As filmmakers, we all stand on the shoulders of giants. No matter how original or visionary you think your work is, odds are, you’re re-hashing an idea used by a filmmaker (or two) who’ve also borrowed that same idea from another filmmaker’s work a half-century ago.
There are plenty of filmmakers exploring the blurred line between fiction and reality, but far fewer explore a much more interesting phenomenon: fiction that creates reality. The most iconic example being Orson Welles’ 1938 radio broadcast, “War of the Worlds,” which became instantly legendary for inspiring mass panic in listeners who didn’t realize the broadcast ⎯ a live reporting of a Martian invasion ⎯ was fake.
