Gamestop: Rise Of The Players Trailer: Redditors Take On Wall Street And Win
If you missed or didn't understand the GameStop short squeeze in January 2021, don't worry — there's a new documentary coming that will explain the whole wild story. From the creators of the documentary "Console Wars" comes "GameStop: Rise of the Players," which aims to shine a light on the people who realized they had power in numbers when they managed to overwhelm some of the toughest players on Wall Street. Even if your entire understanding of the stock market is like mine and comes from watching "The Wolf of Wall Street," you'll finally be able to explain this one to your parents.
Power to the Players, Indeed
In January of 2021, things were looking a little grim for GameStop, a chain of stores that bought, traded, and sold video games. Streaming had already taken a huge chunk of sales, and then the pandemic caused sales to plummet. Many investors started doing short sales, which means selling stock they were borrowing with the plan to buy it back at an even lower price. Instead, Redditors snatched up the stocks, and soon the price began to rise. At one point, the stocks were valued at over $500 USD per share, compared to the $17 or so per share at the beginning of January. The coordinated efforts through Reddit and other social media outlets caused some brokerage companies to refuse to trade the stock, and soon the Redditors began picking up previously shorted stocks, including AMC Theatres and Bed Bath & Beyond.
The documentary is directed by Jonah Tulis and produced by Blake J. Harris, Dan Braun, and Josh Braun. (Harris previously contributed to /Film, though that will have no bearing on our coverage.) The documentary appears to use some of the same graphic design and storytelling techniques as "Console Wars," including 16-bit avatars of interview subjects and the filmmakers.
Here's the official synopsis:
From the makers of "Console Wars" comes the origin story of the GameStop stock market phenomenon, featuring exclusive access to the original players who lit the fuse on an historic amateur investor uprising. Spotlighting the human side of a sensational business drama, "GameStop: Rise of the Players" is a David vs Goliath tale about ordinary people waking up to the power they have in numbers.
"GameStop: Rise of the Players" will premiere exclusively in theaters on January 28, 2022.