Oobah Butler
Documentary filmmaker and writer Oobah Butler returns to Channel 4 with two brand-new documentaries, "How I Made a Million in 90 Days" and "How to Trick Your Way onto the Property Ladder." Both documentaries, produced by Expectation, follow Oobah’s characteristic maverick approach to real issues affecting young people today.
"How I Made a Million in 90 Days" and "How to Trick Your Way onto the Property Ladder" are produced by Expectation in association with Oobah Limited for Channel 4. The Channel 4 Commissioning Editor is Tim Hancock. The Director is Daniel Lucchesi, the Series Producer is Jo Maney, Production Manager is Eleanor Gecks, and the Executive Producers are Oobah Butler, Tristan Cross, Daniel Lucchesi, and Ben Wicks.
"How I Made a Million in 90 Days" tells the incredible story of how Oobah Butler did just that. Setting himself the challenge of following in the footsteps of the many so-called business gurus who claim to hold the secrets to wealth, Oobah’s journey is a ride filled with unbelievable highs and crushing lows. Fully immersing himself in the world of investment and startups, Oobah meets a range of colourful and questionable characters who offer real insight into how value is created, as he tries to figure out how much of the entrepreneurial dream he’s being sold is legitimate — and how much of it is just hot air and delusional self-belief. Despite his overwhelming desire to rise to the challenge, Oobah also discovers the moment when his conscience screams: “Enough!”
In "How to Trick Your Way onto the Property Ladder," Oobah masterminds a range of stunts and tricks designed to get two young first-time buyers onto the increasingly elusive first rung of the property ladder – eventually achieving just that. Oobah’s unconventional approach explores how we got into this mess in the first place: with UK house prices typically nine times greater than average wages, and the widest wage-to-property disparity in over 150 years, how can today’s generation be expected to follow the conventional path to home ownership? And is it legal to hypnotise an estate agent into selling a house for a fiver?
They’re both big subjects that are pretty much unignorable at this moment in time: our increasing obsession with get-rich-quick and the super wealthy, and the housing crisis in the UK. The first one follows me trying to make a million pounds in 90 days, is shot predominantly in the US, and involves a lot of chaos, fascinating characters, hard lessons learned, and money.
The second lets me fulfil my dream and become Kevin McCloud by entering the world of property shows. In it, I try to solve the housing crisis in Britain, and help a couple in Liverpool try to get their first home. It’ll be great to see what everybody thinks of them. They’ve been so much fun for us to make.”
Tim Hancock, Channel 4 Commissioning Editor, highlighted the director's talent: “After the success of ‘The Great Amazon Heist,’ we’ve doubled down on Oobah’s brand of highly researched, deeply immersive television with two very different projects. Oobah bridges the divide between YouTube-ready stunts and long-form documentary making; resulting in highly unique, intelligent, funny, and frequently mindboggling results," expressed.
Ben Wicks, Creative Director of Entertainment at Expectation, emphasized Butler's satirical style: “Nobody gets more deeply immersed in the worlds he is satirising than Oobah Butler, which is why these films are so inventive, funny, and deeply eviscerating. Spending every waking minute for 90 days so thoroughly immersed in founder culture means Oobah’s attempt to make a million is the most devastating critique of late-stage capitalism you’ll see. His super-human determination to get just one couple onto the property ladder leads to such a thorough annihilation of housing policy in Britain, the only thing left to do is take a wrecking ball to it and use it as landfill. Oobah should now be rolled out to stress-test every area of modern life — for the good of humanity, and to keep it entertained," stated.
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