The First Anniversary of 'The Coddling' Movie Journey
Thanks for a great year!
Dear Coddling Movie Community,
Today marks one year on Substack, over which time we’ve grown to nearly 10,000 subscribers. Thanks to all of you for helping spread our message of free expression, antifragility, and hope on Substack and beyond.
We’re especially grateful to our paid subscribers who helped make so many good things happen (see below!).
And remember, if you’d like to take advantage of my offer of an hour of complimentary consulting just become a paid subscriber by midnight tonight and then shoot me a private message.
You may choose one or both consulting options:
Should My Family Try Homeschooling?
The Dos & Don’ts of Independent Filmmaking
You may also transfer your complimentary consulting to a friend or family member.
I hope you enjoy this look back on the past year.
All the best,
Ted
The first-ever “Substack Presents” feature film attracted a raucous audience of 400 to its premiere in Beverly Hills.
Those who joined in on the fun included comedy legend John Cleese, Melanie Miller, Oscar-winning producer of Nevalny, public intellectuals such as Eugene Volokh and Peter Boghossian, and plenty of parents and students.
The evening also attracted executives from Netflix, CBS, the USC Annenberg School and elsewhere — for one night they opened up about what they can’t say at the office!
The Global Tour — 5 Countries, 60+ Locations
The Coddling movie has enjoyed enthusiastic receptions from audiences of all kinds, even in places where free speech is in retreat.
Harvard is, according to FIRE, the worst university for free speech.
So we were especially grateful when Prof. Steven Pinker invited us to Cambridge for a special event screening. Ours was the very first event held by a new organization called Harvard Undergraduates for Academic Freedom.
What was conceived as a nationwide campus tour has expanded into five countries and more than 60 locations including Harvard, Princeton, Cornell, Penn, Palo Alto, Duke, New York City, Pepperdine, USC, UCLA, CU Boulder, Vanderbilt, the University of Virginia, McGill University, the University of Toronto, and France’s Université d'Orléans.
Like our tour, our list of partner organizations keeps expanding and now includes: FIRE, Heterodox Academy, FAIR, Princetonians for Free Speech, Vanderbilt Free Speech Summit, Pepperdine Dialogue Dinners, Harvard Undergraduates for Academic Freedom, Cornell University’s Freedom & Free Societies Program, Classical Liberalism Initiative at Stanford University, Whig Clio, California State University System for Academic Freedom, Substack Inc., Blue Ridge Center, Benson Center, and Braver Angels.
What Public Figures Are Saying About ‘The Coddling’ Movie
“Excellent” (Prof. Steven Pinker, Harvard) … “Terrific,” (Michael Smerconish, CNN) … “Incredible” (Meghan Daum, The Unspeakable Podcast) … “Great. Important. Eye-opening” (Chris Gore, Film Threat) … “Much of Balaker’s documentary will feel like a revelation. Highly recommended,” (Joe Bendell, The Epoch Times) … “Has the power to awaken students and parents from this institutionalized nightmare” (Prof. Randy Wayne, Cornell University)
“An absolute must-see for every thinking human” (Prof. Matt Malkan, UCLA) … “Powerful and compelling. I hope millions of people get to watch it” (Prof. Ivan Marinovic, Stanford) … “Powerful” (Dean Pete Peterson, Pepperdine) … “Powerful and poignant. Should be required viewing for all high school students” (Charlotte Cunningham, psychologist) … “Powerful, engaging, and compelling” (Prof. Gerard Alexander, University of Virginia) … “Highly recommended” (Prof. Eugene Volokh, UCLA) … “An essential, thoughtful, and occasionally shocking expose” (Hollywood in Toto) … “Thoughtfully compelling” (Prof. Leigh Revers, University of Toronto) … “Fascinating, eye-opening, disturbing” (Short Redhead Reel Reviews) … “Particularly effective at reaching young people”(Prof. Jennifer Smith, Pepperdine) “My students and I had so many good conversations because of the film—thank you!” (Prof. Amna Khalid, Carleton College) …
“This is a fantastic film. Every single person in the United States should see it without exception”
(Prof.
, University of Austin)Want to Help Spread the Word About ‘The Coddling’ Movie?
Watch the movie on Prime Video, Apple TV, Google Play or Substack.
Rate and review it on those platforms and at Rotten Tomatoes and IMDB.
Ask your friends to do the same.
