Last night at our Austin premier of [[Too Cheap to Meter]], our 2nd [[Frontier Films]], someone came up and said, "Your content is amazing, but your storytelling needs a lot of work." They weren't wrong and while it's incredibly hard for me to hear (*and sense in others*), there are two options: **Option 1**: Take a year to make an incredible feature film. Make it perfect, make it art, make it a crucible of time and effort. This is the traditional way, and in 2025 we're essentially doing that with 3 projects: 1. The aforementioned documentary 2. Our first short film, [[Planet]] 3. And our first sci-fi feature film As an artist, this is preferable in many ways -- nobody enjoys rushing their work. However I don't make Frontier Films for the sake of art or to fulfill my own creative desires. I make them because I believe *we need them.* **Option 2**: Make as many crucibles of story about the frontiers of human knowledge so we can give people a map of *what they could choose* to spend *their life* working on. It's absolutely ridiculous to me that there isn't a film/video/web-page/source for every frontier one could work on. I think this doesn't exist because (1) most people aren't interested in technology, or they down right hate it, and (2) because talking about these frontiers is really hard — you're essentially l trying to predict the future, which few people are good at. I believe in a future where there is more abundance, a society that's more equal and fair, a world that's more peaceful — and that's just table stakes. To achieve that, we need more doers. More builders, more scientists, more engineers, more geniuses, more founders, more workers, more visionaries — **more people doing their life's work.** Not just working for a paycheck or building merely to become rich for the sake of it. I think that inspiring the next Feynman, Curie, Crick, Musk, Handmer, Doudna, or *anyone featured in our films* looks like stories that honor people who: - Care deeply for mankind - Are obsessed with doing their life's work - Challenge the status quo — on any side of the aisle or income bracket - Believe they can build a brighter future Despite having done [[S3]] for 2 years, reading many of the existing books on these topics, and watching podcast after podcast — nobody is creating clear and concise encapsulations of these frontiers for the purpose of describing, educating, and inspiring conversation and life's work around them. As far as I can tell, *this series* doesn't exist anywhere else: - A definition and categorization of a given frontier - A short history of the field(s) involved - A vision for the future of the frontier - 15-20 interviews with thought leaders and builders *who are actually doing things* in *the real world* — boiled down to 1-2 hours - Releasing it freely *and as widely* as possible - A URL & content rich web page pointing to every company, opportunity, education, skill trade, and creator around a given frontier to act as a starting point for further exploration Even now, the morning after a bad night of sleep filled with the fear that everyone who saw the film in Austin was bored and uninspired, I still believe a high cadence approach to this film series is what's best for our mission. We could take a year for each film, we could make them perfect — and maybe as a result you'd think of me as a great director. But screw that, this is too important. We're committing to make 12 Frontier Films in 2025. They will be representative of what I've come to see are the biggest challenges and opportunities of the 21st century and beyond, as far as I know today. If you read that and have your own ideas about this, email me at [email protected] I wish this series existed when I was a kid. Hell, I wish it existed as an adult — that's why I'm doing it! I welcome more feedback on how we can make these films even better. After last night we anre working on another ~40 notes and cutting 15 more minutes out of the film so it flows faster. We edit each film down from ~30 hours of interviews and after I personally review the 50,000+ word transcript. We watch and review each film with numerous rounds of notes to make this film, and our next, better than the last. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't terrified about this project. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't afraid of what people think of me as a creator, I wish I didn't care — but damn it I want to be the best in the world at what I do, I can't help it. But this series demands a higher goal beyond my personal fulfillment. Its for cadence. It's for consistency. It's for consolidating the little known information into a clear and concise story. It's for the builders of today and tomorrow. These frontiers are so, so early — it is annoyingly hard to make nonfiction movies about things that haven't happened yet like fusion, multi planetary colonization, high speed travel, advanced robotics... without making bland, generic, optimism slop. I fear we do that a lot of the time — we are working hard to make it better. Thanks for reading this and supporting our work. I hope Frontier Films are helpful and meaningful to you on your journey.