Following the success of the Emmy Award-winning, Sundance and SXSW audience favorite Science Fair, National Geographic Documentary Films and filmmakers Cristina Costantini and Darren Foster are joining forces on the feature documentary Own the Room, which will premiere exclusively on Disney+ on March 12.
The doc chronicles five students from disparate corners of the planet as they take their budding business ventures to Macau, China, to compete in the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards. Santosh is from a small farming town in Nepal; Alondra works the register at her family’s bakery in Puerto Rico; Henry is a programming wiz from Nairobi; Jason is a marketing machine from Greece; and Daniela, an immigrant fleeing the crisis in Venezuela, is taking on the chemical industry from her lab at NYU.
Subscribe HERE to the FREE Media Play News Daily Newsletter!
In the film, each of the business hopefuls has overcome obstacles in pursuing their dreams, from hurricanes to poverty to civil unrest. As they represent their countries as the top student entrepreneurs, the high-stakes global finals are their opportunity to win worldwide attention and the $100,000 grand prize to make their life-changing business ideas a reality and transform the world.
The film is the second film from Costantini and Foster following Science Fair, which made its streaming debut on Disney+ last year. Additional Nat Geo Doc Films also streaming on Disney+ include the Oscar-winning and the most awarded film of 2017, Jane.
“Given the difficult time our world is facing, this enthusiastic and determined group of young entrepreneurs are a ray of hope for a better, brighter future,” Costantini and Foster said in a statement.
Carolyn Bernstein, EVP of Scripted Content and Documentary Films at National Geographic, said Own the Room showcases a trailblazing group of young innovators undeterred by societal issues in pushing boundaries to create a better world for generations to come.
“Their extraordinary work deserves our attention,” Bernstein said.