A FILM BY MARCUS VETTER AND STEFAN TOLZCINEMATOGRAPHY SYLVIO CLAUSSNER THOMAS RIEDELSHEIMER HOLGER SCHÜPPEL DIETER STÜRMER EDITING ANNETTE MUFF MARC SCHUBERT STEFAN TOLZ SASKIA METTEN LOCATION SOUND THOMAS SCHWARZ MARCUS VETTER MUSIC PAUL SHIGIHARA SOUND DESIGN MARILYN JANSSEN RE-RECORDING MIX TOM DOKOUPIL LINE PRODUCER MARKUS BREIMAIER

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER STEFAN TOLZ COMMISSIONING EDITORS HANS-ROBERT EISENHAUER THOMAS SCHREIBER DEVELOPED IN COOPERATION WITH DISCOVERY CAMPUS MASTERSCHOOL AND WITH THE SUPPORT OF A GERD RUGE SCHOLARSHIP ASSOCIATE PRODUCER FILMPERSPEKTIVE, MARCUS VETTER PRODUCER BY FILMQUADRAT IN CO-PRODUCTION WITH ZWEITES DEUTSCHES FERNSEHEN (ZDF)

NORDDEUTSCHER RUNDFUNK (NDR) AND IN COOPERATION WITH ARTE WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF TÉLÉVISION SUISSE ROMANDE (TSR) AND SBS AUSTRALIA SUPPORTED BY FILMSTIFTUNG NORDRHEIN-WESTFALEN, GERMAN FEDERAL FILM BOARD (FFA), FEDERAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONER FOR CULTURE AFFAIRS AND THE MEDIA (BKM)

www.tradersdreams.com

“Our uniquely human passion for barter and trade is what sets us apart from the rest of the animal kingdom.” Ebay Bible, page 3

– a

PRESS REVIEWS

„Vetter and Tolz give us intimate impressions from the homes of the dreamers who auction, and take an investigative look into the not at all dreamy business conduct of e-auction moguls. The high entertainment value of ‚Traders‘ Dreams‘ clearly comes from the careful choice and sensitive observa-tion of the people it portrays – including some whimsically comical situations.“ kulturjournalist.de

„In their search for the nation- and culture-transcending phenomena eBay, documentary fi lmmakers Marcus Vetter and Stefan Tolz took off on a trip around the world. Every-where they went, they encountered people looking to fulfi ll their dreams, large and small, through eBay – with varying degrees of success... ‚Traders‘ Dreams‘ exposes the dream of a system without losers as a pretty chimera. More than any-thing, eBay‘s marketing power is the reason many choose to continue believing in prosperity as a self-made entrepreneur. But – as the fi lm‘s examples show – even with eBay, success cannot be planned. (...)Vetter and Tolz create tension by cleverly juxtaposing scenes showing an eBay community driven by euphoria and the de-sire for action with the everyday experiences of other eBay users. On the one hand, we fi nd intoxication and a seemingly untainted bliss, and here in reality a diffi cult struggle sur-rounding every action and every sale. Two worlds, and both of them are eBay.“ Programmkino.de

TRADERS‘ DREAMS – A journey into the eBay WorldA fi lm by Marcus Vetter, Stefan Tolz

CINEMATOGRAPHY SYLVIO CLAUSSNER, THOMAS RIEDELSHEIMER, HOLGER SCHÜPPEL, DIETER STÜRMER – EDITING ANNETTE MUFF, MARC SCHUBERT, STEFAN TOLZ, SASKIA METTEN – LOCATION SOUND THOMAS SCHWARZ, MARCUS VETTER – MUSIC BY PAUL SHIGIHARA – SOUND DESIGN MARILYN JANSSEN – RE-RECORDING MIX TOM DOKOUPIL – LINE PRODUCER MARKUS BREIMAIER – EXECUTIVE PRODUCER STEFAN TOLZ – COMMISSIONING EDITORS HANS-ROBERT EISENHAU-ER, THOMAS SCHREIBER – PRODUCER BY FILMQUADRAT – IN CO-PRO-DUCTION WITH ZWEITES DEUTSCHEN FERNSEHEN (ZDF), NORDDEUTSCHER RUNDFUNK (NDR) – IN COOPERATION WITH ARTE – WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF TÉLÉVISION SUISSE ROMANDE (TSR), SBS AUSTRA-LIA – SUPPORTED BY FILMSTIFTUNG NORDRHEIN-WESTFALEN, GERMAN FEDERAL FILM BOARD (FFA), FEDERAL GOVERNMENT COMMISSIONER FOR

