Brainstorm Media has acquired North American rights to the social media thriller “American Sweatshop,” starring Lili Reinhart, TheWrap can exclusively reveal. The film, which premiered at SXSW, marks the feature directorial debut of Emmy-nominated filmmaker and cinematographer Uta Briesewitz (“Severance”) and will be released later this year.
Written by Matthew Nemeth (“City on a Hill”), “American Sweatshop” follows Daisy Morris (Reinhart), a young woman working in the world of online content moderation. Alongside a team of co-workers, she spends her days reviewing harmful and disturbing media uploaded to social platforms. When one violent video takes hold of her, Daisy becomes obsessed with uncovering its origin, leaving the safety of her screen behind and descending into a dangerous real-world mystery.
The cast of the film also includes Daniela Melchior (“Road House”), Josh Whitehouse (“Daisy Jones and the Six”) and Joel Fry (“Game of Thrones”). The movie marks Briesewitz’s first feature as a director after steering standout episodes of “Stranger Things,” “Severance,” “Black Mirror” and “Westworld.”
“’American Sweatshop’ is a timely thriller that taps into our collective anxieties about the digital world and the unseen labor behind it,” said Michelle Shwarzstein, CEO of Brainstorm Media, in a statement. “Lili Reinhart delivers a raw and captivating performance, and Uta Briesewitz brings a sharp vision to her first feature film. We’re excited to partner with this extraordinary team to bring the film to North American audiences.”
“To view a playful meme on a social media platform is just as easy as viewing the most violent images nobody should ever be exposed to. Who is protecting us from that content and what is the price people pay who try to do that job?” Briesewitz added. “I was intrigued to portray this unusual profession of a content moderator, a job that has to be done by humans because AI lacks the ability to suffer. These places of content moderation can be seen as a Petri dish experiment, showing us what the darkest corner of the internet will do to our souls. And why are we still watching?”
The film is produced by Anita Elsani (“Operation Napoleon”), Uta Briesewitz, Jason Sosnoff (“The Wizard of Lies”), Barry Levinson (“Rain Man”) and Tom Fontana (“Monsieur Spade”). Executive producers include Matthew Nemeth, Lili Reinhart, Catherine Hagedorn, Joanna Plafsky, Michelle Schwarzstein, Kirk D’Amico, Trish Vasquez, Alex Peters, Sean McGuinness, Mark Axelowitz, Remi Alfallah, Noor Alfallah, Andreas D. T. Nolte, Lesley Neary and Alexandra Neary.
