“Slumdog Millionaire” One For the Ages

If you only see one movie this holiday season, go see “Slumdog Millionaire”.  This is one for the ages, a film that on the one hand taps into deeply familiar, satisfying  story patterns (a humble man’s relentless quest for his lost love; a Dickensian commentary on social mobility, or lack thereof; even a “will she get away” suspense story), but on the other hand treats them with freshness, dressing it all up in a colorful, multi-layered, incredibly textured virtuouso example of cinematic razzle dazzle — none of it gratuitous, all in the service of a great story with fascinating multi-layered characters.  If it sounds like I’m in love with this film — I am.    It’s the first film I’ve seen in many years that made me want to go out and buy another ticket and watch it a second time immediately.  Director Danny Boyle (Transpotting, 28 Days Later) has created something that special.  It’s already started raking in awards — is nominated for 5 Golden Globes and won “Best Picture” from the National Board of Review.  Watch for it to be an Oscar Best Picture dark horse pic, with Danny Boyle a lock for a Best Director nomination.

The story opens with 19 year old Jamal Malik (an excellent Dev Patel in a debut roll)  being tortured by Indian police officials who believe that this quiet young boy fromt he slums (the “Slumdog” of the title) must have cheated to have advanced all the way to the final question of the Indian version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire”.  The police can’t believe that Jamal could possibly have answered all the questions without cheating, and they are determined to use the overnight break prior to the show resuming for the final question to wring a confession out of him.  But instead of confessing, Jamal steadfastly claims his innocence and for each question, has an explanation drawn from an extraordinary life journey that, we learn, began when his mother was killed before his eyes by an anti-Muslim mob that attacked Jamal’s Bombay shanty slum, leaving Jamal and his brother to fend for themselves. 

We come to learn that Jamal — who is now working as a “chai wallah” serving tea to the workers in a massive call center — has become a contestant on “Millionaire” because the love of his life — Latika, played by the extraordinary newcomer Freida Pinto — loves the show and might see it.  We learn that Latika is Jamal’s childhood sweetheart, herself an orphan from the slums, who is separated from Jamal by fate and social stratification — and in true (but fresh and unique) fairy tale fashion, Jamal’s final question appearance on Millionare will bring about a final resolution of his quest.

As a production endeavor, Slumdog is epic and intimate all at once.  Danny Boyle has bravely gone into the deepest slums of Mumbai armed with tiny digital cameras whose footage cuts seamlessly with the 35mm film cameras used for the more controlled scenes.   As viewers we are gripped by Jamal’s tale from the first moments of the film, and are not released from it until the end credits begin to roll and even then we’re captivated by an unexpected, yet totally exhilirating Bollywood style musical number that gives new meaning to the old axe that the ending should be “inevitable but unexpected”.

Most importantly — this being the season when we want to believe we are connected to one another, and want to feel affirmation of that whether it’s in  gatherings with friends or encountering carolers on the street (and I encountered some just after coming out of the movie…couldn’t help but feel it was connected in some way) … this is a movie that provides the kind of uplift and connectivity that we all want and need — perhaps moreso this year than others.   A word of warning before you take the kids:  It’s a film that’s largely about children, but it’s rated R (I think PG 13 would have been sufficient) and includes some tough scenes, including the torture of Jamal by the Indian police, and the murder of a character by a gun-wielding 14 year old, Jamal’s brother.    But do go see it.  You won’t regret it.

Dev Patel in Slumdog Millionare

WeEarth in Context

Here is a written version of a recent briefing on WeEarth we provided to some visiting investors.  It covers the history of the project, it’s current status, and plans going forward.

Initial Planning:  Oct 2007 thru Jan 2008
This was the initial phase where we knew we wanted to establish an environmentally themed web presence, but had many, many decisions to make.  What would be the name of the site? What would be the features?  The unique selling proposition?  What would make it different, and “sticky”?  During this phase we came up with and bought (at auction) the name WeEarth.com after testing the name thoroughly to ensure that it really has the potential we think it has.   We decided on a model that has a unique blend of three elements:  social network, social e-commerce, and information portal.  And we committed to use the name “WeEarth”, which we tested in various ways and were convinced can become a great brand if we roll it out effectively.