CULTURE AFFAIRS AND THE MEDIA (BKM)GERMANY 2007, 83 MIN, COLOR, 1:1,85, DOLBY DIGITAL

© 2007 FILMQUADRAT GMBH

Scotland, Isle of Skye

Kathie Campell and her dog Brandy, Isle of Sky

The Isle of Skye – situated off the west coast of Scotland, known as Eilean a’Cheò in Gaelic, or the „Island of Mist.“ The island‘s capital is Portree; its highest elevation is the 993-meter-high Sgurr Alasdair. Of its roughly 10,000 inhabitants, a large portion still speaks Scottish Gaelic.

Great Britain, where eBay has been in existence since 1999, is eBay‘s third largest market following the USA and Germany. In 2006, eBay users in Britain totaled 11.5 million, a range representing 42.3% of all active Internet users in January of that year. The total number of products offered for sale on eBay.co.uk consistently exceeds 3 million.

Every third British Internet user visits the eBay portal at least once a month and browses through an average of 280 offers over the course of two hours. That means that British people spend more time on eBay than going to the cinema. In 2004, sales of products via eBay ac-counted for $3.7 billion in total revenues.

CONTENT SUMMARY

The world as a global department store: five astounding stories from different corners of the globe, stories of win-ners and losers, of trading and hoping, of success and promise – and an illuminating expedition into the heart of eBay headquarters...

More than 200 million people use eBay, the largest Internet auction house worldwide. Each day, hundreds more join those ranks, ready to change their lives and find happiness in the world of virtual commerce.

Filmmakers Marcus Vetter and Stefan Tolz spent more than a year observing people in their attempts to fulfi ll their eBay dreams: in Borna in Saxony, Germany, on the Isle of Skye in Scotland, in a village in the Mexican desert – the idea of a di-rect marketplace where anyone can buy and sell at anytime is popular throughout the world.

In California, we meet „Uncle Griff,“ the legendary host of the eBay Radio Show and author of the eBay Bible, who embodies the PR strategy of the concern like nobody else. The camera follows Griff during eBay Live, the annual world congress of the „community“ and thus provides an informative look behind the scenes. In Hangzhou on the east coast of China, a successful businessman named Jack Ma and his company Alibaba have already eclipsed the Chinese division of eBay – and now he wants to compete with the Americans on the world market.

„Traders’ Dreams“ interweaves personal eBay stories with a global fi nance thriller in a surprising and entertaining fash-ion. It‘s about the philosophy behind the „eBay system“ and how eBay effects the future of the trading business globally. How close are we to realizing the phenomenal dream of a system in which everyone can win?

“If you’re a dealer, and I’ve been a dealer all my life, I buy and sell all my life, you got to fi nd an outlet-and here it is! There is no use having a shop. You don’t need a shop. There is 10 Million people registered with eBay in the UK. If you have 10 Million people you can present your items to, you know…that’s fi ne. This is evolution. You either go with it, or you get left behind. I’m not a dinosaur. I go with it.” Spike, Powerseller

DREAMSDREAMSDREAMSTraders‘

– a

listing items on eBay, Borna, Saxony

Spike and Archie, Isle of Skye

SYNOPSIS

„Traders‘ Dreams“ tells the story of people from different countries who change their lives in order to become rich and happy through the worldwide fever for Internet auctions. By doing so, they are responding to the promises of an American company that turns local fl ea markets into global businessand which sells it‘s expansion strategy as the economic de-mocratization of the world: The power of all of us.

