"Dumb Money"

My brother's film is sensational

I’m sitting in the Toronto airport waiting for my early-morning flight to rush back for my mom’s 75th birthday lunch. (Happy 75th birthday, Mom!)

I came up here mid-day yesterday to catch the world premiere of my brother Teddy’s new film “Dumb Money” based on the book, The Anti-Social Network, by former podcast guest Ben Mezrich (episode here!), and written by the powerhouse duo Rebecca Angelo and Lauren Schuker Blum, directed by Craig Gillespie.

Oh my gosh, it was SO GOOD. The giant auditorium at TIFF was packed with fans cheering, clapping and whooping as the credits rolled. Not only that, but my brother was on stage before and after answering questions articulately in the Q&A.

As I sat in the bleachers with the Black Bear International team, waving to Kyle and his Morning Moon team across the theater, my brother on stage, my heart literally swelled with pride.

He crushed it.

The movie, which really explains the GameStop stock craze that happened in the pandemic and shows that a bunch of followers of one man’s influential YouTube channel and Reddit feed teamed up in solidarity to buy and hold (“HODL” “diamond hands!”) one stock to squeeze a bunch of high-powered short sellers and create their own value, was phenomenal. My mind didn’t wander for a second.

“Dumb Money” is really a story about exerting whatever control possible to take a stand. At one point, one college girl says to the other, “It’s not about the money,” to which her friend responds, “A stock isn’t about the money?”

  It wasn’t. It was about collectively doing what was possible — in this case, buying and holding a stock — to make a difference. To share a voice. Above all, it showed the power of community, the need for connection, the desire for leadership, alternative answers, and the selflessness shown by some for the benefit of many. It demonstrated how one man could change a system or, at least, make a dent that ricocheted all the way up to Congress.

And the music! For anyone who remembers the “I’m a Savage…” TikTok craze, you will die laughing.

The New York Times ran a big feature about my brother and “Dumb Money” yesterday and how he said, as a co-producer, that he chose it for the novel material in a story that had to be told. “A no-brainer,” he said. The New York Times called it “a midbudget, formula-busting, thinking-person’s movie.” Variety gave it a phenomenal review last night after the screening ended. It’s destined to be a hit.

I am a proud older sister.

Go, Teds.

TIFF (the Toronto International Film Festival) was night and day from last year. With no actors or writers, the lines were gone. The dazzle was dimmed. But the content, clearly, is still top-rate.

(And not to brag, but my brother’s other movie “Nyad” with Annette Bening and Jodie Foster premieres at TIFF on Tuesday.)

The fact that both of us have chosen creative, entrepreneurial, story-worshipping professions that uplift other voices is not lost on me. Film. Literature. TV. Essays. Knowing a good thing when we see it and using our gifts for good.

We’ve come a long way, baby.