A film by Alison Grasso
Starring Rich Myers
Amy Myers
Ryan Lake
Tom Chambers
Kate Mirza
Rachel Robson
Rebecca Masson
Cailyn Rodriguez
Huw Jones
Joe Meegan & Imoje Aikhoje
Milan Vranic & Colin Miller
Eric Schwalbe
Six Missing
TJ Dumser
Associate Producers
Camera Assistants
Colorist
Original Music
Re-recording Mix
Featuring
HOPE YOU FAIL
HOPE YOU FAIL
When Rich Myers’ newly-rebooted Leeds dessert shop "Get Baked" gets busted by Trading Standards for the use of illegal American sprinkles, it’s an opportunity for him to leverage his loyal social media following and make a grab for viral fame. He gladly creates an online uproar with frenzied social media posts, dubbing the scandal #Sprinklegate. But while the story gets global attention and propels the business forward, Rich continues to live in the shadow of his previous defeats. Hope You Fail is a 20-minute documentary that takes a deeper look at a fluffy viral moment by examining the real person behind a small business, what compels their obsession with rainbow sprinkles, and the anxieties resulting from prior failures that inevitably color their future.
The Trailer
Meet Rich
Richard “Rich” Myers is the owner of Get Baked, a dessert shop based in Headingley, Leeds. He claims to know very little about social media, yet has built a loyal cult following on Facebook and Instagram.
About the Director
Alison Grasso is an award-winning filmmaker with a strong background tackling food subjects and larger-than-life characters.
Much of her work focuses on the relationship between people, places, and products, centering on themes of community, identity, and belonging. With over a decade of experience as an editor at some of New York City’s top post-production companies, Alison’s style and sensibility combines appealing commercial visuals with intimate, human stories that go beyond the sale.
Her short documentary film about brash, Brooklyn-based bakers The Robicellis won “Best Made in New York” at the New York Food Film Festival in 2013. Subsequently her film “Volcano Bread” was awarded “Best Super Short” at the New York Food Film Festival in 2016, was exhibited at the Alimentarium Food Museum in Sweden, and has over 180k views on YouTube.
Alison holds a BFA in Film & TV Production from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts and an MA in Documentary Filmmaking from Goldsmiths University of London.
Director’s Statement
In many ways, the story of Sprinklegate felt like it was mine to tell. Despite being an American who had never even been to Leeds before embarking on this project, the elements of the story touch on so many subjects that compel me: notions of social media persona vs gritty reality, the effects of devastating personal failure/loss, the fleeting glory of viral fame, and of course, the politics of American vs British rainbow sprinkles. As someone who has always loved colorful subjects and food in particular, I was thrilled to approach this sprinkly topic first at surface level, but then, to get to know the complicated human being who was willing to throw the world's biggest internet tantrum over his beloved sweets.