4iP Blog

Jan Younghusband (Channel 4 Commissioning Editor for Arts) and I have been following closely the evolution of Ivo Gormley’s new film ‘Us Now’ and throwing a few thoughts into the pot along the way. ‘Us Now’ explores territory close to the heart of 4iP and I asked Ivo to explain briefly where he’s coming from with this work. There are two imminent opportunities to catch the film this month in London and talk about its themes (one as soon as tomorrow evening) - do get along to have a look if you have the chance, you’re bound to have an opinion…

Ivo Gormley: In a world in which information is like air, what happens to power?

I’m excited to be alive now because the abundance of information in the public domain, and the tools we use to transfer it, are starting to change many of the structures that dominated the 20th century.

My new film, Us Now, explores examples of transparent, self-organising groups who are achieving large-scale, complex results.

It follows the fate of Ebbsfleet United, a football club owned and run by its fans;  Zopa, a bank in which everyone is the manager; and Couch Surfing, a vast online network whose members share their homes with strangers.

There are many implications of these organisations for public services, as Sophia Parker says: “...public services are going to need to change the way in which they see people. They are going to need to find a way of tapping into people’s own resources. Then they are going to need to find ways of connecting people to support one another in the way that sites like NetMums do.”

I think this is the crux of what this change is about; citizens collaborating to create valuable, reliable systems of information and activity are starting to rival the capabilities of governments.  The film explores the ways that these networks operate and asks some leading thinkers in this field what they reckon it all means. 

There are two screenings coming up, one on 3rd December (tomorrow!) at the RSA which can be signed up for here.
And one at the Prince Charles cinema on 10th December which can be signed up for here.