In Germany, Scotland and Mexico – with detours to corporate headquarters in China and the USA – Filmmakers Marcus Vetter and Stefan Tolz observe individuals in their attempts to realize their own eBay dreams.

Their experiences, their defeats and their successes form the basis of a surprising and entertaining journey of discovery into the seemingly boundless universe of worldwide Internet commerce.

Many New Economy ideas have vanished as quickly as the dotcom companies that spawned them. eBay, on the other hand, has not only survived but has grown steadily to be-come a billion-dollar corporation and the world‘s biggest In-ternet auction house. Today, more than 200 million people use the company‘s colorful portal as a trading platform. The fascination eBay inspires spans every culture.

And though some of us only know it as a fl ea market or col-lector‘s forum, for many it long ago became a way of life. Through perfect marketing, eBay has already persuaded half a million people worldwide to create an existence for them-selves as so-called Powersellers. Each day, hundreds of small business enterprises join those ranks, hoping to achieve hap-piness with eBay. They do so at their own risk; only eBay itself is guaranteed profi ts through its insertion fees.

The Thurm family in the city of Borna in Saxony, Germany, attempts to establish a new business idea in the face of un-employment: They start an Internet agency to auction prod-ucts from small local businesses on eBay. They attend eBay seminars, consult tips from the Online University, work out business plans and test packing materials. The family‘s sons don‘t always agree with their parents, but together, they al-ways fi nd a solution – whether it‘s for the costume shop or the basket of regional products. Now they are wondering if all their patient work, the countless telephone calls and all the new product ideas will pay off for them in the not too distant future...

On the Scottish Isle of Skye, Powerseller Spike spends nights at his computer, buying and selling on eBay – it‘s simultane-ously a hobby and a job on the side. Archie Campbell, who runs a nearby Bed & Breakfast, spends his leisure time lov-ingly sketching ships and ocean vessels. Could he perhaps earn money with his hobby through eBay? How much could he get forsuch a picture? Spike offers his advice, but Archie‘s wife Kathie remains skeptical. Letter carrier Jo Wade prefers

eBay has never had a real competitor. So for us it’s like a sport, it’s like playing against Michael Jordan. There is a saying in Chinese: Know yourself and know your competitor. We know ourselves and we know

eBay. eBay knows itself but they don’t know us.Porter Erisman, Pressechef alibaba.com

Jack Ma, Alibaba / Taobao

With over 120 Internet users, China is the second largest and most dynamic Internet market in the world. The leader in the fi eld of online auctioning is Alibaba‘s Tao-bao platform. eBay, which was only able to reach around 3% of Chinese Internet users, closed its own portal in China at the end of 2006 and has since been cooperating with Chinese Internet service provider Tom Online.

In the late 1990s, Jack Ma used a loan of $2000 to found his fi rst Internet company, China Pages. In 1999, he started the B2B online marketplace Alibaba.com and in 2003 an auction platform called Taobao, developed with eBay as a model. In 2005, Yahoo bought a 40% share of Alibaba for one billion dollars; its Chinese business was then absorbed by the Chinese company. Today, Alibaba has more than 15 million customers worldwide. Its online payment system Alipay is the most successful one in China. Jack Ma‘s private assets are estimated to be 500 million Swiss francs.

China, East Coast

Taobao-Callcenter, China

Jack Ma, CEO of Alibaba.com

Jack Ma, eBay‘s maiin competitor in China

to travel to the mainland twice a year to do her shopping, but she‘s curious about eBay nonetheless: after all, the number of packets being sent to the Isle of Skye has increased dra-matically...

In the village of Mata Ortiz in the desert of northern Mexico, people‘s main source of income is pottery – their ornate vases are a big sales hit on eBay in the United States. Larry Deming from Tularosa is the most successful Powerseller in this fi eld and he drives regularly from house to house to pick up his orders.