What Gen Zers are Saying About ‘The Coddling’ Movie
“I am not a victim. I am stronger than I was told.”
“We need to tell kids more stuff like this.”
“After seeing the destruction of lives around me—including very close friends—this film gives me hope and further inspires me to share this message.”
“The Coddling of the American Mind is a ‘must-see’ for anyone on the fence of leaving ‘wokeism’ or generally feeling lost while at college.” — Mia Saboga
“The movie has been incredible for me, letting me know I'm not alone. To reach Gen Z, we need to first pull them out of their bubbles. This is why The Coddling is so important. The scenarios the film described perfectly echoed my high school experience.” — Margo Margan
Spreading the Word — Earned Media
The Coddling Movie has been covered by many outlets including NBC’s TODAY Show, Ask Dr. Drew, Newsweek, CNN’s Michael Smerconish, The Free Press, Reason, The Harvard Crimson,
, National Post (Canada), John Stossel, Moms for Liberty, and Elon Musk.Watch Jonathan Haidt on The TODAY Show
Watch Ted & Courtney’s interview with Dr. Drew
Read Ted’s Newsweek opinion piece.
Making a Little History with Substack
and I made The Coddling movie to help an anxious generation find happiness. But that’s not our only goal. We also hope The Coddling movie will help pave the way for other dissident filmmakers to reach politically diverse audiences.
The entertainment industry is gripped by cowardice and conformity, and gatekeepers suppress many worthwhile projects that challenge their worldview. And it’s not just filmmakers who suffer.
Film lovers keep signaling that they want heterodox fare, but the entertainment industry is too timid to deliver. Gatekeepers’ cowardice and conformity may be frustrating, but it’s also an entrepreneurial opportunity.
Enter Substack.
Courtney and I met with Substack co-founders Chris Best and Hamish McKenzie, and delivered this pitch: Substack has liberated writers. Now it’s time to liberate filmmakers.
They embraced the pitch and the film.
They added new features to their platform and made The Coddling movie the very first “Substack presents” feature film. We told Best and McKenzie that if our experiment succeeded, it would help other dissident filmmakers connect with audiences who were hungry for something different.
Early indications are encouraging.
We’ve been contacted by many filmmakers, including an Emmy winner and an Oscar winner, who are eager to learn more about our Substack experiment.
We’ve spoken extensively with another prominent filmmaker who is preparing her Substack release, and our new project was hatched on Substack. Courtney and I are excited to be turning Rob Henderson’s bestselling memoir, Troubled, into a narrative feature (with actors).
Creating a Community
Our 10,000 Substack subscribers are a sharp, caring, and politically diverse bunch.
The community includes the guys who started it all,
and Jonathan Haidt, , , and Team Substack, our wonderful filmmaking partners and , on-screen subject Dr. Anthony Rodriguez, our talented regular contributors , , Katy McPherson of , , and , as well as so many others who contribute via posts, comments, and behind-the-scenes acts of generosity.Courtney and I are so grateful to all of you.
The community often helps those whose loved ones have fallen prey to the harmful worldview we address in the film.
Here’s how I began one post:
Dear Coddling Movie community,
Another mom reached out to me asking for help.
Her son (late 20s) used to be happy and well-adjusted, but then, during college, he became deeply involved in social justice activism and fell into depression and anxiety.
At that point, it became exhausting to talk to him as he would criticize others (for example, about misuse of pronouns) but resisted discussing his anxiety and depression.
She says it’s like he’s brainwashed or almost like he’s in a cult.
She thought he was just going through a phase, but the harmful worldview continued after college. She feels like her son is slipping away and doesn’t know what to do or how to reach him.
Our community provided warm encouragement and lots of excellent advice to the mom, who later thanked me profusely for the thread.
Substack is how another mom found ‘The Coddling’ movie, and here is what she wrote to me:
I watched the Coddling documentary with my 22 year old college-grad daughter and it had a huge impact on her. She had tears streaming down her face at one point.
As a psych major and women’s studies minor (not to mention someone who struggles with depression and anxiety) the film really spoke to her. She later chose the Coddling book for her book club of sorority sisters to read and at least a few of them really enjoyed it. I’m going to try my best to get my high school senior daughter to watch the film before she goes off to college next fall.
So many people are eager to continue the conversation, and we’re eager to keep spreading our message of antifragility, free speech, and hope.
Congratulations, Ted! Here's to another great year! :D
Congratulations on year one and thanks for being a pioneer