The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley | |
---|---|
Directed by | Alex Gibney |
Produced by |
|
Cinematography |
|
Edited by |
|
Music by | Will Bates |
Production companies |
|
Distributed by | HBO |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 119 minutes [1] |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Inventor: Out for Blood in Silicon Valley is a 2019 American documentary film, directed and produced by Alex Gibney. The film revolves around Elizabeth Holmes and her former company Theranos. It is considered a companion piece to the book, Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup . [2]
The Inventor had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2019. It was produced by HBO Documentary Films and Jigsaw Productions with a television premiere on March 18, 2019, on HBO as well as its streaming platforms.
The Inventor chronicles the rise and fall of Theranos, interspersed with footage of Holmes and her COO Sunny Balwani making grandiose proclamations about Theranos and the value it was providing. It also includes visual flashbacks to the era of Thomas Edison, the titular Inventor who famously failed repeatedly before finally succeeding; Theranos's miniature blood testing labs were called "Edisons". Notably, Gibney chronicles how Holmes and Balwani were seemingly more interested in marketing, promotion, naming, and managing the media than in the actual mechanics of their technology working, in negative feedback from medical experts, or in investigating and responding to the allegations in John Carreyrou's article detailing practices at the company. Gibney also shows how Holmes and Balwani seemed to believe that any criticism must be a plot from their blood-testing competitors Quest Diagnostics and LabCorp to the point of hiring personal bodyguards and leading chants against Quest at employee morale events. Footage is also shown of the parade of wealthy and powerful figures Theranos lured onto their side, whether as investors, consultants, or members of the Board of Directors, such as David Boies, George P. Shultz, Henry Kissinger, Sam Nunn, Bill Frist, and James Mattis.
People interviewed in the film include:
The documentary was announced to the public in May 2018. [3] Alex Gibney would direct the film, with Gibney, Erin Edeiken and Jessie Deeter, serving as producers on the film, while HBO Documentary Films and Jigsaw Productions would produce the film and HBO distributing. Holmes declined to participate in the film, and so the documentary used footage of her shot by Errol Morris and other filmed appearances. [4]
The film had its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival on January 24, 2019. [5] It was released on March 18, 2019, by HBO. [6]
The documentary received mostly positive reviews. On review aggregator site Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 79% based on 61 reviews, with an average rating of 7.2/10. The site's critics' consensus reads: "Alex Gibney's The Inventor declines to outright condemn the actions by Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes, but instead provides a comprehensive overview of the scandal that allows viewers to mull over its implications towards the broader Silicon Valley." [7]
Ed Power of The Daily Telegraph gave the film a score of 4/5 stars, saying that it "was a devastating warning of where these unchecked messianic tendencies lead and the lives they can destroy along the way." [8] Brian Lowry of CNN described the film as "part thriller, part tale of corporate whistleblowers and perhaps foremost, a warning of how an apparent fraudster spouting tech jargon can bedazzle people who really should know better". [9] Eric Deggans of NPR wrote: "[Gibney] shows how Holmes and her supporters pushed the limits of Silicon Valley's culture of risk-taking and overpromising until they created a house of cards that collapsed under close scrutiny." [10]
Some criticisms have been brought up regarding certain elements in the film. Emily Yoshida of Vulture criticized the documentary's focus: "The Inventor ultimately can’t decide if it’s about the specific, contained absurdities of the Theranos scam, or the phenomenology of scams like Theranos." [11] Tasha Robinson of The Verge praised Gibney's ability to make complex ideas accessible but also criticized that the film "feels a little empty." [12] Conversely, Rachel Syme of The New Yorker praised the film's look at the "vexingly sphinxlike" Holmes. [13]
The film was also criticized for presenting naturopath Stephanie Seitz as a physician and as a "spokesperson for the medical community". [14] [15]
Gibney won the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Documentary Screenplay at the 72nd Writers Guild of America Awards for his screenplay, earning Gibney a record fourth award in this category. [16]
David Boies is an American lawyer and chairman of the law firm Boies Schiller Flexner LLP. Boies rose to national prominence for three major cases: leading the U.S. federal government's successful prosecution of Microsoft in United States v. Microsoft Corp., his unsuccessful representation of Democratic presidential candidate Al Gore in Bush v. Gore, and for successful representation of the plaintiff in Hollingsworth v. Perry, which invalidated California Proposition 8 banning same-sex marriage. Boies has also represented various clients in US lawsuits, including Theranos, tobacco companies, Harvey Weinstein, and Jeffrey Epstein's victims including Virginia Roberts Giuffre.
Kenneth B. Auletta is an American author, a political columnist for the New York Daily News, and media critic for The New Yorker.
Philip Alexander Gibney is an American documentary film director and producer. In 2010, Esquire magazine said Gibney "is becoming the most important documentarian of our time."
An inventor is a person who creates or discovers new methods, means, or devices for performing a task.
The Association for Diagnostics & Laboratory Medicine is a global scientific society dedicated to clinical laboratory science and its application to healthcare. ADLM's current president is Octavia M. Peck Palmer, PhD, FAAC, and the association headquarters are located in Washington, D.C..
Boies Schiller Flexner LLP is an American law firm based in New York City. The firm was founded by David Boies and Jonathan D. Schiller, in 1997, who, in 1999, were joined by Donald L. Flexner, former partner with Crowell & Moring, then forming Boies, Schiller & Flexner.
George Pratt Shultz was an American economist, businessman, diplomat and statesman. He served in various positions under two different Republican presidents and is one of the only two persons to have held four different Cabinet-level posts, the other being Elliot Richardson. Shultz played a major role in shaping the foreign policy of the Ronald Reagan administration, and conservative foreign policy thought thereafter.