Recently, telephone lines were installed in Mata Ortiz. Now, the artists are considering selling the vases themselves through eBay. But how do you start such a project? Who will run the website? The potters of Mata Ortiz don‘t have to wait very long for enterprising advisors...

Borna, Isle of Skye, Mata Ortiz: Everywhere, the „Spirit of eBay“ – the classic American Dream that says that anyone can make it if he wants to – is inspiring hopes and ideas. Jim Griffi th embodies this philosophy like nobody else. As one who was there from the beginning and the popular host of the eBay Radio Show, „Uncle Griff“ sits at the very heart of eBay headquarters in California, right next to the company‘s top executives. He is author of the eBay Bible, the bestsell-ing handbook for the eBay community. Griff is the face of a perfect world that is styled down to the minutest detail, a massive marketing concept with which eBay promises not only fi nancial success, but also human warmth and inner fulfi llment...

And yet the eBay empire is in jeopardy: In China, Alibaba – the Internet company of shrewd business manager Jack Ma – joined forces with eBay competitor Yahoo and is taking on eBay in a fi erce price war. After already being forced to withdraw from the Japanese market a few years ago, eBay is also threatened with defeat in the fastest growing of all territories. Alibaba may present this bitter competition as the brave fi ght of David versus Goliath – but it has already be-come an unpredictable power itself...

What is behind global commerce on the Internet? What is dream and what is reality? What are the realistic chances and what is mere marketing? Marcus Vetter and Stefan Tolz have created a fi lm that is as illuminating as it is entertain-ing, a fi lm about a current phenomena that spans our globe, a phenomena in which appearances are constantly colliding with reality.

AROUND THE GLOBE

Stefan Tolz We were attracted to the challenge of fi nding a way to tell a story about this popular topic and turn it into a gripping fi lm. We didn‘t want „Traders’ Dreams“ to be a fi lm for computer freaks. We set out to describe human experi-ences that touch you emotionally. Our aim was to create a parable about globalization and the colorful world of eBay, which has been exported from America into more than 30 different countries. We wanted to see what was behind the promise eBay is spreading, behind the hopes and the dream of wealth and happiness. We wanted to investigate this around the globe by taking this „toy“ called eBay which is „played with“ all over the world and which may stand for completely different things in different countries.

SIGNS OF THE TIMES

Marcus Vetter For me, the euphoria surrounding eBay is a phenomenon typical of our times. A lot of people suddenly be-lieve in the possibility of fulfi lling their dream of independence through eBay. In Germany, the idea of using eBay to start a successful new business is so widespread that employment offi ces have even offered programs to help get these forms of self-employment off the ground. But is it really that simple? What consequences does it have? With the different stories in our fi lm, we were attempting to put this complex subject together like a puzzle.

For example, our Mexico story is about how the potters of Mata Ortiz produce these beautiful handmade vases. But what is a fair price? In the end, trading in these vases is much more lucrative than the laborious production, i.e. than the artistic process. Should the artisans now become trad-ers themselves? What are the consequences when actually making things is no longer lucrative and everyone is only in-terested in doing business? The fi lm poses these questions, without pretending to have the ultimate answers. Instead, we want to inspire people to go on thinking about it and asking questions.

PROTAGONISTS

ST We met the Thurm family from Borna in Saxony while we were researching the project at an eBay event. Initially, it wasn‘t clear if they were going to carry on with the Power-seller idea. For that reason, we did further video casting at eBay seminars. But in the end, no one couldn‘t beat the hon-est and open demeanor of the Thurms. When they fi nally got started with eBay, it was clear that we would include them in the fi lm.

When looking for a story „from the end of the world“ we found out about this toy museum on the Isle of Skye. They‘d suffered a disastrous fi re and had bought their newer exhib-its on eBay. During my visit, I also met the neighbors: Pow-erseller Spike, Joe the letter carrier and Archie and Kathie Campbell, who ran the Bed & Breakfast where I stayed.

