens and triggering its collapse.

It also calls out FTX’s executive-heavy management structure, complex web of interconnected companies (including Alameda), and, most importantly, the exchange’s shoddy accounting practices, which rely too heavily on Quickbooks.

Unfortunately, the delayed release of the film got ahead of events a bit. As Whittaker previously mentioned, there are some facts that could have been more thoroughly fact-checked.

For example, the documentary states that cryptocurrency exchange Binance is based in China, but does not have an official headquarters. The film also suggests that there are only 120 cases of cryptocurrency fraud. Of course, the number is much higher than that.

Whittaker admits that due to the film’s small budget, it only took three to four days to rent professional camera equipment. As a result, it relies heavily on stock footage (people in business suits shaking each other’s hands, etc.), and some of the footage looks like it was shot with a smartphone camera, which can be a bit jarring.

But some of the low-budget scenes have the advantage of adding to the documentary’s ‘citizen journalism’ appeal and being some of the most enjoyable parts of the film.

I especially liked some of the more goofy scenes featuring Whittaker himself, such as Whittaker trying to hire someone to create a crypto token using Fiver, and rather appropriately pulling the rug out from under him.

A few facts aside, Whittaker’s documentary is a commendable attempt to explain a very complex story in a short amount of time.

There’s a wholesome charm to it all and it’s clear it was made with a lot of love. This means that Whittaker can be forgiven for occasionally getting a few facts wrong.

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Felix yes

Felix Ng first began writing about the blockchain industry in 2015 through the perspective of a gambling industry journalist and editor. Since then, he has been covering the blockchain field full-time. He is most interested in innovative blockchain technology to solve real-world problems.