NEW STRETCH GOAL $90k!

Thanks to all of you we've surpassed our original goal, and are now almost at 200%. You guys are fantastic! We're only halfway through the campaign, and we're announcing a new special STRETCH GOAL of $90k. The new funds will go towards the marketing and distribution of the film - after we make a great final product, this will ensure we get it in front of as many people as possible. Plus we have new perks - a night at the Battery in SF, film posters, and more. Finally, if we get to $90k we'll be shooting a special video with Peter Diamandis, on a topic crowdsourced by all the donors - awesome stuff. 

Film Summary

Exponential technology is changing the world and there’s only one university in the world devoted to teaching students how to harness it: Singularity University (SU).

We've been filming the university for the past five years—immersing ourselves into the same environment as the Graduate Studies Program students in their intensive 10-week summer program.

Our documentary, The University, tells the story of the students, the faculty, and how Singularity University teaches students to confront the crucial issues affecting the future of our species—and create startups to address these topics.

We follow the students as they are given a fearsome challenge: create companies that will impact a billion people within ten years. It's a brilliant challenge, pushing the students to create something bolder than just the next social networking app. 

The film features Stephen Hawking, Buzz Aldrin, Shimon Peres, Ashton Kutcher, Will.i.Am, Michio Kaku, and others.

Resumen de la película 

Las tecnologías exponenciales están cambiando el mundo y sólo hay una universidad en el mundo dedicada a enseñar a los estudiantes cómo aprovecharla: Singularity University (SU). 

Hemos estado filmando la universidad en los últimos cinco años y nos hemos sumergido en el mismo entorno que viven los estudiantes del Programa de estudios de graduados durante el programa de verano de 10 semanas intensivas. 

Nuestro documental, La Universidad, cuenta la historia de los estudiantes, la facultad, y cómo Singularity University enseña a los estudiantes a enfrentar los problemas cruciales que afectan el futuro de nuestra especie-junto con crear nuevas empresas para abordar estos temas. 

Seguimos los estudiantes a medida que se dan un desafío temible: la creación de empresas que tendrán un impacto sobre mil millones de personas en los próximos diez años. Es un reto brillante, impulsar a los estudiantes a crear algo más audaz que sólo la próxima aplicación de redes sociales. 

La película destaca a Stephen Hawking, Buzz Aldrin, Shimon Peres, Ashton Kutcher, Will.i.Am, Michio Kaku, y otros.

Why Your Help Matters

The film's tagline is “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, will be inspired to become entrepreneurs and create companies that positively impact millions—or billions—of people.

We need your help to finish the final touches of the film--the editing, finishing processes, licensing, and distribution. And, as a thank you for your contribution, we've got some great perks including:

• VIP party at Nasa Ames--meet the cast and Director where it was all filmed
• Night at the (member-only) Magic Castle in Hollywood with some of the cast and Director
• Become a Singularitarian--attend an Executive Program at SU
• Be an Associate Producer
• Dinner and Party in LA with cast members and Director

What Is Singularity University And Why Do I Care?

"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, next door to Google. 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". Matt Rutherford, Director. 

Whether its exponential medicine, artificial intelligence, space development, nanotechnology, synthetic biology, or robotics, Singularity University teaches students about the things that matter for our future, and this new film will inspire more students, entrepreneurs, and leaders to shape our future.

The Film

The University is a feature documentary following the students at Singularity University from the inaugural class 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 (www.rocnoir.com). The team includes Executive Producer Ondi Timoner, two-time winner of Sundance Film Festival (Dig, We Live In Public); and renowned soundtrack composer Philip Sheppard (The Tillman Story, In the Shadow of the Moon) . The film is sponsored by the International Documentary Association (www.documentary.org), and donations are tax deductible.

The Cast

PETER DIAMANDIS: Co-founder of SU and the driving energy behind it, Peter is a serial entrepreneur whose entire mission is to keep humanity progressing forward. Initially focusing on space, with the X Prize foundation, Space Adventures (selling tickets to the ISS for $20m) and his Zero G plane ride company; he is now us­ing SU to approach a broader set of technologies and problem spaces in the world. A powerful speaker, Peter is the inspiration behind SU.

RAY KURZWEIL: Needing no introduction, Ray Kurzweil has been described as “the restless genius” by The Wall Street Journal, and “the ultimate thinking machine” by Forbes. Inc. magazine ranked him #8 among entrepreneurs in the United States, calling him the “rightful heir to Thomas Edison,” and PBS included Ray as one of 16 “revolutionaries who made America,” along with other inventors of the past two centuries.

DAN BARRY: Barry is a former NASA astronaut and a veteran of three space flights, four spacewalks and two trips to the International Space Station. He retired from NASA in 2005 and started his own company, Denbar Robotics that creates robotic assistants for home and commercial use, concentrating on assistive devices for people with disabilities. In 2011 he co-founded 9th Sense, a company that sells telepresence robots. He is a licensed physician and holds advanced degrees in electrical engineering and computer science.

About the Director

Former Charlie Rose producer Matt Rutherford focuses on content that deals with the future of humanity at his company, Roc Noir. Matt talks about creating intelligent content and portraying stories in a way that is more engaging and accessible to the mainstream audience.

"The big issues in the world are incredibly important me and my team. So part of my ideal goal as a filmmaker, is to highlight the crucial things that are affecting the future of our species, to get people thinking and inspired about these topics, and ideally to help audiences move away from simplistic celebrity culture which fundamentally doesn’t add much to human progress."

Exponential Technology is changing our world faster than we can keep track of. In just ten years, the ubiquitous spread of the Internet and cell phones has completely altered the way we live and operate. Breakthroughs in gene sequencing, biotechnology, nanotechnology, AI and commercial space travel are poised to revolutionize society within the next two decades, and companies who harness these technologies can achieve tremendous power in months and years, compared to the centuries required by nation states and civilizations.

Behind the Scenes

To celebrate achieving our goal in 4 days, here's a behind the scenes video of our composer, Philip Sheppard. In this video, Philip is explaining to some students how he composed a piece after listening to them having a conversation about their team project. It's quite amazing. 

Our Goal

To raise the funds in order to complete the film. We are currently finishing the edit stage of the film and require the funds for the final post production expenses, specifically: final editing; color correction; sound mix; archival licensing; legal and accounting expenses; and film festival submission fees. It's the final stages, and we want to make sure the film is as good as it possibly can be when we release it to the public. With your help, we can get there!

Most of all, we want to inspire entrepreneurs to think big and change the world. This is the ultimate goal for your donations, and every dollar will help. 

TAX DEDUCTIBLE DONATION

Your donation is tax deductible. THE UNIVERSITY is a fiscally sponsored project of the International Documentary Association (IDA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions on behalf of THE UNIVERSITY are payable to IDA and are tax deductible less the value of any goods or services received, as allowed by law. The value of goods and services being offered is noted under each donation level. If you would like to deduct the entire donation you have the option to simply decline the reward at check out.