Eddie Huang of Huang’s World undertakes a first-person investigation into how Vice went from scrappy Montreal indie magazine to media giant. He interviews former contributors who were crucial to its rise and witnessed its downfall.
Eddie Huang is an American iconoclast who has made his mark as a chef, author, host, and more. For a time, the place he felt most at home was working for Vice Media where he hosted his own travel show, Huang’s World. He befriended Vice co-founder Shane Smith and witnessed the company’s meteoric rise to become valued at $5.7 billion in 2017. Last year, it crashed into bankruptcy, owing Huang substantial royalties, just one of its countless casualties.
“It didn’t have to end like this,” says Huang, who adapts a Vice style of first-person reporting to investigate how the Montreal indie magazine became a media goliath. We hear from contributors who helped establish its coolness and credibility including magazine editor Jesse Pearson, writer Amy Kellner, and TV journalist Simon Ostrovsky. Huang keeps tabs on the people who did the hard work versus those who took the credit. He interviews Vice co-founder Gavin McInnes, whose sexist and racist pranks eventually got him fired (only to re-emerge as the Proud Boys founder).
The stories behind the scenes are alternately hilarious and appalling. Huang details how media moguls poured millions into Vice desperately hoping to unlock the youth market. A former Vice ad executive explains the company’s key tactic: “Make the cool guy feel rich and the rich guy feel cool.” As Vice alumni try to process the good from the bad, the interviews turn unexpectedly poignant. What did the company mean culturally, journalistically, morally, financially? They explore the many meanings of the title Vice Is Broke.
THOM POWERS
Screenings
TIFF Lightbox 2
Scotiabank 12
Scotiabank 10
Scotiabank 6
TIFF Lightbox 4