Film takes a deep dive into recent stock market events
Includes interviews with key figures from institutional and online investment communities, and journalists from The Wall Street Journal
LOS ANGELES and NEW YORK, Propagate and The Wall Street Journal Studios are joining forces on a new documentary feature film, “This Is Not Financial Advice.”
Directed by Hannah Olson (Director of “Baby God” (HBO) and another upcoming HBO documentary), “This Is Not Financial Advice” plunges deep into the recent stock market chaos that started with GameStop and has revealed a major power shift on Wall Street. With exclusive access to key figures within online investment communities, as well as power players on Wall Street and policy makers in Washington, the film examines the origins and inner workings of the digital and social investment communities that turned new investors into millionaires and drove a billion-dollar hedge fund and financial services company to seek capital. This narrative documentary, told through the stories of those who lived it, will explore the emergence of a new subculture with roots of distrust in traditional financial institutions and their regulators. With new developments happening every day, the GameStop rally may just be the beginning.
The film will feature analysis from award-winning journalists from The Wall Street Journal, who led coverage of this historic story even before it was headline news. The Journal has published exclusive interviews and reporting with key figures from WallStreetBets, hedge funds and part-time day traders.
“GameStop sprung from the hurly-burly of an internet message board to become the biggest story in the world,” said Charles Forelle, financial editor of The Wall Street Journal. “It has everything: the cheer-em-on drama of David v. Goliath, the clash of Goliath v. Goliath, high stakes, real money, and the wonderment of our basic financial understanding being turned on its head. The story isn’t over, and there are surely more puzzling turns to come.”
“Access to the markets and investing, in the past, has largely been reserved for the privileged few — you have to have money, time, resources, social capital and know-how to invest,” said Olson. “I am interested in the possibility — or impossibility — of its democratization. Who has access to the market? Whom does it serve? We’re still only beginning to glimpse what this moment means for the future of Wall Street.”
Olson continued, “I’ve been following these forums on social media for weeks, and the ordinary traders I’ve embedded with are extraordinary. Their experiences reveal the legacy of the unresolved anger of the 2008 crash, the vast economic disparities exposed by the pandemic, and what happens when increasing income inequality collides with a bull market.”
“The recent events in the stock market were unprecedented,” said Ben Silverman, Chairman and Co-CEO and Howard T. Owens, Co-CEO of Propagate. “We are pleased to partner with WSJ Studios and the keen minds at The Wall Street Journal, and with Hannah Olson to dive into what led to the events of the past few weeks and what it means going forward.”
The film is currently being filmed and began production this past week.
“This Is Not Financial Advice” is produced by Propagate and The Wall Street Journal Studios. Hannah Olson is directing the film. Ben Silverman, Howard T. Owens and Jonathan Schaerf are Executive Producers for Propagate. Anthony Galloway and Daniel Rosen are Executive Producers and Charles Forelle will serve as a Consulting Producer for The Wall Street Journal. Propagate is distributing the film.
About Propagate Content
Founded in 2015 by Ben Silverman and Howard Owens, who pioneered the global format business in the late 1990s, Propagate has offices in Los Angeles, New York and Paris. Recent credits include unscripted projects for Hulu, ABC, TBS, Netflix, and HISTORY. Scripted programs include “Blood and Treasure” and “Broke” for CBS, “Charmed” for The CW, the recently aired election-themed puppet special on Fox, “Let’s Be Real” and the upcoming “Zorro” television series for NBC. Propagate also created and produced the podcast, “An Oral History of The Office” for Spotify. Propagate’s expanding portfolio of companies includes Electus, Big Breakfast, Notional, and talent management firms Artists First, Authentic Talent & Literary Management and Select Management.
About The Wall Street Journal Studios
The Wall Street Journal Studios is the off-platform production arm of The Wall Street Journal newsroom, and leverages the Journal’s preeminent reporting on business, finance and U.S. & world news into longform scripted and unscripted narratives across multiple mediums including television, film and audio. Daniel Rosen is the co-executive producer of WSJ Studios and Anthony Galloway is the Journal’s Global Head of Video and Audio. Matt Murray is editor in chief of The Wall Street Journal.
Contact:
For The Wall Street Journal Studios
Steve Severinghaus
[email protected]
For Propagate Content
Kerri Tarmey
[email protected]
