Me at the Zoo (2012 film)

Last updated
Me at the Zoo
Me at the Zoo.jpg
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Chris Moukarbel
Valerie Veatch
Written byChris Moukarbel
Valerie Veatch
Produced byChris Moukarbel
Valerie Veatch
Starring Cara Cunningham (as Chris Crocker)
Release date
  • January 21, 2012 (2012-01-21)(Sundance)
Running time
90 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish

Me at the Zoo (stylized as ME @ THE ZOO) is a 2012 documentary film directed by Chris Moukarbel and Valerie Veatch and starring Cara Cunningham, then known as Chris Crocker. [1] Me at the Zoo takes a look at the young video blogger [2] from a small town in Tennessee. [1] The documentary delves into the life of Cunningham, who was made famous on the internet through numerous public videos, notably her video "Leave Britney Alone", which garnered mainstream media attention. [2] The film also explores how video sharing and social media have shaped the way people share their stories and go about their lives. [3] On January 17, 2012, HBO Documentary Films secured the US broadcasting rights to the film. [3] [4] It premiered at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival on January 21, 2012, [5] and on HBO on June 25, 2012. [6]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chris Rock</span> American comedian, actor, and filmmaker (born 1965)

Christopher Julius Rock is an American comedian, actor, and filmmaker. He first gained prominence for his stand-up routines in the 1980s, where he tackled subjects including race relations, human sexuality, and observational comedy. His success branched off into productions in film, television, and on-stage, having received multiple accolades including three Grammy Awards for Best Comedy Album, four Primetime Emmy Awards, and a Golden Globe Award nomination. Rock was ranked No. 5 on Comedy Central's list of the 100 Greatest Stand-ups of All Time. He also ranked No. 5 on Rolling Stone's list of the 50 Best Stand-Up Comics of All Time.

Patricia Lee Stotter is an American composer and writer.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirby Dick</span> American film director, producer, and screenwriter

Kirby Bryan Dick is an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and editor best known for directing documentary films. He received Academy Award nominations for Best Documentary Feature for directing Twist of Faith (2005) and The Invisible War (2012). He has also received numerous awards from film festivals, including the Sundance Film Festival and Los Angeles Film Festival.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lauren Greenfield</span> American photographer and filmmaker

Lauren Greenfield is an American artist, documentary photographer, and documentary filmmaker. She has published four photographic monographs, directed four documentary features, a documentary series, produced four traveling exhibitions, and published in magazines throughout the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cara Cunningham</span> American Internet personality, songwriter, and recording artist

Cara Cunningham is an American internet personality, songwriter, recording artist, YouTuber, and former pornographic film actress. As of October 2010, Cunningham's videos had received a combined 50 million plays on MySpace, and her vlog channel on YouTube was the 100th-most viewed of all time in all categories, with over 205 million video views, before Cunningham closed her YouTube account in September 2015. Her work consists mainly of short-form, self-directed monologues shot in her grandparents' home.

<i>The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo</i> 2007 American film

The Greatest Silence: Rape in the Congo is a 2007 documentary film directed by Lisa F. Jackson concerned with survivors of rape in the regions affected by ongoing conflicts stemming from the Second Congo War. Central to the film are moving interviews with the survivors themselves, as well as interviews with self-confessed rapist soldiers. The Greatest Silence was nominated for a Grand Jury Prize and won a Special Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival. It was also nominated for two News & Documentary Emmy Awards in 2009. It aired on HBO in January & February 2009.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liz Garbus</span> American film director and producer

Elizabeth Freya Garbus is an American documentary film director and producer. Notable documentaries Garbus has made are The Farm: Angola, USA,Ghosts of Abu Ghraib,Bobby Fischer Against the World,Love, Marilyn,What Happened, Miss Simone?, and Becoming Cousteau. She is co-founder and co-director of the New York City-based documentary film production company Story Syndicate.

Yvonne Welbon is an American independent film director, producer, and screenwriter based in Chicago. She is known for her films, Living with Pride:Ruth C. Ellis @ 100 (1999), Sisters in Cinema (2003), and Monique (1992).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 Sundance Film Festival</span>

The 27th annual Sundance Film Festival took place from January 20, 2011 until January 30, 2011 in Park City, Utah, with screenings in Salt Lake City, Utah, Ogden, Utah, and Sundance, Utah.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jake Schreier</span> American film director (born 1981)

Jacob Stacey Schreier is an American commercial, music video and film director. He was a founding member of Waverly Films, a Brooklyn-based filmmaking collective, and joined Park Pictures in 2006, releasing his first feature film Robot & Frank in 2012. In 2015, he released Paper Towns, an adaptation of the 2008 novel of the same name by John Green. He is also directing the upcoming 2025 Marvel Studios film Thunderbolts*.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heidi Ewing</span> American documentary filmmaker

Heidi Ewing is an American documentary filmmaker and the co-director of Jesus Camp, The Boys of Baraka, 12th & Delaware, DETROPIA, Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You, One of Us, Love Fraud (series), I Carry You With Me (narrative) and Endangered.

