Documenting the Rise of Bitcoin Through Filmmaking | Bitcoin 2026

Good morning. Good morning. Is it morning, right? No, afternoon. How are you guys doing today? >> Hello. Hello. >> Yeah. Wake up. Wake up. Wake up. We are in Vegas. Awesome. Here, let me set up guys. While I set up, can you guys give us a little intro about who you are, what you do in the space, give people here like a little snippet? >> Sure. Thank you so much, Issa. I've been a uh videographer for 20 years now. I've been a Bitcoiner for 14. I started contributing to open source in 2018 to BTC Pay Server and that changed my life. Open source can lead you to incredible places and it's one of the best places to start in Bitcoin and it's been a wild ride. So, maybe Shooter, how about yourself? >> Yeah, so obviously we're both filmmakers. Um, I spent a year making a 10-minute film about El Salvador and Bitcoin, two years um on a film about inflation, traveled a bunch of different places, and um yeah, I just uh did it to try to spread the good word selfishly so that the transition is easier for me and uh my family. So yeah, that's it. I'm just an artist, man. >> Yo, give it up for these two. Woo! >> Thank you, Isa. >> Yeah. Steady Asia, please. The thing is that I don't think people realize the importance of telling and making good stories because that's what's going to be left in the world. I don't know if you guys watch movies now, but like movies from the '9s, you kind of grasp how the times were. And it's really interesting to see the comparison because back in the day, nobody had their phones. Nowadays, all the movies and all the interpretations are people with their phones and the iPhone face. Have you guys heard of the iPhone face? >> Yes. Yeah. The Gen Z stare and it's become like a physical embodiment of our time. >> 100%. Which brings me to Hollywood. So, Hollywood just green lit a Bitcoin movie with two A-listers. You've both been documenting history for over years from the inside. What's your gut reaction? Like, be honest. Like, no filter. Like, say it. >> Let's go. I'm so happy that you're interested in this question cuz I don't think this movie is actually going to see the light of day. And the people that Sorry, particularly the Casey Affleck movie. I was so excited that it was maybe coming out. I can't remember the name of it. Now, it's called Bitcoin. I think originally was Killing Satoshi. If you dig into why it's happening, when it came out, or how they shot it, it was shot entirely on volutric stages. All AI was used in the background. So, it was also financed by Calvin Hair. So, if they decide to go through with this, they have to redrag out all of the block size wars in COPA litigation that they lost against. So, I have a feeling Casey Affleck, who I dearly love as an actor, had a great time shooting with his friends in Hollywood for four months talking about Bitcoin for the first time and had no idea how much baggage was behind that production that it and people shel movies all the time. And I actually really like the latest uh binding Satoshi movie to contrast that. I think they did a really sweet job and it ended in a nice place that even if it isn't the truth is a much better truth than we've had thus far. But I'm open to what you think shooter too cuz it's a wild time. I just think everything's good for Bitcoin. Like no matter what somehow someway it's this beautiful thing that always just like it's like um judo, you know, it uses the momentum in whatever direction it's going in to its benefit. So whether the movie sucked or the movie is great, it's going to at least reach more people about Bitcoin. And then if people really think it sucks, maybe it'll increase the desire for something that's actually good. Because, you know, most artists make nothing. Most artists spend money to create the art that they make. Few artists make just enough to get by and just the tiniest bit actually have enough wealth to, in my opinion, to have the the focus and the time and to do something great to not feel super stressed about I got to balance all these things. So, um anyways, maybe that's what it'll lead to. Maybe not. But, um everything's it's always just good for Bitcoin. Everything's always good for Bitcoin. >> It brings me to like any publicity is good publicity. Like it doesn't matter if it's good or bad, which is true. Like now people actually have heard of Bitcoin. I don't know if it's happened to you guys, but it's not like this foreign concept anymore. And I see it on X and everything like the Bitcoin culture is sort of dead in a way. And I tweeted that out the other day and somebody was like, "Yo, the US dollar doesn't have a culture." So what do you guys think about that? Like the Bitcoin culture? Like how important is documenting it? like are like in a couple years is bit the Bitcoin culture still going to be a thing or is it going to be something from the past? >> That's a really good way to think about it. Um I think my favorite comparison is we're kind of growing like skateboarding. And I say that because making a skateboard back then it cost very little money. Anyone could do it and it proliferated around the world in a short amount of time and became one of the most popular pastimes o superseding baseball for a certain period of time. But if you're a skateboarder, you know that when it got really popular, skaters liked being the losers in high school. They loved having that hardcore scene and not being a part of a baseball team or a bigger thing. So when skateboarding really blew up, the funding