Mexico, Mata Ortiz

DREAMS OF WEALTH AND HAPPINESSStefan Tolz and Marcus Vetter talk about their fi lm

Larry Deming, Tularosatrader.com

Macario, artist from Mata Ortiz

„We Mexicans should join together and sell directly from here! Direct from the potter to the gringo. You’re almost sure to sell on eBay, especially if you sell in other countries, too. The only thing is, you have to pay to list things on eBay. Even if you don’t sell them, you have to pay. They take it from your account. You can’t avoid paying.”Ruben and Macario, potters

Macario, artist from Mata Ortiz

With its online portal MerdacoLibre.com, eBay is present in 12 Latin-American countries, where it has 18.7 million registered users. In 2006, 50% of revenue from sales of products was generated in Brazil.

In Mata Ortiz, pottery dates back to a people called Paquimé, who disappeared mysteriously around the year 1400 A.D. Extensive ruins and numerous shards and other highly developed ceramics have been found in the deserts of northern Mexico. During the 1970s, a young Mexican named Juan Quezada conducted experiments with mixtures of clay and volcanic ash on the basis of the archeological fi nds, and painted his ceramics in the style of the Paquimé. Spencer MacCallum, an amateur anthropologist, became aware of Quezada‘s pottery. He arranged exhibitions and sales in the USA and later also in Canada, Japan and Europe.

Today, nearly 400 potters work in Mata Ortiz. eBay has become the most signifi cant trade platform for the vases and ceramics made in Mata Ortiz, although nearly all of the business is conducted through distributors from the United States.

When Archie and Kathie heard about my research, they want-ed my opinion about whether Archie should try to sell his drawings of ships on eBay. It stood to reason that he should ask his friend Spike about this. And with that, we had the beginnings of a story...

We found out about Mata Ortiz in Mexico because their pot-tery-making was described in an eBay company video as a perfect example of how eBay can help people in the Third World. The headline was „Economic Democracy.“ But when we arrived in Mexico in the spring of 2005, we discovered that all of the vases that were being sold on eBay were of-fered through middlemen from the United States at a consid-erable profi t margin. So it wasn‘t the kind of direct sales the marketing fi lm had suggested. In his preliminary research, Marcus Vetter had become acquainted with potters Macario and Ruben, who were very interested in selling on the Inter-net. It was only natural to fi nd out together with them if it would work. The fact that Larry Deming, an American Pow-erseller specializing in the vases, turned up while we were shooting, was a stroke of luck for us.

MONTAGE

MV Editing this fi lm was the biggest challenge. Very quick-ly, we had fi ve separate stories, each of which functioned wonderfully on its own. But when we tried telling each story one after the other, we realized very quickly that it wouldn‘t work. At that point, we began months of detailed work on the complicated process of interweaving the stories in such a way that together, they would form a whole: How one com-pany set out to make the world happy with its philosophy – „Anyone can become a trader and be the master of his own fate.“ And how this promise affected the people: Were the dreams and hopes they had invested in eBay fulfi lled, or were they faced with a sobering reality in the end?

BARGAIN HUNTING

ST During preproduction, we watched all kinds of reports and spots about eBay and determined that the usual „browse-buy-and-sell“ approach leads nowhere. Almost everyone knows an eBay story, a story of being cheated, an incredible bargain, or a lucrative sale. But in our fi lm, we wanted to show a story with a development behind our protagonists. For us, it was about the eBay idea, about the philosophy be-

hind it. These are aspects not everyone knows about. In the case of the Thurms, it‘s not about making one great sale, but about trying to make a living through eBay. There‘s a lot at stake. Ideas and slogans like „eBay makes the world a better place“ or „people in pursuit of a dream“ were the points that guided us, points where we could create tension and track developments.

