Traders' Dreams
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“Our uniquely human passion for barter and trade is what sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom.” Ebay Bible, page 3 – a A FILM BY MARCUS VETTER AND STEFAN TOLZ CINEMATOGRAPHY SYLVIO CLAUSSNER THOMAS RIEDELSHEIMER HOLGER SCHÜPPEL DIETER STÜRMER EDITING ANNETTE MUFF MARC SCHUBERT STEFAN TOLZ SASKIA METTEN LOCATION SOUND THOMAS SCHWARZ MARCUS VETTER MUSIC PAUL SHIGIHARA SOUND DESIGN MARILYN JANSSEN RE-RECORDING MIX TOM DOKOUPIL LINE PRODUCER MARKUS BREIMAIER EXECUTIVE PRODUCER STEFAN TOLZ COMMISSIONING EDITORS HANS-ROBERT EISENHAUER THOMAS SCHREIBER DEVELOPED IN COOPERATION WITH DISCOVERY CAMPUS MASTERSCHOOL AND WITH THE SUPPORT OF A GERD RUGE SCHOLARSHIP ASSOCIATE PRODUCER FILMPERSPEKTIVE, MARCUS VETTER PRODUCER BY FILMQUADRAT IN CO-PRODUCTION WITH ZWEITES DEUTSCHES FERNSEHEN (ZDF) NORDDEUTSCHER RUNDFUNK (NDR) AND IN COOPERATION WITH ARTE WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF TÉLÉVISION SUISSE ROMANDE (TSR) AND SBS AUSTRALIA SUPPORTED BY FILMSTIFTUNG NORDRHEIN-WESTFALEN, GERMAN FEDERAL FILM BOARD (FFA), FEDERAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONER FOR CULTURE AFFAIRS AND THE MEDIA (BKM) www.tradersdreams.com Scotland, Isle of Skye PRESS REVIEWS „Vetter and Tolz give us intimate impressions from the homes CULTURE AFFAIRS AND THE MEDIA (BKM) of the dreamers who auction, and take an investigative look GERMANY 2007, 83 MIN, COLOR, 1:1,85, DOLBY DIGITAL into the not at all dreamy business conduct of e-auction moguls. The high entertainment value of ‚Traders‘ Dreams‘ © 2007 FILMQUADRAT GMBH clearly comes from the careful choice and sensitive observa- tion of the people it portrays – including some whimsically comical situations.“ kulturjournalist.de „In their search for the nation- and culture-transcending phenomena eBay, documentary fi lmmakers Marcus Vetter and Stefan Tolz took off on a trip around the world. Every- where they went, they encountered people looking to fulfi ll their dreams, large and small, through eBay – with varying degrees of success... ‚Traders‘ Dreams‘ exposes the dream of a system without losers as a pretty chimera. More than any- thing, eBay‘s marketing power is the reason many choose to continue believing in prosperity as a self-made entrepreneur. But – as the fi lm‘s examples show – even with eBay, success cannot be planned. (...) Vetter and Tolz create tension by cleverly juxtaposing scenes showing an eBay community driven by euphoria and the de- Kathie Campell and her dog Brandy, Isle of Sky sire for action with the everyday experiences of other eBay users. On the one hand, we fi nd intoxication and a seemingly The Isle of Skye – situated off the west coast of Scotland, untainted bliss, and here in reality a diffi cult struggle sur- known as Eilean a’Cheò in Gaelic, or the „Island of Mist.“ rounding every action and every sale. Two worlds, and both The island‘s capital is Portree; its highest elevation is of them are eBay.“ Programmkino.de the 993-meter-high Sgurr Alasdair. Of its roughly 10,000 inhabitants, a large portion still speaks Scottish Gaelic. TRADERS‘ DREAMS – A journey into the eBay World A fi lm by Marcus Vetter, Stefan Tolz Great Britain, where eBay has been in existence since 1999, is eBay‘s third largest market following the USA CINEMATOGRAPHY SYLVIO CLAUSSNER, THOMAS RIEDELSHEIMER, and Germany. In 2006, eBay users in Britain totaled HOLGER SCHÜPPEL, DIETER STÜRMER – EDITING ANNETTE MUFF, MARC 11.5 million, a range representing 42.3% of all active SCHUBERT, STEFAN TOLZ, SASKIA METTEN – LOCATION SOUND THOMAS Internet users in January of that year. The total number SCHWARZ, MARCUS VETTER – MUSIC BY PAUL SHIGIHARA – SOUND of products offered for sale on eBay.co.uk consistently DESIGN MARILYN JANSSEN – RE-RECORDING MIX TOM DOKOUPIL exceeds 3 million. – LINE PRODUCER MARKUS BREIMAIER – EXECUTIVE PRODUCER STEFAN TOLZ – COMMISSIONING EDITORS HANS-ROBERT EISENHAU- Every third British Internet user visits the eBay portal ER, THOMAS SCHREIBER – PRODUCER BY FILMQUADRAT – IN CO-PRO- at least once a month and browses through an average DUCTION WITH ZWEITES DEUTSCHEN FERNSEHEN (ZDF), NORDDEUTSCHER of 280 offers over the course of two hours. That means RUNDFUNK (NDR) – IN COOPERATION WITH ARTE – WITH THE that British people spend more time on eBay than going PARTICIPATION OF TÉLÉVISION SUISSE ROMANDE (TSR), SBS AUSTRA- to the cinema. In 2004, sales of products via eBay ac- LIA – SUPPORTED BY FILMSTIFTUNG NORDRHEIN-WESTFALEN, GERMAN counted for $3.7 billion in total revenues. FEDERAL FILM BOARD (FFA), FEDERAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONER FOR “If you’re a dealer, and I’ve been a dealer all my life, I buy and sell all my life, you got to fi nd an outlet-and here it is! There is no use having a shop. You don’t need a shop. There is 10 Million people