that got into the people that the skaters didn't like trickled down to the hardcore skaters that really make it what it is. And I kind of see Bitcoin going the same way. Now we have a president who's saying stuff that we don't even like sometimes, but sometimes if he does the strategic reserve, maybe we'll like that a little bit more. But it, to your point, it has like grown into different places. And to my wife's friends at dinner in New York, I used to be a poor anarchist person and now I'm a wealthy Republican in their eyes. Like just because of Trump stuff, it just changed so quickly. So it really changes fast. I think the for me at least the culture fundamentally is I don't give a fuck like to not be in a position where you have to sacrifice your principles. Um and usually it's due to money you have to sacrifice your principles. So this uh money that no one can this fuck you money it really is that and when you actually are uh operating with that mindset you value your time a whole lot more. And so I think the culture will always be I don't give a fuck. Come get it. And family. Like I think ultimately if you think about what you want in life, you can have all the lambos, you can fly all the jets, you can have all the nice suits, but at the end of the day probably your realize the most valuable thing you can do is spend time with your family. So I think when Bitcoin gives people that financial stability, it's just going to be what the general culture is. It's just family and like if I'm working together with you, it's because I like to work together with you, not because I need you. I don't need your money, right? You can't give me money that's valuable enough. We have to do something else. So, anyway, I think that will always be the culture, but like there's no gold culture, right? There's no dollar, US dollar culture. So, I think eventually once it's widespread enough, it's just going to be money and then people will look back on the stuff that you and I create perhaps and be like, "That was crazy. Those guys were living in a really crazy time, you know. But um anyway, I don't even know if that made any sense. >> I agree. So, >> it does. It does. >> Welcome to Predict. The world is a market. Everything is a market. Get a 100% cash back up to $100 on your first predict bet if it loses. predict where everything is a market. >> Who out here creates content, makes videos, or wants to be, you know, in social media or >> All right, we got some out there. >> And so to those guys that just raise their hands, what advice would you give them? Because one of the things that you guys were talking about was like money the system like it's broke you know and when you follow the incentives they're not there anymore and as an artist like it is a thing to like to starve a little you know like starving for the creation of the art and you know artists have this persona of like being a poor anarchist you know what I mean so like what are like your top three or your top one tip or advice that you would give to those people that want to create content and are trying to just like create something out of it, you know, make a difference in a way. >> Totally. I think um it's an amazing time in Bitcoin. There's so many of stories to follow and I think if you were to start today, you it you'd really do well if you picked a lane. If you're going to just put up a camera and talk about what's going on on X or publicly, that is really cool and should just be an art and something fun to do, but there's a lot of people doing it. So, you're competing against if you're trying to get a sponsor from an exchange or some Bitcoin wallet company. It's kind of a hard thing to do, but there's not a lot of people that are like us that just don't put themselves in the story and film Bitcoiners. There are tons of Bitcoin companies that are interested in getting footage at conferences, all kinds of events. They do meetups. So, there's an amazing uh early work of video if you were getting into it to do it. But I think some people get trapped and I made a podcast and I start talking about the same things that everybody is. And you're also fighting over the same sponsor dollars the other more interesting podcasts are too. So, it's a hard place to be. >> Yeah. >> Isa does it the best though. So, yeah, we're looking at >> Yeah. I mean, that's what I mean. One of the reasons why I wanted to make a full- length film is that people like you and Julian and others are doing what you guys do so well, you know, and so I wanted to have a slightly different approach. Um, but um the question was >> the question was like if you got any advice >> advice, >> don't plan to make any money doing it. Just don't plan on doing that because you're going to set improper expectations for yourself and then you're going to be very fucking stressed out. And guess what? You're not very creative when you're very fucking stressed out. So have another way to make money. Like the best way to use Bitcoin is to save it. Like it's going to free you. It's going to give you time to spend with your family because at the end of the day, I love you. I love you. I love all of you. But I'd rather be with my family. And so, um, that's all I would say. And then that way actually do it for the love of it. And actually, it'll probably produce something better. And actually, it'll probably lead you to the place where it might actually make you financially stable. So, just do it cuz you love it. And remember, that's why you're doing it. And if money comes, that's that's a