„It‘s not an easy situation. Our careers came to a halt. We were thrown out of a normal working life with a secure job at an age at which we have practically no chance of re-establishing ourselves. We then took

a little time to fi nd out what we could do in such a situation. As for eBay... we knew that such a thing existed but didn‘t really know how it works.“ Konrad Thurm, new business founder

EBAY’S REACTIONS

ST At eBay, you have to distinguish between those who were there at the beginning and the new „powers“ within the corpo-ration. Even company founder Pierre Omidyar is now shielded by the PR department in the USA. When he appears pub-licly, it‘s usually with arranged questions and through eBay hosts. In that light, we must say that eBay Germany provided a great deal of support. We were allowed to conduct a video casting at an event in Potsdam, were permitted to fi lm at the eBay University in Dresden and were eventually admitted to eBay Live in California. Regarding China though, despite intercession from Germany, the American eBay headquarters

stonewalled and politely made it clear that we would not re-ceive any form of special access to eBay China.

ALIBABA AND THE CHINESE THIEVES

MV When eBay decides to develop a country that is still an untapped area on its corporate map, it sometimes swiftly buys the local competitor. Additionally, there is an attempt to copy the American eBay model as much as possible. But in China, this business model did not work. When eBay chose to maintain a low profi le regarding China, we became increas-ingly more interested in the story of Alibaba, eBay‘s biggest competitor in China.

At our fi rst meeting in Hangzhou, Porter Erisman, chief press offi cer at Alibaba, informed us that he had to travel to a press conference in Hong Kong the following day. Alibaba was plan-ning to announce that it would be offering its auction portal for free for another three years – this was designed to push eBay out of the Chinese market. We immediately changed our travel plans and fl ew to Hong Kong with him. Porter was very open; he even allowed us to shoot him that night in his hotel room while he was writing the press release announcing that Yahoo would be joining forces with Alibaba. Through Porter, we then had full access to Jack Ma.

This media war, ignited against eBay by its Chinese competi-tor, this declaration of war acts in „Traders’ Dreams“ like a thriller behind the stories of the various individuals. Perhaps one is initially pleased that someone is trying to put eBay in its place. But then it becomes clear that Alibaba, as a modi-fi ed Chinese copy of eBay, is just as profi t-oriented and wants just as much to be the world‘s market leader.

APPRAISAL

MV eBay expanded the principle worldwide that says the market determines an item‘s value, i.e. price. And everyone is invited to take part in this capitalist principle. But where are the limits? This question is expressed in the scene with Archie and Spike in Scotland. Spike so completely adheres to the eBay philosophy that he even suggests that Archie should make a smaller copy of his picture, so that it would be easier to sell and fi t better in people‘s living rooms. Spike, who has become a salesman through and through, thus brings Archie, an artist, into a very tough predicament.

Santa Claus costume with applicatios und bobble

Borna – located 30 km south of Leipzig, population 22,000. The lignite industry, which shaped the economy and the face of the landscape around Borna for over 100 years, was phased out after 1990 due to a lack of profi tability. Unemployment is high. Currently, the Helios Clinics are the region‘s largest employer.

Alando, the German forerunner of eBay, was purchased by eBay six months after it was founded for $43 mil-lion. As of February 2007, 68% percent of the German population over age 18 has Internet access (74% of men, 62% of women). In the eastern part of Germany, the percentage is slightly lower at 62%. In February 2007, there were over 18 million registered eBay users, which represents 51.7 % of all active Internet users in the population.

On average, the German visitor to eBay spends 2.11 hours a month on eBay. Thus, eBay accounts for 14.5 % of the total time spent online. In 2005, eBay Germany had an-nual revenues of $691 million.