<i>Going Clear</i> (film) 2015 film by Alex Gibney

Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief is a 2015 documentary film about Scientology. Directed by Alex Gibney and produced by HBO, it is based on Lawrence Wright's book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief (2013). The film premiered at the 2015 Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. It received widespread praise from critics and was nominated for seven Emmy Awards, winning three, including Best Documentary. It also received a 2015 Peabody Award and won the award for Best Documentary Screenplay from the Writers Guild of America.

Chris Moukarbel is a film director, writer, producer, contemporary artist and runs the award winning production company Permanent Wave Productions. His first feature documentary Me at the Zoo premiered in competition at Sundance Film Festival in 2012 and was acquired by HBO Documentaries. The film charts the rise of YouTube and tells the story of an early viral Internet celebrity, Chris Crocker of “Leave Britney Alone!” fame. Moukarbel was approached by Sheila Nevins to direct the Emmy nominated documentary Banksy Does New York for HBO.

<i>3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets</i> 2015 American film

3 1/2 Minutes, 10 Bullets, also known as 3 1/2 Minutes, is a 2015 American documentary film written and directed by Marc Silver. The film is based on the events surrounding the 2012 murder of Jordan Russell Davis and examines the shooting itself, as well as the subsequent trial, media coverage and protests that resulted from the shooting.

<i>Unrest</i> (2017 film) 2017 American documentary film by Jennifer Brea

Unrest is a 2017 documentary film produced and directed by Jennifer Brea. The film tells the story of how Jennifer and her new husband faced an illness that struck Jennifer just before they married. Initially dismissed by doctors, she starts filming herself to document her illness and connects with others who are home- or bedbound with myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sabaah Folayan</span> American film maker

Sabaah Folayan is an American filmmaker and activist. Her debut documentary feature, Whose Streets?, on the 2014 Ferguson protests, premiered in competition at the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.

<i>Leaving Neverland</i> 2019 documentary film

Leaving Neverland is a 2019 made-for-television documentary film directed and produced by Dan Reed. It focuses on two men, Wade Robson and James Safechuck, who allege they were sexually abused as children by the American singer Michael Jackson.

Karim Amer is an Egyptian-American film producer and director. He worked on The Square (2013) and The Great Hack (2019); the former was the first Egyptian film to earn an Academy Award nomination and went on to win three Emmy Awards, while the latter got nominated for an Emmy and a BAFTA Award. In 2020, he produced and directed The Vow, an HBO documentary series about the self-improvement group, NXIVM. In 2022, he produced and directed Flight/Risk for Amazon Studios, revolving around whistleblowers at Boeing.

<i>On the Record</i> (film) 2020 documentary film

On the Record is a 2020 American documentary film directed by Kirby Dick and Amy Ziering. It centers on allegations of sexual abuse and harassment against hip-hop mogul Russell Simmons. Executive producer Oprah Winfrey publicly withdrew from the film shortly before it was released, citing "creative differences", severing a production deal with Apple TV+. The film premiered at Sundance on January 25, 2020, and was acquired by HBO Max, which released it digitally on May 27, 2020.

<i>Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street</i> 2021 American documentary film

Street Gang: How We Got to Sesame Street is a 2021 American documentary film directed by Marilyn Agrelo. Based on the non-fiction book Street Gang by Michael Davis, the film chronicles the development and airing of the children's television program Sesame Street, featuring interviews with series creators Joan Ganz Cooney and Lloyd Morrisett, as well as writers, actors, and artists involved in its creation.

References

  1. 1 2 Caramanica, Jon (June 24, 2012). "Watching Others Watching Me, or Reflection in the YouTube Age". The New York Times .
  2. 1 2 "About - Me At The Zoo". Archived from the original on January 4, 2012. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  3. 1 2 Peter Knegt (January 17, 2012). "HBO Buys Sundance Doc 'Me @the Zoo' - Filmmaker, Film Industry, Film Festivals, Awards & Movie Reviews - Indiewire". indieWire . Snagfilms . Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  4. "HBO PICKS UP CHRIS CROCKER DOCUMENTARY 'ME @ THE ZOO' - YouTube". Cara Cunningham . YouTube. January 17, 2012.
  5. "ME @ THE ZOO - Online Film Guide - Sundance Institute". Sundance Institute . Archived from the original on May 4, 2017. Retrieved January 21, 2012.
  6. Adam Baran (March 2012). "V Magazine / Piece of Me". V . Archived from the original on February 5, 2013. Retrieved May 7, 2012.