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I think it goes without saying that as soon as Facebook supplanted Myspace as the de facto online time-wasting mechanism, the studios were looking for ways to profit off of it. So they paid Aaron Sorkin 6.2 bajillion dollars to write "the Facebook movie". An epic story that would capture the drama of late-night status updates, the power of the poke, who and who not to limit profile access to, and of course, the all important and always necessary "delete friend" feature. Okay, well, maybe it wouldn't be about those things per se. But it would be about computers and software and code and snobby rich kids. Still not exactly the seeds of compelling drama. Which is exactly why Sony decided on Sorkin to tend the garden.
So back in the day I used to work for this producer. He was new to Hollywood - Three years prior he'd created some hot piece of software that sold for a fortune. This left him with a ton money at a very young age and when you're young and rich, what do you do? You make movies! He was actually a fun guy to work with. Even though he didn't know a lot, he was smart enough to pick things up quickly. Raised on the first two seasons of Entourage, he liked living the Hollywood life just as much as he liked working in it. So a year into our relationship, he invited me to one of his lavish house parties. It was everything you'd imagine a party in the Hills to be. A lot of great-looking people, pool shenanigans, multiple bars, an overly energetic DJ (this is not me bragging btw; Culver City is much more my scene). As I was taking in the chaos, however, I noticed this quiet little fashion-challenged 30-something in the corner. He had this detached quality to him, like he was at the party but he wasn't. Whatever his story was, I knew it had to be a lot more interesting than the last ten people I talked to (French Guy: "I'm directing this commercial in Germany." Me: "Oh yeah? What for?" French Guy: "I cannot talk about it.") So I made my way over and casually introduced myself. After some small talk I asked him, "So who do you know here?" "Oh," he said, "The owner of the house." "Yeah?" I asked. "How?" "I'm his brother."
This answer was quite puzzling. I had known this producer for over a year and we'd had thousands of conversations but he had never mentioned a brother. I continued to pry and the brother told me the story I'm telling you now: He and the producer co-founded the software company together. The first year was the best year of their lives. They didn't make a cent but they were doing what they loved and they were doing it together. Then the company started experiencing success. That success led to more success and within a matter of months they were making millions of dollars. The company's next steps were critical in determining how big they'd become. Millions of dollars were at stake. The brothers could not agree on a direction though. The producer wanted to grow as fast as possible (more money). The brother wanted to retain the quality of the company and slow down (less money). Things got so bad that in the end, the producer, who had a slight majority in the company, fired his brother. The brother told me he hadn't spoken to him in over 2 years and that these parties were the only times he got to see him (he was never invited. He just showed up). Although he now had more money than he had ever dreamed of, he said if he could do it all over again, he never would've started that company. Two things came out of that night. One, I'll never forget the sadness in that man's eyes. And two, I never looked at money the same way again.
Naturally, all of this came roaring back to me after reading "The Social Experiment." Instead of a story about brothers though, this is a story about two friends - one a computer genius, the other a business expert - who began a website that became the fastest growing phenomenon in internet history. Three years later, one was suing the other for 600 million dollars (or 1/30th of Mark Zuckerberg's worth). It's a story about greed, about obsession, about our belief that all the money in the world can make us happy. But it's also unpredictable, funny, touching, and sad. It gives us that rare glimpse into the improbable world of mega-success.
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How long before we get 'Twitter - the remix' or My Space burgers?
Facebook - for girls and boys that wanna be girls.