Graphic Design:  March 2008
During this phase we worked out the graphic look of the site — essentially creating a “dummy” of how we would like it to look and what we would like it to do.  We worked with various consultants and designers, but our key team was the group from Stir Communications.  By the end of this phase we had worked out our ‘look’ and basic functionality.  Also, during this period in order to get a jump on the editorial aspect — articles and blogging — we operated a temporary blogsite that gave us the opportunity to get those systems up and running.

Website Development/Coding:  April-June 2008 (and continuing during test phase)
During this phase we hired the design team to actually put together the working site based on the design created in March.  By the end of April we had put an initial version of the site on the web … so at that point we “went live” on the web but it is very important to understand the difference between “going live” on the web and the actual “launch”, which comes much later.  “Going live” means that the site exists on the internet and users can go there.  But you intentionally do NOT heavily market the site because it is a “site-in-development”.

Beta Testing:  July 2008 – early 2009
This phase can last up to a year (or in some cases 2), depending on the project.  This  is the phase we are in now.  “Testing” means that with many (but not all) of the functions deployed, the site is “live” on the net and users are going to the site, using it, and providing feedback which is transmitted to management and the design team.  Functionality of the site is revised and upgraded.  Some features that are popular are improved ; other features that are not so popular or are problematic are dropped.   The goal in this period is to refine the site and its functions to the point that we are confident that upon its actual launch, we will have a site that will attract substantial numbers of users and retain those users.  We are targeting Q1 2009 for the completion of Beta Testing and actual commercial launch.  One of the positive things to note is that even at this Beta testing stage, WeEarth has become established as a credible “brand” for environmentally themed news, and our articles are now receiving prominent “google search” placement which means we are definitely ‘on the map’, plus our e-commerce module is generating sales income (modest to be sure).   But the goal of this phase is to “work the bugs out”, discovering what works best, what seems fresh and new and attractie to users.  During the Beta Testing phase there has been a modest degree of revenue from e-commerce sales.  Additionally, during this phase we have established relationships with more than 300 environmentally sound product suppliers.  We have gotten the e-commerce functionality to the point where we know it works well — but we are constantly trying to make it work better, and to add more “social e-commerce” functionality to it.  (“Social e-commerce” means making it possible for buyers to not only buy, but to rate products, to “tag” products and writeups so that they will be picked up by search engines and bloggers, and in general to create ways for the “viral” potential to take place.)  Also during this phase we have been continually working to improve the social network capability, finding ways differentiate WeEarth from other social networks.

Official Launch:  March 2009
When the “Official Launch” takes place, it means that we are satisfied with the functionality and marketability of the site and are ready to “put it out there” with marketing dollars designed to create wide awareness and attract large numbers of users.   It is very important that we are “ready for prime time” when we do this because the site will be under much greater stress in terms of users, and it will be evaluated both formally and informally by people who can make or break the reputation of the site.  If we get a good buzz going, the sky is the limit.  If we don’t, the opposite can happen (although the good news is that there are second chances and with a terrific name like WeEarth  there are a number of directions we can go).  It is at this phase that the enterprise is really “open for business”, with operating costs (instead of development investment, which is what we have now).

Remainder of 2009:  Operational Phase 1
During operational phase 1 the goal is to gather users, building up traffic to the site so that by the end of the year we have enough traffic (goal of 1 million unique visitors per month) to begin seeing meaningful advertising revenue, and so that the e-commerce sales can grow to become a substantial contributor to the bottom line.  We will see operating costs that substantially exceed revenues but this is absolutely the norm even for the most successful websites.   The key is — get the traffic, get the users, and keep building.