Saxony, Borna

At the end of the fi lm, potter Macario sums up the dangers connected with trading in anonymity on the Internet from his standpoint: While eBay may have made it possible for his art to become known throughout the world, he nevertheless pre-fers it when his buyers observe him at work and truly learn to appreciate his art in this manner. He remains skeptical: „We‘ll see what progress brings us in the future. We only just learned how to use a telephone...“

COMPETITION

ST In an indirect way, Google has become the most signifi -cant competitor. Google, however, doesn‘t wish to harm its neighbor eBay because eBay is one of its biggest advertising customers. But by now, many successful eBay sellers have their own Internet shops and use platforms like Google to direct people to their shops rather than listing their products on eBay. In Europe, however, eBay has thus far had no reason to fear other platforms. There are exceptions, like Switzer-land, where eBay trails its competitor Ricardo. But in most countries, there are only small competing companies, and eBay holds the position as market leader.

In Europa hat eBay andere Plattformen bisher allerdings nicht

Through its partnership with Alibaba in China and its position as market leader in Japan, Yahoo has made it diffi cult for eBay to expand further. For that reason, eBay is currently focused more on consolidation and securing new business areas in the places it has been successful. In all probability, the auction platform eBay will increasingly turn into an inter-nationally active conglomerate whose company strategy will be determined by its shareholder value – and one day it may perhaps allow itself to be swallowed by a competitor such as Microsoft, Amazon or Google...

Family Thurm listing their fi rst item on eBay

Family Thurm, Borna: waiting for the fi rst offer

THE FILMMAKERS

MARCUS VETTER’s (*1967) previous feature documentary “My father, the Turk” won several international awards and was screened at the Joris Ivens Competition (IDFA) last year. His fi lm “The Tunnel” on a famous escape of East’s Germans through a legendary tunnel in Berlin in the 1950’s has been one of the best- bestselling German TV documentaries and last year was presented on The Sundance Channel in the U.S. Marcus has directed numerous prime time documentaries and received the Adolf Grimme Prize three times. He has a background of Economics and Media Communication with studies in Tübingen and Madrid.

FILMOGRAPHY Marcus Vetter (Selection)

2006 My father the turk (Co-director Ariane Riecker) PRIX EUROPE 2006, JORIS IVENS COMPETITION

IDFA 2006, GOLDEN GATE AWARD 20072004 The Battle for Bruckmann 2003 La Florida. Streets of the Duped NOMINATION FOR ADOLF GRIMME PREIS 20042002 Wargames2001 Broadway Bruchsal ADOLF GRIMME SONDERPREIS DES LANDES NRW 20022000 Where money grows - the story of EM-TV ADOLF GRIMME PREIS 2001 HERBERT QUANDT

WIRTSCHAFTSPREIS 2001, ERNST SCHNEIDER PREIS 2001

1999 The Tunnel ADOLF GRIMME PREIS 2000

DEUTSCHER FERNSEHPREIS 2000NOMINATION FOR PRIX EUROPA 2000

STEFAN TOLZ (*1966) has been working internationally as a fi lmmaker for many years. His feature documentary “On the Edge of Time” about remote communities in the Caucasus (IDFA 2001) won the Golden Gate Award at the San Francisco International Film Festival, the Grand Prix in Taiwan and was released theatrically in Germany. He studied fi lm directing in Munich and Georgia’s capital Tbilisi and has been teaching documentary fi lmmaking at various European fi lm schools. Also an experienced producer he recently received nomina-tion for the International Emmy for the TV series “The Search for Happiness”.

FILMOGRAPHY Stefan Tolz (Selection)

2004 Shibam – Manhattan of the Desert2003 Shomal – Riviera of the Mullahs2001 On the Edge of Time – Male Domains in the Caucasus JORIS IVENS COMPETITION IDFA AMSTERDAM 2001 GOLDEN GATE AWARD SAN FRANCISCO 2002 GRAND PRIZE TIDFF TAIWAN 2002 ECOCINEMA SPECIAL PRIZE ZAKYNTHOS 2002 NOMINATION FOR ADOLF GRIMME AWARD 20021999 Bosphorus1997 Faroe Islands NOMINATION FOR THE PRIX EUROPA 19981995 Goldhochzeit (Golden Wedding)1992 Caucasian Banquet1989 Power lies elsewhere (Co-director) GOLDEN FILMDUKAT INTERNATIONAL FILMFESTIVAL MANNHEIM 1989 PRIZE FOR THE BEST ENVIRONMENTAL FILM, MANNHEIM 1989

