From Fastcompany · · 3m
Cold email led to Oscar-buzz documentary
Lance Oppenheim's unsolicited message to Nathan Fielder sparked a friendship that became You Can See Everything, a hit film about Elizabeth Holmes.
In brief
Lance Oppenheim's unsolicited message to Nathan Fielder sparked a friendship that became You Can See Everything, a hit film about Elizabeth Holmes. A cold email from filmmaker Lance Oppenheim to Nathan Fielder in 2020 led to their collaboration on You Can See Everything, a documentary about Theranos founder Elizabeth…
A documentary breaks records
Lance Oppenheim and Nathan Fielder's documentary You Can See Everything about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is breaking box office records and generating Oscar buzz.
The film gets personal with Holmes
You Can See Everything gets up close and awkwardly, even creepily personal with disgraced Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and her husband, Billy Evans.
One cold email started it all
The documentary would never have happened without one cold email sent around six years ago that connected Oppenheim and Fielder, the two filmmakers behind the hit.
Oppenheim mastered cold emails
In a Vulture interview, Oppenheim revealed he is apparently a master of the cold email, a strategy he used as a teenager to reach out to filmmakers.
Fielder was famous for Nathan for You
In two thousand twenty, when Oppenheim sent the email, Fielder was famous for Nathan for You, his offbeat, often cringe inducing series on Comedy Central about helping small businesses.
Oppenheim had made Some Kind of Heaven
Oppenheim's biggest project at the time had been the documentary Some Kind of Heaven, which examined life at The Villages, the Florida retirement community.
The playful opening message
Oppenheim told Vulture that when he heard Fielder only made it through sixty percent of his doc, he reached out to playfully let him know there was another forty percent he missed.
Fielder replied warmly that day
Fielder replied warmly that day, explaining to Oppenheim that he actually enjoyed several aspects of the film and could not remember why he stopped a little more than halfway along.
They became friends and plotted
From there, the two became friends and started plotting their eventual collaboration. After attending an L.A. magic show together, Holmes's name was brought up.
Holmes approached A twenty four
Oppenheim revealed to Fielder that he had heard the tech founder had just approached the film company A twenty four about producing a documentary about her life.
Holmes was a recluse since sentencing
Given that Holmes had been somewhat of a recluse since her highly publicized two thousand twenty two fraud case and sentencing, rarely giving interviews or public access, the possibility intrigued them.
They filmed before prison
Less than two weeks later, they started filming Holmes and her family in a Del Mar, California, beach rental thirty four days before the Theranos founder would report to prison.
Cold email power in any industry
Oppenheim did not even have a project in mind when he emailed Fielder. He simply knew he wanted to connect with Fielder, whose work he admired, without firm expectations.
Cold emailing works across fields
Regardless of industry, cold emailing can be a smart and savvy approach to networking, securing new job leads, and getting projects rolling. That first point of contact matters.
People avoid cold emails despite benefits
Yet people avoid doing it all the time. It can feel awkward, risky, uncomfortable, and pushy to send an unsolicited message to someone you admire.
At a glance
A cold email from filmmaker Lance Oppenheim to Nathan Fielder in 2020 led to their collaboration on You Can See Everything, a documentary about Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes that is breaking box office records and generating Oscar buzz.