registered with eBay in the UK. If you have 10 Million people you can present your items to, you know…that’s fi ne. This is evolution. You either go with it, or you get left behind. I’m not a dinosaur. I go with it.” Spike, Powerseller Traders‘ DREAMS – a „Traders’ Dreams“ interweaves personal eBay stories with a CONTENT SUMMARY global fi nance thriller in a surprising and entertaining fash- ion. It‘s about the philosophy behind the „eBay system“ and how eBay effects the future of the trading business globally. The world as a global department store: five astounding How close are we to realizing the phenomenal dream of a stories from different corners of the globe, stories of win- system in which everyone can win? ners and losers, of trading and hoping, of success and promise – and an illuminating expedition into the heart of eBay headquarters... More than 200 million people use eBay, the largest Internet auction house worldwide. Each day, hundreds more join those ranks, ready to change their lives and find happiness in the world of virtual commerce. Filmmakers Marcus Vetter and Stefan Tolz spent more than a year observing people in their attempts to fulfi ll their eBay dreams: in Borna in Saxony, Germany, on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, in a village in the Mexican desert – the idea of a di- rect marketplace where anyone can buy and sell at anytime is listing items on eBay, Borna, Saxony popular throughout the world. In California, we meet „Uncle Griff,“ the legendary host of the eBay Radio Show and author of the eBay Bible, who embodies the PR strategy of the concern like nobody else. The camera follows Griff during eBay Live, the annual world congress of the „community“ and thus provides an informative look behind the scenes. In Hangzhou on the east coast of China, a successful businessman named Jack Ma and his company Alibaba have already eclipsed the Chinese division of eBay – and now he wants to compete with the Americans on the world market. Spike and Archie, Isle of Skye eBay has never had a real competitor. So for us it’s like a sport, it’s like playing against Michael Jordan. There is a saying in Chinese: Know yourself and know your competitor. We know ourselves and we know eBay. eBay knows itself but they don’t know us. Porter Erisman, Pressechef alibaba.com SYNOPSIS „Traders‘ Dreams“ tells the story of people from different Their experiences, their defeats and their successes form the countries who change their lives in order to become rich and basis of a surprising and entertaining journey of discovery happy through the worldwide fever for Internet auctions. By into the seemingly boundless universe of worldwide Internet doing so, they are responding to the promises of an American commerce. company that turns local fl ea markets into global business and which sells it‘s expansion strategy as the economic de- Many New Economy ideas have vanished as quickly as the mocratization of the world: The power of all of us. dotcom companies that spawned them. eBay, on the other hand, has not only survived but has grown steadily to be- In Germany, Scotland and Mexico – with detours to corporate come a billion-dollar corporation and the world‘s biggest In- headquarters in China and the USA – Filmmakers Marcus ternet auction house. Today, more than 200 million people Vetter and Stefan Tolz observe individuals in their attempts use the company‘s colorful portal as a trading platform. The to realize their own eBay dreams. fascination eBay inspires spans every culture. And though some of us only know it as a fl ea market or col- lector‘s forum, for many it long ago became a way of life. Through perfect marketing, eBay has already persuaded half a million people worldwide to create an existence for them- selves as so-called Powersellers. Each day, hundreds of small business enterprises join those ranks, hoping to achieve hap- piness with eBay. They do so at their own risk; only eBay itself is guaranteed profi ts through its insertion fees. The Thurm family in the city of Borna in Saxony, Germany, attempts to establish a new business idea in the face of un- Jack Ma, Alibaba / Taobao employment: They start an Internet agency to auction prod- With over 120 Internet users, China is the second largest ucts from small local businesses on eBay. They attend eBay and most dynamic Internet market in the world. The seminars, consult tips from the Online University, work out leader in the fi eld of online auctioning is Alibaba‘s Tao- business plans and test packing materials. The family‘s sons bao platform. eBay, which was only able to reach around don‘t always agree with their parents, but together, they al- 3% of Chinese Internet users, closed its own portal in ways fi nd a solution – whether it‘s for the costume shop or China at the end of 2006 and has since been cooperating the basket of regional products.