USA, San José

Stefan Tolz, Marcus Vetter

In 1995, Pierre Omidyar founded eBay, initially using the name auctionweb. Company headquarters are in San Josè, California. In its fi rst few years of operation, eBay's earnings doubled regularly and by 2006 had reached 1.12 billion dollars worldwide on total sales of 5.97 billion. According to company statistics, a digital camera is sold on eBay every 50 seconds in Germany, and each day 13 excavators are sold. 12.000 Powersellers and over 50,000 eBay shops are registered.

“The opportunity is equal for everyone. All they need to get in any particular geographic location is enough infrastructure so that you can turn on a computer and connect to the rest of the network around the world. Doesn’t matter how old you are, how educated you are or not educated, what country you live in, what race, what creed, what nationality, what your beliefs are, what your sexual orientation is, none of it matters.” Jim Griffi th (,Griff’), host of the eBay-Radio-Show and author of the ,eBay-Bible’

Macario, Ruben, Israel doing internet research in Mata Ortiz

Spike, Powerseller on the Isle of Skye

At the “eBay Live“ eBay fans talk int he “chatterbox“ about their experience

TRADERS‘ DREAMS

A FILM BY Marcus Vetter and Stefan TolzCINEMATOGRAPHY Sylvio Claußner, Thomas Riedelsheimer, Holger Schüppel, Dieter StürmerEDITING Annette Muff, Marc Schubert, Stefan Tolz, Saskia MettenLOCATION SOUND Thomas Schwarz, Marcus VetterRE-RECORDING MIX Tom DokoupilMUSIC BY Paul Shigihara

SECOND CAMERA Stefan Tolz, Nils Keber, Stefan Thissen, Marcus VetterPRODUCTION TEAM Sebastian Fünder, Nina Ludewig, Michele OwenPOSTPRODUCTION COORDINATOR Carina MergensSOUND DESIGN Marilyn JanssenMUSIC ENGINEERING Stephen BohnCOLOURIST Oliver Kenneke EXPOSURE CONTROL Norbert DziamborGRAPHICS Jörg NeißTRANSLATIONS Paul Bendelow, Vincent Abbate, Baige Hou, Marcela CanoPOSTPRODUCTION Whitehouse Studios, Sound Vision, ACT Videoproduktion, CinePostproduction Geyer KölnSUBTITLES Holland Subtitling

RESEARCH AND COLLABORATION

Anna Brass, Minh-Hang Ha, Kieran Hannigan, Maria Henoch, Jeroen van’t Hoofd, Mareike Lange, Chris Lawson, Isaiah Saxon, Emma Thomas

ACCOUNTANT Birgitta BruderLINE PRODUCER Markus BreimaierCOMMISSIONING EDITOR

Hans-Robert Eisenhauer (ZDF / ARTE) Thomas Schreiber (NDR)EXECUTIVE PRODUCER Stefan Tolz

DEVELOPED IN COOPERATION WITH Discovery Campus MasterschoolAND WITH THE SUPPORT OF Gerd Ruge scholarshipASSOCIATE PRODUCER Filmperspektive AND Marcus VetterPRODUCED BY Filmquadrat IN CO-PRODUKTION WITH ZDF AND NDR IN COOPERATION WITH ARTE AND WITH THE PARTICIPATION OF Télévision Suisse Romande (TSR). SUPPORTED BY Filmstiftung Nordrhein-Westfalen, FFA AND BKM.

© 2007 Filmquadrat, 83 MIN, color, 1:1,85, Dolby Digital

Borna, Saxony

China, East Coast

Isle of Skye, Scotland

San José, California

Mata Ortiz, Mexicowww.tradersdreams.com