Theranos Inc. was an American privately held corporation that was touted as a breakthrough health technology company. Founded in 2003 by then 19-year-old Elizabeth Holmes, Theranos raised more than US$700 million from venture capitalists and private investors, resulting in a $10 billion valuation at its peak in 2013 and 2014. The company claimed that it had devised blood tests that required very small amounts of blood and that could be performed rapidly and accurately, all using compact automated devices that the company had developed. These claims were proven to be false.
Elizabeth Anne Holmes is an American biotechnology entrepreneur who was convicted of fraud in connection to her blood-testing company, Theranos. The company's valuation soared after it claimed to have revolutionized blood testing by developing methods that needed only very small volumes of blood, such as from a fingerprick. In 2015, Forbes had named Holmes the youngest and wealthiest self-made female billionaire in the United States on the basis of a $9-billion valuation of her company. In the following year, as revelations of fraud about Theranos's claims began to surface, Forbes revised its estimate of Holmes's net worth to zero, and Fortune named her in its feature article on "The World's 19 Most Disappointing Leaders".
Noble cause corruption is corruption caused by the adherence to a teleological ethical system, suggesting that people will use unethical or illegal means to attain desirable goals, a result which appears to benefit the greater good. Where traditional corruption is defined by personal gain, noble cause corruption forms when someone is convinced of their righteousness, and will do anything within their powers to achieve the desired result. An example of noble cause corruption is police misconduct "committed in the name of good ends" or neglect of due process through "a moral commitment to make the world a safer place to live." The knowing misconduct by a law enforcement officer or prosecutor with the goal of attaining what the officer believes is a "just" result.
John Carreyrou is a French-American investigative reporter at The New York Times. Carreyrou worked for The Wall Street Journal for 20 years between 1999 and 2019 and has been based in Brussels, Paris, and New York City. He won the Pulitzer Prize twice and helped expose the fraudulent practices of the multibillion-dollar blood-testing company Theranos in a series of articles published in The Wall Street Journal.
Ramesh "Sunny" Balwani is a businessman, former president and chief operating officer of Theranos, which was a privately held health technology company founded by his then-girlfriend Elizabeth Holmes. He and Holmes fraudulently represented that they had devised a revolutionary blood test that required only small amounts of blood, such as from a fingerstick. Both Balwani and Holmes were convicted of fraud. The consequences of the fraud led to the collapse of Theranos and the loss of billions of dollars to investors.
Bad Blood: Secrets and Lies in a Silicon Valley Startup is a nonfiction book by journalist John Carreyrou, released May 21, 2018. It covers the rise and fall of Theranos, the multibillion-dollar biotech startup headed by Elizabeth Holmes. The book received critical acclaim, winning the 2018 Financial Times and McKinsey Business Book of the Year Award.
Ian Gibbons was a British biochemist and molecular biology researcher who served as the chief scientist of the US company Theranos, which was founded by Elizabeth Holmes. For more than 30 years, Gibbons performed research in medical therapeutics and diagnostic testing prior to joining Theranos in 2005. He attempted to raise issues with Theranos' management about the inaccuracy of their testing devices.
Roger Harris Parloff is an American journalist who formerly worked at Fortune and currently is a senior editor at Lawfare.
The Dropout is an American biographical drama television miniseries that dramatizes the rise and fall of the disgraced biotechnology company Theranos and its founder, Elizabeth Holmes, played by Amanda Seyfried. It features an ensemble supporting cast, including Naveen Andrews, Elizabeth Marvel, William H. Macy, Stephen Fry, Mary Lynn Rajskub, Bill Irwin, Utkarsh Ambudkar, LisaGay Hamilton, Michael Ironside, Laurie Metcalf, Anne Archer, and Sam Waterston. Created by Elizabeth Meriwether, the series is based on the podcast of the same name hosted by Rebecca Jarvis and produced by ABC News.
Channing Rex Robertson is a professor emeritus of chemical engineering at Stanford University. He held multiple significant roles at startup Theranos, founded by his student Elizabeth Holmes. Robertson took on major responsibilities at the company prior to its collapse, including becoming its first board member, engaging with venture capitalists, and recruiting biochemist Ian Gibbons. He retired from Stanford in 2012, becoming professor emeritus. Theranos named him the co-leader of their technology advisory board in 2017. He was called as a witness in United States v. Elizabeth A. Holmes, et al., which convicted Holmes and partner Sunny Balwani of criminal fraud. During his time working for Holmes, Robertson was paid US$500,000 per year by Theranos. Since his active role in the Theranos scandal, he went back to teach one course at Stanford.
Phyllis I. Gardner is a Professor of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine, and former Dean of Education. Gardner was one of the first people to be publicly skeptical of Elizabeth Holmes, the founder of blood testing company Theranos, who was later found guilty of investor fraud.
The Dropout is an American true crime podcast hosted by Rebecca Jarvis that follows the story of Elizabeth Holmes, her defunct medical company Theranos, and the related federal criminal fraud trial, United States v. Elizabeth A. Holmes, et al. It was produced by ABC News, Taylor Dunn, Victoria Thompson, and Rebecca Jarvis. After the initial six episodes of the podcast aired in 2019, a two-hour 20/20 episode premiered in March 2019, following the popularity of the podcast. A second season of the podcast, titled, The Dropout: Elizabeth Holmes on Trial, debuted in 2022 and followed along with the criminal fraud federal trial of Holmes.
United States v. Elizabeth A. Holmes, et al., was a United States federal criminal fraud case against the founder of now-defunct corporation Theranos, Elizabeth Holmes, and its former president and COO, Ramesh Balwani. The case alleged that Holmes and Balwani perpetrated multi-million dollar wire-fraud schemes against investors and patients. Holmes and Balwani each had their own jury trial.