miracle uh or it's a blessing. Um, and if it doesn't, then remember you knew that already from the beginning. Let's just add one piece onto that exactly that point. If you do start working in Bitcoin and you're only paid in Bitcoin, unfortunately, all you do is also sell Bitcoin. So, if you want to accumulate Bitcoin, working in Bitcoin sometimes is not the best play. And I haven't earned a dollar in two years, so I just keep selling Bitcoin because I'm only paid in Bitcoin. And it's done great, but it's a hard life to get used to just selling Bitcoin to live. >> Um, that is very true. Selling your Bitcoin kind of hurts, but like find >> What's your advice? Because you do it, too. You're really good. Um, my advice would be just do it and keep doing it and it's all about the reps. So, keep doing that video and learn from it. I think many people what they end up doing is they do not learn from the previous videos and they get stuck in their ways. Uh my thing would be like yeah you could do what you like if you want to make a movie, make a show, do what you want to do it but also listen to the audience because at the end of the day when you're creating content you want to provide value. So what value are you providing? Uh so that would be my my advice and not to be discouraged you know. So, if we don't tell our stories, others will. What's the one story you're terrified that will get told wrong if you don't get to it first? >> Oh, man. To add on to that first question, if that Casey Affleck movie comes out and it paints Craig Wright into like a tragic Australian brilliant genius that just didn't get his vision accomplished cuz he actioned Satoshi, that will really make me sad. >> I don't know. I really don't have a good answer. There's so many stories. I mean, part of my film, I went to Kenya and was filming what Grid List is doing out there with Bitcoin mining. And I met farmers who hadn't had electricity ever. And all of a sudden, this guy's going from spending 3 hours a day chopping his his food for his cattle with a machete to just pushing it through in like 10 minutes. It's like the most powerful story. I was fucking crying in the truck on the way out. I'm like, "God damn, that was so powerful." Um, so there's millions of there's and then uh also uh my buddy Huddle Tarantulas out in North Dakota mining off of flare gas and the work ethic that's required to do that kind of work. And the reason why he does it is because he wants to be the last person that the government can shut off his minor. He wants to be out in the middle of nowhere and he takes the trade-offs for that reason. And honestly, I think if I spent the rest of my Bitcoin career just filming him, it would be well worth it. And I'm sure there's a thousand other people just like him. So there's so many. I don't I wouldn't regret anything and we should do everyone should do them all. Speaking of the films and everything. So um or Okay. Um I wanted to talk about like how you guys actually ended up making Bitcoin films like what made you do it and what was like that thought process? Is there any of your videos or experiences that you want to share like that pivotal moment? >> Sure. For me, um, I'd been a Bitcoiner for a long time, but up until co, I was also working as a commercial videographer and I had a very expensive camera that was like a really cheap house. I had a mortgage on it and I would lose sleep at night under how much debt I was under. Co happened and it was the first pico top I've ever sold. I got out all my camera gear. two weeks in and New York was shut down for the next two years. But at the time, I had been contributing to BTC Pay Server for two years leading up to that, making animations and graphics. I was like, I don't really want to go outside anyways. I'll just keep making animations and graphics for them. And then when I decided to tell their story that I felt so strongly about the documentaries called My Trust in You Is Broken, I bought a new camera kit that I wanted to just fit in a small tote bag and take that around the world with them. And that was the film I made after that that brought me back into Bitcoin and it's been history since then. So I I I've been making films for a while. Um, one of the people who really orange killed me was Max Kaiser because when I found out about how all the bullshit works, I was really actually upset and his uh energy was actually what they like throwing tables and stuff. I'm like, why aren't more people upset like this? Right? So um he was live streaming. I dropped them a message in their live stream. Hey, I'm going to your next event. I got cameras. If you want me to film it, I'll do it for free. And um that ended up doing I did a couple more with them and I went with them to El Salvador the first time they went. And really the most important part was just meeting all of the people from El Salvador and the diaspora at the airport and at all these different places because each one of them had just like this horrific story of pain and then a sudden burst of hope. And I was just so inspired that I went back a couple more times. I put together a 10-minute film about El Salvador called Comeback Country. It's probably on YouTube still. Um, and Boulli ended up posting it. So, a bunch of Bitcoiners are like, "You need to make a full length film, you know." Uh, and that's what led to me planning and doing this film about inflation for 2 years. And um, and yeah, um, that's that's basically how it went down. Uh, one thing that came to mind, I just want to say it real quick, is