Netflix Acquires Bert Marcus’ Social Media Doc The American Meme

Netflix has acquired award-winning filmmaker Bert Marcus’ (Champs, What We Started) highly-anticipated social media documentary film The American Meme, which premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival earlier this year. Check out the official poster and photos for the feature in the gallery below!

The American Meme, starring Hailey Baldwin, Emily Ratajkowski, Paris Hilton, DJ Khaled, Dane Cook, and more, sheds light on the highs and lows of social media and the effect it has on these celebrities, exploring the pressure behind the spotlight, and how followers, likes, and on-going attention affects their jobs, health, relationships and more.

“Ever since Paris Hilton first, by her own account, invented the selfie, a generation of social media stars has emerged to bring their larger-than-life, bite-sized brands to the digital space. Millions of viewers subsist on a daily social media diet filled with the antics of the Fat Jew, Emily Ratajkowski, Brittany Furlan, and Hilton herself, all of whom, through a seemingly endless stream of posts, allow the public into their everyday lives in a distinctly intimate manner. But sometimes, even the biggest social media stars have to turn off the cameras.

Director Bert Marcus brings his audience the stories behind these social media giants’ images. American Meme exposes the cost, including exhaustion, depression, and the inevitable backlash each has experienced from the media and from fans, that comes when these influencers attempt to turn their followings into empires,” said Tribeca programmer Liza Domnitz.

With support from social media moguls DJ Khaled, Hailey Baldwin, and Emily Ratajkowski, the project explores the journeys of four distinct social media disruptors, Paris Hilton, Josh Ostrovsky, Brittany Furlan, and Kirill Bichutsky as they hustle to build empires out of their online footprints, redefining the paradigm for the American Dream.

Bert Marcus has produced and financed the transformative feature films Teenage Paparazzo and How to Make Money Selling Drugs, as well as directed the critically acclaimed films Champs, and Netflix’s What We Started. Bert also has multiple films in the pipeline, including Ophelia, starring Daisy Ridley and Naomi Watts, which premiered at Sundance 2018.

The American Meme was written and directed by Marcus, who produced alongside Cassandra Thornton and executive producer Paris Hilton. The documentary was edited by Tchavdar Georgiev and Monique Zavistovski. Lele Pons and Amanda Cerny are also featured in the project.

The Netflix original documentary will be released globally in December 2018.