ME @THE ZOO A FILM BY CHRIS MOUKARBEL AND VALERIE VEATCH ME @THE ZOO A FILM BY CHRIS MOUKARBEL AND VALERIE VEATCH

ME @THE ZOO tells the story of Chris Crocker, a video blogger from a small town in Tennessee. Crocker is part of the first generation of kids raised on the Internet, coming of age under constant self- surveillance. His online videos, including the infamous YouTube declaration “Leave Britney Alone!”– have been viewed hundreds of millions of times and have created a worldwide phenomenon. This portrait weaves a tapestry of Internet media with reactions from Crocker fans and haters to examine a new controversial kind of fame: the Internet folk hero. ACQUIRED BY HBO (USA) AND BBC (UK)

DIRECTOR’S WORD

Like so many others, we first discovered Chris Crocker by being sent early online videos such as “Bitch Please” and “This or That”. The first question we asked was apparently a common one. “Is this real?” Years later we began making a film that asked the same question in a more general sense. We began a documentary about the history and impact of reality televi- sion. As ideas of consciousness shift in lockstep with new technology, “Reality” has become the dominant medium. Our film research took us around the world. We interviewed everyone from the cast of the original Dutch reality show, Hollywood executives and even a Reality TV School. In the end, this hunt for reality brought us to a small town in Tennessee and to Chris Crocker. Crocker was raised in the age of reality where anyone with a camera can become a star. Chris Crocker was bullied out of school in the 8th grade and basically dematerialized through a portal in his bedroom. He spent all day and night in front of his camera, considering himself to have been raised on the Internet. His infamous video “Leave Britney Alone!” catapulted him into the national spotlight and he became a whipping boy in the mainstream media. Chris Crocker sent out his online videos as a way to tell his own story. We are happy and proud that he trusted us with that story. Christ Moukarbel, Valérie Veatch

PRODUCTION CONTACTS PRODUCERS: CHRIS MOUKARBEL, NICHOLAS SHUMAKER, JACK TURNER, VALERIE VEATCH EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS: VINCENT FARRELL, RACHEL GRADY, JIM MCKAY, MICHAEL STIPE COPRODUCERS: ALEX MAR

CREW CINEMATOPRAPHY: CHRIS CROCKER, WOLFGANG HELD, CHRIS MOUKARBEL, VALERIE VEATCH EDITING: JESSE HAAS, CHRIS MOUKARBEL, VALERIE VEATCH MUSIC: NICO MUHLY

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