like we've been hanging around each other. I respect this guy's work a lot, you know, and um I know that we inspire each other. He showed me the trustee is broken, you know, and I told him it was fucking awesome cuz it is awesome. Um, one thing I toy with is I have this battle with my ego because I'm a really loving person. I like to collaborate, but when I'm in the editing room, I want to destroy you. I want to be so much better than you that you are embarrassed that you come back and you're better, you know? Um, and I don't know why that I thought of that, but I just want to make sure you guys know in case you ever get it twisted. If you see me posting some shit with some rap music, like, get on my fucking level. It's just me in my own head and hoping that I poke some people to wake them up and be like, "Yeah, come on. Come on. Try." >> I love that. Now I feel the same way. It's And Bitcoin is literally competition is in the money farm. So, I I agree. >> Well, yeah. Many people have this stigma that competition is bad. Competition just keeps you on your freaking toes. Like if you don't have competition, then what are you gonna do? Like how are you gonna be better? Which brings to um creation. What do you guys Are you guys ever like in a creation slump or like where you're trying to be motivated and inspired like what do you even do? You know what I mean? To get out of the funk because you have you're entertaining people at the end of the day, you know? Grasping someone's attention for more than even like a minute nowadays is the hardest task to do because many people have been accustomed to like you know Tik Toks 10-second videos a little you know so can you guys guide me through that like creation process or like what do you do to get out of the slump or what do you do to you know inspire yourself to create content that you know is going to provide value to someone for more than like at least five minutes, >> man. And it's similarly when I'm editing something, you like you have to fall in love with it. Like if you could make yourself cry and just keep playing it over and over like this is going to hit. I just know it's going to work. That that's all you're really looking for. And shout out to Issa's stuff. Like she's doing twice our views easily and cuz she loves what she's doing and it's orange filled an entire island. I mean, when you fall in love with something, it it gets easier, but there's always slumps. And for me, winter in New York is just my slum time. I just got to survive that period. Summer will be great and it comes back >> in winter. Come to the island together. >> Yes. Much better. >> Yeah. So, I like think about um being creative. I'm problem solving, right? If I'm smooth sailing, it's true. It's great. No problem. But when you get a slump, it's like a problem. And um when I'm problem solving, I need to be attracted to want to fix the problem. I have to want to do the work. If it becomes work where I'm kind of like I don't really want to do this right now, I just don't I just stop. And uh I make sure I get some sun. And usually it's gardening or something like water, you know, like I just get some sun. And um I I think of it as wrestling with problems. That's what you're doing. You're wrestling with them. And sometimes brute force is not the way to solve the problem. Sometimes you need time whether it's to just stop thinking about like um I used to practice piano when I was younger and I would realize like after 15 minutes I wouldn't get improve at all on the song I was practicing but if I stepped away for 2 hours and I came back like actually I could pick it up and get a little better again. So sometimes I think um you just need time and then on the whole attention span thing I think it takes like 15 minutes for the average person to get in the zone. I think the worst part about society is that the percentage of time that the general population is in the zone is so low now. It is so low. I don't even know how anybody gets anything done. If you're working and you're like 10 minutes and your phone goes off and you look at your phone, you never even got in the zone. You How are you getting anything done, you know? So in that way like uh I since I do this for fun like like really like I I make a living another way. I'm blessed many ways. I do this stuff for me. I used to ask people what do you think about this? What do you think about that? And then I I realized after a while I'm like they look to me to see what I think about films because they see me as the guy who can analyze it better. So then I'm like okay so all I have to do is make sure that I'm proud of this. If I'm proud of this, I really don't I mean, I do care what you think. I wanted to help you. That's why I made it. But it's my standard. I made it for me. If I'm happy with it, then that's it. No one else can convince me otherwise. Maybe I can make it better, you know, and I'm open to that, but um I really I really like I'm inspired by Michelangelo and I just don't care. I really don't care if I like it, you know. Um I don't even know how I got there. >> I don't know. That was deep. I liked it. I needed to hear that. >> Honestly, I'm in the editing room like you just you just got to love it yourself because I find myself looking for other approval and stuff and that you that can go too far sometimes. So, it is good. >> Who knows it better than you. I mean, you're got your hands in it. >> Hey, thank you, man. >> You know what I mean? Rockstar Dev is not coming to you. Maybe he is. I don't know if you're a