Life In Perpetual Beta

I pridefully can say I filmed this interview myself with my Panasonic HD Camcorder.

 It’s so absolutely fitting that the last interview for my film is with Twitter… because, if you’ve been following along kids (and I sure hope you have) you will know that my entire film has been sourced on Twitter. From having conversations about who best to interview and what information to research, to places to stay while I’m away from home, even the funding of Life In Perpetual Beta, all done 140 characters at a time, in real time.

Every time I stepped outside my front door to go and do this thing I’ve never done before, someone was there to send me encouraging words, last minute directions, a plane ticket, or $30 to help pay the camera crews.  And in return I showed them/myself just what is possible when you have no idea what you are doing, but you have a group of people who are as passionate about your dreams as you are. I showed that if ideas feed creativity, and creativity feeds a passion and they are both well fed… the impossible becomes possible, and a stay at home mom/college dropout can find a way to make an intelligent documentary film.

So anyway, there I was, interviewing Biz Stone, Mr. Twitter himself, him having no idea that my entire life changed when I was introduced to Twitter, he being ever so gracious and patient (and it was hot in that room, so hot, and I was already so nervous).  And what came of it was this very professional interview, as-if I had been doing it all of my life. It was an effortless conversation, but thrilling at the same time. I can’t wait to show you the rest of it when the film comes out. 

There will be more interviews on the blog (because I just can’t stop now), and more production updates, and probably more than a few notices about raising funds for the film via investment or otherwise. (films actually do cost money to make, Who knew?) But the filming of Life In Perpetual Beta is now truly over. Now comes the hard part.  Now comes the compiling of all the brilliant interviews. Now comes the synthesizing down into soundbites and video clips. Now comes the marketing and distributing. Now comes the work I can’t fudge my way through, I actually have to take time to do it right… or do I? Has living more publicly, as Biz suggested, changed even the way that films are edited and distributed?

So there Biz and I were, talking about the unfolding of how people are changing the way they think of themselves as a result of technology, and in that blue blue room with the sun shining in just so (later I would have to ring out my dress and do my best to neutralize the smell of sweat with the air freshener in the bathroom – you have not lived until your underarms have smelled like an orange for the entire 4hr flight home from San Francisco to Chicago) … in those moments, I was in my zone, I was doing what I was born to do. So in my zone in fact that I forgot all of that stuff about what a struggle it might have been had I not had twitter. I thanked Biz for his time, and never once thought to thank him for creating something that changed the course of my life. So, thanks Biz, thanks Jack, thanks Evan, thanks Twitter, thanks for making the thing that I desperately needed ever before I knew what it was.

This project is funded by contributions from people like you. To support the film, pay the film crew and get a cool tee shirt (eventually) , and get invited to exclusive film related events join the tweet team for $30, or you may also scroll to the bottom of the page and support the film monetarily with whatever amount you’d like. For contributions over $600 please contact me directly at movie @ lifeinperpetualbeta.com

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This post is tagged 'ambient intimacy", biz stone, melissa pierce, simplicity, social networking, tweet, twitter