We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Daniel Wright. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Daniel below.
Daniel , appreciate you joining us today. We’d love to hear about a project that you’ve worked on that’s meant a lot to you.
I’ve had the great privilege of working on many documentary projects that tackle a wide variety of topics. From the contemporary art world to species extinction and climate change, every film feels like a miniature masters degree into the specific subject matter we are exploring. And while each of these projects has been full of amazing collaborations and unforgettable experiences, my work on the documentary “The Social Dilemma” has stood out as a highlight.
When Director Jeff Orlowski-Yang and Producer Larissa Rhodes first approached me about the project, I was hesitant and skeptical. The Emmy-winning team behind the urgent and visionary environmental documentaries “Chasing Ice” and “Chasing Coral” really wanted to make their next movie about social media? Surely there were more important stories to be focusing on. But I trusted Jeff and Larissa’s vision, plus I needed a job, so I agreed to jump on board.
The next day I found myself in a Silicon Valley home with six cameras pointed at an empty chair. In walked Tristan Harris, a former design ethicist at Google, and he was about to let our team – and eventually millions of others – in on a concerning truth: the social media platforms that dominate our social and information ecosystems are discreetly shaping the way billions of us think, act, and live our lives. And not in a good way.
Over the next two years of production, we spoke to dozens of concerned tech designers and experts who were sounding the alarm on their own creations. We learned that because these platforms are incentivized by advertisers to keep us clicking and scrolling, the increasingly powerful profit-driven algorithms behind each of our screens display highly personalized and addictive content to keep us engaged and coming back for more. Technology’s promise to keep us connected has given rise to a host of unintended consequences that are catching up with us and causing real harm in the world. I realized that what Tristan and our other film participants were talking about was so much bigger than just wasting time on Instagram and TikTok, it was the problem beneath all of our other problems: political polarization, the rampant spread of online hate, misinformation, and conspiracy theories, the spiraling youth mental health crisis, and ultimately the health of our democracy. This story mattered because if we can’t address our broken information ecosystem, how will we ever come to solve today’s most urgent challenges facing our generation?
Now that the problem was clear, we had to find a way to boil all of this down to a 90-minute film AND make it accessible and entertaining. By combining the testimony of our documentary subjects with a scripted anthropomorphization of the an algorithm, we took a creative leap to bring the stories to life. And it worked! After premiering the film at the Sundance Film Festival, Netflix acquired the global rights to the film and 38 million people saw it just in the first 28 days after release. It went on to receive seven Emmy nominations, winning two. While the global reach and awards were exciting, the film’s ability to touch individual heart and minds and actually change how they think about and relate to their technology was the most amazing part of the whole experience. Now more than three years after the film’s release, I recently met a young college student who, upon learning about my work on the “The Social Dilemma,” thanked me. She said she found the film at a pivotal moment in her life, and the lessons contained in it saved her life.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers.
Growing up I had always loved performing. The audience didn’t matter as long as I could reach someone and capture their attention for even a brief moment. I told jokes to strangers. I did magic tricks for friends. I played pranks on teachers. When I was ten years old, my mom encouraged me to try out for our local theatre company in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The spring production was slated as “The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe.” After a nervous audition among a competitive contingent, I went to the theatre the next day to take a look at the cast list which was posted on the theatre door to see if I had made the cut. To my surprise, my theatrical debut had finally arrived. I was Dwarf #3.
Art is subjective, and acting may or may not have been my strong suit – depends on who you asked I guess. What really captivated me, however, were the months and months of preparation, coordination, and creative collaboration of so many people – the director, the stage crew, make-up, wardrobe, actors – all for a 1-hour show. The performances came and went, and I realize today that it was all the happenings behind the scenes that stuck with me most.
Fast forward 12-ish years, I find myself graduating from college in Colorado with a degree in Anthropology and starting to look for jobs. Uh-oh. I had developed an interest in filmmaking, but my college didn’t offer a film major at the time so I settled for a minor. One of my favorite professors, Dylan Nelson, was also a working documentary producer and was ramping up on a summer project alongside acclaimed director, Robert Kenner (Food Inc.) and she let me know the production company was looking for summer interns to support the new project. I thought it could be a cool opportunity to spend the summer in L.A. and get some hands-on experience in “the biz” even though I knew a career in film was a long shot. I was awarded a $5,000 grant from my school to support new graduates in unpaid internships so I packed up my Subaru and sent it west.
It was a transformative summer. I had a front row seat to witness a world-class creative team assemble the thousands of puzzle pieces required for feature-length documentary. From interview prep and shooting on location to archival footage licensing and the editorial process, it was such complex and dynamic work. While the technical intricacies and creative decisions that contributed to the final film were fascinating, the aspect that really hooked me was the people.
Once again I found myself amongst a group of extremely smart, creative, and passionate people all working together toward one collective goal. For them, it wasn’t about the money or the awards. It was about telling the most authentic and truthful story possible with the limited resources available. I realized that summer that because documentaries can sometimes take many years to produce and ultimately release into the world, the team with which you surround yourself is even more important that the final product. As my career has progressed and I take on more and more responsibility within each project, I try not to forget that magic I felt back stage as Dwarf #3. I strive to build teams with diverse perspectives and skillsets upon strong foundations of trust and collaboration, ones that are collectively invested in telling stories that shift viewers’ perspective through creative and empathetic leaps.
What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?
One of my mottos is “pressure is a privilege.” As filmmakers and storytellers, our craft holds a tremendous amount of power. There aren’t many opportunities in today’s distracted world to share your work with someone who is giving you their undivided attention for 90+ minutes in a dark room with (hopefully) no other interruptions. And if we do our job correctly, we have the opportunity to tell stories that reach millions, encourage audiences across the planet to transport worlds, shape their ideas, and even change their minds.
But with this power comes pressure. Pressure to be accurate and authentic to the stories we tell. Pressure to be additive to the communities and conversations being represented. And pressure to bring a vision to life in a landscape that is increasingly hostile to independent voices. Every day in this work brings new challenges, but ultimately this responsibility is a gift that must be taken seriously and cherished!
Have you ever had to pivot?
I still have the voicemail saved on my phone. The voice on the other end of the line was from a production manager on Quentin Tarantino’s “The Hateful Eight” offering me a job as a production assistant on the film that was currently shooting in Telluride, Colorado. It was a dream opportunity for any aspiring filmmaker, and a decision was before me. I had been working as a production coordinator on a documentary titled “Racing Extinction” which had just been accepted to premiere at Sundance, and we were in the final stretch of editing and finishing. Although my role on the project was small and honestly replaceable, I did have a job to do and I owed it to this team that had invested so much time and energy in mentoring me along the two-year production not to bail.
At the time,it felt like a make or break decision, a career-defining choice. Would I stick with this team that had given me so much? Would I stay loyal to a documentary project that I believed in and celebrate with our crew in Park City? Or would I take the opportunity to be on set with a living legend and bear witness to A-list Hollywood in action?
After many hours of anguish, I decided to stick with the “Racing Extinction” team and help usher it across the finish line. And I don’t regret it for a second. The relationships that I built on that production blossomed into some of the most meaningful friendships and professional collaborations I’ve ever had. I’m sure whichever decision I made, things would have worked out, but I’m so happy I decided to finish what I had started.
