Nat Geo Takes Us to the Dawn of the Computer Age in “Valley of the Boom”

Sitting next to one of the stars of the series Steve Zahn we talked about his bizarre conartist character Michael Fenne which allowed the actor to go over the top amp160This series which takes viewers to the notsodistant past when the internet was in its infancy uses documentary interviews with the real people instrumental in developing and launching the web amp160Those are woven in with dramatic scenes featuring Zahn Bradley Whitford Get Out The West Wing and Lamorne Morris Game Night New Girlamp8220To me itamp8217s like you know how a bill becomes a law is really boring but then they give you School House Rock and a catchy tuneamp8221 Zahn said amp160amp8220This is like an adult School House Rock and explains something not interesting and makes it really entertainingamp8221In a vast dining hall one flight up from the indoor pool in what was once Heidi Klumamp8217s living room in a nondescript from the street anyway Soho townhouse a few dozen people dined on Japanese hamachi crudo salmon and berries and creamamp160 They also had a taste of what this very different series will coveramp8220Itamp8217s not exactly what you would expect to see on National Geographic which is why Valley of the Boom is a very big swing for usamp8221 Bernstein said amp160amp8220One of the worldamp8217s greatest innovations was created by a bunch of geniusesamp8221amp160 Among them is the softspoken Stephan Paternot who while chatting on the terrace before the luncheon explained that he was the cofounder of TheGlobecom often described as Facebook before there was Facebookamp160 Paternot is pictured at top left with Zahn Morris and Whitfordamp8220I lived the story but it was sufficiently trippy seeing meamp8221 Paternot said of lookalike actor Dakota Shapiro The Affair amp160amp8220Dakota is uncannily similaramp8221Paternot heard through friends in the film industry that Nat Geo was casting for a amp8220Stephan Paternot typeamp8221 and immediately realized amp8220This was happening with or without meamp160 They asked me to come in for a documentary interview and I asked if I could reread my bookamp8221 he addedamp160 Although he naturally lived through all of this the events depicted in the series happened in the early and mid amp821690s and Paternot needed to review his own accountamp8220As long as we donamp8217t end up in a Turkish prison I am okay with itamp8221 Paternot said amp160amp8220What struck me the most is the timing amp160Anyone who helped build the internet knows it has to be reinvented amp160We are all experiencing overload with itamp8221Telling how the web spread as a straight narrative whether in dramatic or documentary form was a challenge amp160Even toggling between the real people and dramatic reenactments was not enough So showrunner Matthew Carnahan House of Lies has Morris consistently break the fourth wall Thereamp8217s also an old school hiphop singoff in an otherwise staid business meetingThis clearly is not your grandfatheramp8217s National GeographicAs of now Carnahan who was seated opposite me and is still ruing not being able to buy a former gas station in Bushwick about 20 years ago what would it be worth now wondered if this would be a oneanddone series or if it would continue amp160He created the six episodes so they tell a complete story but he noted this could be seen as Valley of the Boom 10 and next year could be 20amp8220The attempt was to make something that set out to be disruptiveamp8221 Carnahan said amp160amp8220As the innovators the work they were making obviously they were geniuses and changing the way we live our lives day to day amp160I am not under the illusion that we are doing thatamp8221The showrunner is the first to acknowledge amp8220Itamp8217s an odd amalgamation comedy music drama rap and so on and mixing scripted and unscriptedamp8221Frankly dramatizing the browser wars isnamp8217t the sort of topic that makes people automatically break into song so it made sense for the network to go a bit rogue to push furtheramp8220Itamp8217s a wonderful provocative and strangely timely showamp8221 Bernstein said urging everyone to watch the full six hours amp8211 which she noted is not really six hours because of commercials amp160amp8220It has a beginning middle and end and ties everything together in a messy complicated bowamp8221Click the social buttons above or below to share this content with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writersamp160amp160

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Nat Geo Takes Us to the Dawn of the Computer Age in “Valley of the Boom”

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Jacqueline Cutler

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Nat Geo Takes Us to the Dawn of the Computer Age in “Valley of the Boom”

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Jacqueline Cutler

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