More than 100 entrepreneurs competing in the $1 million MassChallenge start-up competition, side-by-side in an unfurnished office with whiteboards for walls and sweeping views of Boston’s skyline, could be the recipe for a winning reality show.
So it’s only fitting that the Harvard Extension student documenting it all is a start-up filmmaker himself. Warren Anderson’s only exposure to filmmaking was a stint as a Hollywood stuntman.
“Being on set, I learned how production ran,” the former Northwestern University football player said. “The key is not intruding on functional companies. They have a business plan to stick to, and the key is to act as if you’re not there.”
The MassChallenge finalists received free office space in Fan Pier’s One Marina Park Drive and 20 winners will be awarded at least $50,000 apiece on Oct. 21.
“I’m living it with them,” said Anderson, 25, whose own start-up was a MassChallenge semifinalist. “I’ve done a few all-nighters. At 3 a.m. you see a light on in a cubicle where people are trying to get that last bit of code in.”
Tentatively titled “The Startup,” the footage will be edited to a one-hour pilot Anderson hopes will help secure funding to film next year’s MassChallenge.
