Documentary Film that Follows Singularity University Students as They Change the World Launches its IndieGoGo Fundraising Campaign

By: Sep. 12, 2014
Enter Your Email to Unlock This Article

Plus, get the best of BroadwayWorld delivered to your inbox, and unlimited access to our editorial content across the globe.




Existing user? Just click login.

Today, "The University" documentary announces the launch of its fundraising campaign on Indiegogo.

The film, directed by former Charlie Rose producer Matt Rutherford, features Stephen Hawking, Buzz Aldrin, Shimon Peres, Ashton Kutcher, Will.i.Am, Michio Kaku, and others.

Exponential technology is changing the world and there's only one university in the world devoted to teaching students how to harness it to help change the lives of a billion people: SINGULARITY University. Matt Rutherford has been filming the university for THE PAST five years-immersing himself into the same environment as the Graduate Studies Program students in their intensive 10-week program.

His documentary, The University, (view the trailer here) tells the story of the students, the classes, and how SINGULARITY University teaches students to not only confront the crucial issues affecting the future of our species-but to create startups to address these topics.

The new IndieGoGo campaign will help The University be completed.

As the documentary tagline says, "The best way to teach the future is to invent it," and the hope is that by completing the film hundreds of thousands of students who otherwise could not reap the rewards of SINGULARITY University are inspired to become entrepreneurs and create companies that positively impact millions-or billions-of people.

"Singularity University was founded in Silicon Valley by Peter Diamandis, the founder of the X Prize, and Ray Kurzweil, a famous inventor and futurist. They were supported by Google and NASA, and the university itself is based at NASA Ames, a highly eccentric research base in Mountain View. That combination of organizations and people was incredible, so I could tell that something interesting was going to happen here. The main aim of the university is to teach grad and post grad students about exponentially growing technologies, and to harness these growth curves to create companies that impact a billion people within ten years. The whole thing sounds a bit insane, but that's why I knew it would make a great film," says Matt Rutherford about why he chose to film the documentary.

About The University
The University is a feature documentary following the students at SINGULARITY University from the inaugural year in 2009 to the present. Directed by Matt Rutherford, the CEO and Founder of Roc Noir, a production company based between Nasa Ames and Los Angeles (http://www.rocnoir.com).

The team includes Executive Producer Ondi Timoner, two-time winner of Sundance Film Festival (Dig, We Live In Public); and composer Philip Sheppard, Professor of Cello at the Royal Academy of Music. The film is sponsored by the International Documentary Association (http://www.documentary.org), and donations are tax deductible.



Videos