coder, but he's not like, "Hey, what do you think about this code?" You know, they're like, "That is true. You tell me, Rockstar." I do. It is nice to know if this stuff's landing though. And but you can tell like your view is like when something hits you, you know when it it feels right too. So it's nice to have that validation. >> Well, what sucks is like the ones that you want it to hit don't. We got to be honest with that. Like the ones that go like viral or something are like the stupid ones that you're like, "Dude, why aren't you going down the rabbit hole with me about like the freaking Epste files?" >> But, you know, the best artists were typically the ones that had the most uh production. like Prince would always be recording music, you know, Mozart, like they just would produce so much that something was bound to stick. And God bless you guys because I'm not producing anything Bitcoin related right now. Like 2 years in Bitcoin is like 10 years, I think. I'm like I made my contribution. I am out. Like, but God bless you guys, man, because like it's a it's a grind. I I respect both of you guys a lot for the consistency cuz I know how difficult it is. >> No, I love that. And you said that like you're not going to create Bitcoin content for a bit now, which brings me to the question like what are you currently working on and what are you doing? Like what can they expect from you guys? So, yesterday we just released the first teaser of my new feature film called um This Time is Different, and it's the story of the four-year cycle. No one has ever captured from the beginning to the end of the la of the current cycle. >> Damn, that's true. >> Yep. And David Bailey is to me the main character through the most dramatic Bitcoin cycle. maybe not price but in the president take his company public all the up and all the painful down so I've been at the year and a half of shooting left or left but that has been it's been a long long two point it's it's tough to work in Bitcoin and one year feels like 10 and last year we were all friends you know a lot of if if anyone's familiar with bit 110 and also the core side has just been kind of a disaster people that were having dinner and drinks together in Europe two years ago are now like at each other's throats on X. So, it's just it's a painful road to be a part fight. >> How are you even documenting that? Like that's insane. I feel like there's many fires in the Bitcoin space that you're like >> an octopus. Nifty Knight. Shout out to her. She has been so incredible with all the Bitcoin++ uh conferences and I filmed the first debate between Peter Todd Shinobi uh Mechanic and uh Luke and I walked out of the room was like this is going to be so bad in a year and it has been. That was a year and a half ago and I was like there was I was kind of hoping there'd be some consensus there or something good would come out of that and it just like blew up everything better but it killed it for Nichi's conferences. So, if you haven't seen Bitcoin++, go check it out. Amazing things are happening there. Yeah, Nifty O's Mechanic and Luca. Thank you, I guess. And it won't be the other, too. I'm just kidding. For the controversy. >> Um, to be honest with you, what I'm working on is my 9-year-old nephew's ability to hit a baseball. Um, the film was great for me because Bitcoin what it it gave me the motivation to dedicate two years to making a film because I can't think of anything else that would be more important. And again, selfishly, if I can help people understand Bitcoin, it's just going to make it easier for my future and the transition and everything, right? So, I have I have a a selfish desire for that. And um Bitcoin gave me the motivation and it also introduced me to the people who helped me have the time and the resources to dedicate two years as an artist, 100% creative control. Like literally, I could have done anything I wanted to do. And uh that's every artist's dream. And so now I'm creatively satisfied. I'm content. I make short films for businesses. I do just fine. And the rest of the time I have a big family. And that's all I do now. I just work. I stack sats and I spend time with my family. That's That's what I'm working on. >> I love it. >> That's a beautiful life, man. It's painful being over here. >> Yeah, >> I know. >> So, where can these guys follow you guys? Keep track of everything you're doing. Support. >> Check out uh my ex is webw worthy. Um and Bitcoin Magazine has been so supportive for putting out the first teasers for um This Time is Different. I keep want to say my trust in me is broken. Sorry. Um so follow us there and keep up with the new stuff. We're hoping we'll have a threeminut piece coming out in a couple weeks that shows a little bit more of the entire story. So again, that's another year and a half before it'll actually be out. So look out for that then. I'm on Twitter, Bitcoin Shooter. Go to no moreinflation.com. You can watch the full film for free. Some cool people in there like Graham Hancock, Robert Malone, Rockstar Dev, Tone Vay, Alex Gladstein, blah blah blah blah blah. That's it. >> I love it. So please give him a hand. Yo. >> Yeah, bro. But a year and a half till you release the full video. Like that's sad. Be >> a while. >> Time present right now. >> Every year this community comes together to celebrate, to debate, to build what comes next. And every year the stage gets bigger. Sound money center stage. So where do you go to celebrate the next chapter in Bitcoin history? You come home. Nashville. July 2027.