Documentary film looks behind scenes at startup

  Artisan Entertainment In "Startup.com," Kaleil
Isaza Tuzman wrestles with the growing pains of a new
business and friendship in the fickle Internet community.

By Suneal Kolluri
Daily Bruin Contributor

Shortly after Jehane Noujaim quit her job at MTV to pursue
filmmaking, her roommate, Kaleil Isaza Tuzman was hard at work with
his longtime friend, Tom Herman raising millions of dollars for
their new Internet company, GovWorks.com.

“Basically, he’s sitting on the side of his bed
raising hundreds of thousands of dollars, getting everybody to quit
their jobs everywhere and join up with him,” said Noujaim in
a phone a interview from New York. “I just thought that this
was a totally amazing time.”

The new documentary, “Startup.com,” tells the story
of Tuzman and Herman, two young entrepreneurs struggling to keep
their Internet startup and their friendship alive.

Noujaim, along with acclaimed filmmaker Chris Hegedus,
documented the company’s every move from its optimistic
beginning to its ultimate failure.

“These guys are just totally amazing. They just put
everything out on the line to create this really revolutionary Web
site where they were going to cut red tape and bridge the digital
divide by putting government online,” Hegedus said.

Tuzman’s idea was to have GovWorks.com help bridge the gap
between government and individuals. The Web site would allow users
to pay parking tickets, renew their driver’s license, and
provide other services to make the government work more
efficiently.

Inspired by her roommate’s drive, Noujaim thought that
Tuzman’s project might make an interesting subject for a
documentary.

“I don’t think in the beginning they really thought
that it would be a feature film that would be released across the
country,” Noujaim said. “It was more in the stage of
“˜Wouldn’t this be a cool idea?’ which is the way
a lot of things start.”

While Noujaim began filming, Hegedus was searching for an
Internet company to be the subject of her next documentary.

Then Noujaim and Hegedus met through mutual friends to discover
that they both had the same idea.

“Their company called me up and asked me if I could do
some kind of film about them starting their venture because
Kileil’s roommate was my co-director Jehane,” Hegedus
said. “She was looking for a partner to do it with because
she didn’t have any money and hadn’t made a feature
length documentary before.”

Noujaim arranged for Hegedus to meet the two entrepreneurs and
Hegedus was immediately impressed by the vision for their company
and the story that could ensue.

“We met Kileil and I thought he was extremely charismatic,
and I liked the idea that he was doing it with his best
friend,” she said. “It was like a buddy story, and that
really appealed to me.”

From the start, the filmmakers knew that they had an interesting
story in the contrast of personalities that existed between the two
entrepreneurs and the drive and enthusiasm of the businessmen
amazed the filmmakers.

“You could tell early on that there was going to be an
interesting dynamic because they cared about each other so much,
because there was so much pressure involved and because they were
totally opposite people,” Noujaim said.

She explained how Tuzman and his friend Herman were a very
interesting match. Tuzman had a driven and commanding personality
that contrasted greatly with the reserved, awkward character of
Herman.

“They’re totally opposite personalities,”
Noujaim said. “Kaleil is a business man who says all the
right things at all the right times and Tom is somebody who is the
techy guy and kind of an artist, but he throws things out at kind
of the wrong times.”

As the company grew at an incredible rate, Tuzman and Herman
endured rocky times. Thieves ransacked their office, competitors
stole documents, lawyers flaked out on meetings, and their site
suffered from numerous technical difficulties.

As the documentary unfolds, however, the film becomes less about
business and more about personal relationships.

Tuzman and Herman convince friends to quit their jobs and join
the company. They convince venture capitalists to invest millions
of dollars in their company. They even convince themselves that
their friendship was worth sacrificing for the company.

The ultimate hardship comes when the friendship of the two
businessmen is tested. In hopes of saving the failing company,
Tuzman decides to remove Herman from his position as co-CEO.

In the end, however, it wasn’t enough to overcome an
inhospitable economy.

“These dot-coms were based on what was going to happen in
the future. When the future was shortened and they wanted a payoff
earlier, these companies could not turn around and produce a profit
sufficiently fast and the market then pulled the rug out from under
them,” said economics professor Rod Swanson.

Although the two entrepreneurs eventually mend their lifelong
friendship, it doesn’t mean the same to Herman, who is
insulted and even seeks legal guidance.

“I think that people will relate to the human drama behind
it all. It really is a human story and it is a problem that a lot
of people have to deal with ““ balancing business with
friendships,” Noujaim said.

FILM: “Startup.com” is now playing
at the Nuart Theatre located at 11272 Santa Monica Blvd. For
showtimes call (310) 478-6379.