Great beginnings start with a great ending

The documentary “A Million in the Morning,” directed by Jason Goldwatch,  starts off with a BANG.  In the beginning, all you see is some bum on the streets of New York who can’t even walk.  He has what looks like some kind of glowing cup in his hand, a neck pad used for sleeping on planes, and there seems to be blood on his shirt.  Not to mention his face looks like he took a train right in the kisser.  Then the voiceover comes in and explains the problems with not getting enough sleep.  This documentary about a Netflix competition gone wrong is anything but boring.

The setting

The film takes place in a glass house in the middle of Times Square where 8 people compete to see who can stay awake while watching Netflix movies for 6 days straight!  The winner gets 10,000 dollars and a lifetime membership to Netflix.  Gavin McInnes (you might know him from his hilarious short movie ASSHOLE)  plays the host who tries to keep up with the competitors but makes lots of bad decisions along the way.  I would describe McInnes as a modern version of Hunter S. Thompson’s character Raoul Duke with a microphone.

It starts off innocently enough, with everyone in good spirits, but after a couple of days things get weird.  Gavin McInnes soon becomes the center of the documentary – not the competitors.  As the documentary progresses, and the arc rises, Gavin tries to inform us about what is going on in his mind.  At one point towards the peak of the storie’s arc, Gavin has an epiphany about the origins of the universe and manages to actually prove it mathematically.

This wonderful documentary is filled with lots of great moments.  One of my favorites is when Gavin decides to make an energy smoothie while aerobics guru Richard Simmons pleads for him to stop.  After mixing all kinds of energy drinks into a blender, with a touch of fruit, Gavin takes a sip and proclaims in front of a large audience of gawkers “Am I the only guy with a boner right now?”  Also, rumor has it ( yes I have to confirmations from high up in the Florida Film Festival ladder) that Gavin McInnes will be at the Florida Film Festival!

The story arc

This is a great example of starting a documentary with an arc in sight.  Right away, you know that people staying awake for five days is going to be documentary gold.  All kinds of nastiness can come from not sleeping, including brain damage.  This is a train wreck and you have to film it!  Some documentaries get lucky and they find an interesting character or setting to start filming and then WHAM something extraordinary happens and you have an arc for your story.

If you would like to read more about the importance of the arc please read my previous article entitled So You Want to Get Your Documentary Into Film Festivals.

“A Million in the Morning” will be playing at the Florida Film Festival on Friday and Saturday night as part of their midnight movies.  Be sure to watch the trailer below and wait for the famous quote at the end.

Still from "A Million in the Morning"