How Paul Kemp took his Bitcoin creator doc out of the shadows & onto screen

TBI’s new ‘Fact to Feature’ strand of articles delve into how factual filmmakers got their shows off the ground and onto screens. Here, Paul Kemp tells Mark Layton how he embarked on a global journey in an attempt to solve “the greatest mystery in technological history” for his upcoming CBC documentary.

For the past few years, Canadian director and producer Paul Kemp has been on a mission: to solve the disappearance of Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious figure who created Bitcoin.

It was not an easy task. While most might now have at least heard of the widespread cryptocurrency, little is known about the person who actually brought it into the world; even their name is a pseudonym.

After launching Bitcoin in 2009, the individual – or individuals – known as Satoshi Nakamoto disappeared in 2011, as the holder of an estimated one million Bitcoin that have never traded or moved from the blockchain.

The value of this cryptocurrency has gone from less than $0.01 in 2009 to – at the time of writing – roughly $26,500 per Bitcoin. And because there will only ever be 21 million Bitcoin in existence, a quantity built into the code, if its price keeps escalating then Satoshi Nakamoto could potentially become the richest person to ever walk on planet Earth.

Act One: Interest piqued

“When I heard of Bitcoin in 2009, 2010, 2011… it was in the media but I didn’t really know what it was. I thought it was like ‘Monopoly money’, that it was just some crypto-weirdness that I didn’t think had much staying power,” Kemp tells TBI.

Nobody knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is. All they know is that he could possibly be the richest person in the world in the years to come

Paul Kemp

“But as the decade went on, I started to realise that people were still working on this thing and the name, Bitcoin, was everywhere. I saw ATM machines selling Bitcoin, I saw vendors or stores accepting Bitcoin, so I started paying more attention to it.”

Kemp, the Canadian writer, director, producer and showrunner behind documentaries such as The Pretendians and The Rise Of Jordan Peterson, began looking into the cryptocurrency in more detail, soon hearing of the name Satoshi Nakamoto.

“Everyone who knows anything about Bitcoin realises he’s the greatest mystery in technological history, because nobody knows who Satoshi Nakamoto is. All they know is that he could possibly be the richest person in the world in the years to come, because he’s vanished. But no one has really asked the deeper questions about who he is and why he did this,” highlights Kemp.

His interest in the mystery thoroughly piqued, Kemp set out to get to the bottom of it himself, noting: “While there have been several attempts to uncover who Satoshi is, none of those stories kind of reached the level I would have hoped as a filmmaker. So, I went on my own journey to try to investigate this story.”

Paul Kemp

Act Two: The hunt is on

Bitcoin is a decentralized global currency, and fittingly, going in search of its creator required more than a little international legwork.

“I needed to get on a lot of planes; I needed to do a lot of interviewing,” says Kemp. “Throughout the making of this documentary I’ve been to the UK to uncover somebody who has claimed to be Satoshi. I’ve talked to people in Australia. I’ve been to Saipan, which is a US protectorate in the middle of the Pacific, where I uncovered some amazing evidence of who Satoshi might be. And, of course, I’ve been to Silicon Valley and the enormous Miami Bitcoin conferences.”

Kemp was doing more than just make a film, he was also playing detective, and came up with a shortlist of five names that could potentially be the mysterious Bitcoin creator.

“So the main candidates for Satoshi are currently Adam Back, a UK cryptographer; Hal Finney, a now deceased cryptographer who was deeply influential in creating digital currencies; a man named Wei Dai, he’s of Taiwanese descent and has been a cryptographer in the late nineties who had created some precursors to Bitcoin.

“There’s also a fellow by the name of Nick Szabo, who is a polymath. He’s written on all sorts of things from politics to economics, but also had the coding ability to possibly be Satoshi. Then there’s Craig Wright, a man who has claimed to be Satoshi for many years. Many people are not convinced that Craig is Satoshi – I got an interview with him and we discuss if he is [who he claims to be].”

Kemp acknowledges that the level of mystery surrounding Satoshi’s identity means that there is also the possibility that the elusive Satoshi is somebody that did not make their way on to his list. “Perhaps we’ll never know who it is.” And, as alluded to above, not all of Kemp’s strongest suspects are still alive, putting a rumple in his investigation.

“I found out a couple of the Satoshi suspects had actually passed away, so that made it very difficult to get them on camera, obviously. But I was also able to chat to a couple of them. Another agreed to go on camera and then kind of ghosted me after I chatted to him, so that was that was disappointing.

“But let’s not forget the fact that, ultimately, whoever Satoshi is, he’s gone to great lengths to be anonymous. He has covered his tracks – so if I’m phoning Satoshi and talking to him, he’s not going to tell me he’s Satoshi.”

Craig Wright

Act Three: Mission accomplished?

The 1 x 60-minute (or 1 x 90-minute) documentary will premiere on Canada’s CBC as part of its factual strand, The Passionate Eye, with All3Media International co-producing in association with Paul Kemp Productions and taking distribution rights.

Rachel Job, SVP of non-scripted at All3Media International, says she was quickly intrigued by the documentary. “I’d met Paul at various events over the years, and then earlier this year at Realscreen in Austin we started to discuss the project.

“He didn’t reveal too much other than it was about Bitcoin and was a detective story. The team was intrigued and once we had some more insight into what the documentary would cover it became clear it would be an attractive proposition to our international buyers.

“Most of the project funding plan was place and CBC were attached. Paul was clear about what was needed to greenlight the project, so we were able to move ahead quickly.”

Job sees a lot of international appeal for the film. “It’s an intriguing mystery, offers exclusive access into a digital world many people don’t understand but would like to how it works – and it addresses a fascinating and important question that hasn’t been addressed by mainstream media.”

While the film might now be ready for distribution, Kemp considers it to be “a detective story that’s still unravelling.” He adds that the doc was “constantly changing and evolving as I discovered new interviewees and new pieces of evidence,” but he is confident that his investigation has paid off and that he now knows who Satoshi’s identity.

“I went into this film not knowing who I thought Satoshi was. I had an idea that it could be probably three or four people. I was thrown for a loop on that and was forced to rethink my conclusions and look at the evidence that people were presenting to me.

“The deeper I did my research, I came up with different conclusions. In the documentary I have presented a character who I strongly believe is Satoshi. Maybe I’m wrong, but if so, I’d love my critics to prove why.”

Viewers will soon be able to decide for themselves whether Kemp has found the missing Bitcoin creator, and as for the filmmaker he says he has achieved what he set out to do.

“I wanted to create a documentary that reached a level I would have hoped for as a filmmaker, which I believe I have. I’ve traced a compelling story for the audience, I’ve come up with a creative way of delivering the story and I’ve been honest to the story and not scared to change my opinion.

“Making a fun and entertaining film, but also staying true to what I wanted to discover and create, with broad audience appeal (I hope), has definitely been rewarding.”