How the Heartwarming Story of 'Caine's Arcade' Spawned a Movement

More

When filmmaker Nirvan Mullick posted a video about 9-year-old Caine's homemade cardboard arcade, it became an instant viral sensation. The documentary has been viewed over six million times on YouTube and Vimeo since it went live in April 2012, but if you still haven't seen it you're in for a treat:

Since then , fans have donated more than $200,000 to Caine's college fund and shared videos of their own cardboard creations. Caine even spoke at the Cannes Lions advertising festival in France. Inspired by the response, Mullick and the team behind the original short launched the Imagination Foundation, to " find, foster, and fund creativity and entrepreneurship in kids." They've released a follow up video about the reaction to the video and their efforts with the foundation. Perhaps thanks in part to Mullick's background in advertising, the success of the documentary illustrates the power of a good story, when backed by social media, to move a massive audience. 

For more information about the film, visit http://cainesarcade.com/.

Jump to comments

Kasia Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg is a senior associate editor at The Atlantic. She curates the Video channel. More

Cieplak-Mayr von Baldegg's work in media spans documentary television, advertising, and print. As a producer in the Viewer Created Content division of Al Gore's Current TV, she acquired and produced short documentaries by independent filmmakers around the world. Post-Current, she worked as a producer and strategist at Urgent Content, developing consumer-created and branded nonfiction campaigns for clients including Cisco, Ford, and GOOD Magazine. She studied filmmaking and digital media at Harvard University, where she was co-creator and editor in chief of H BOMB Magazine.

Get Today's Top Stories in Your Inbox (preview)


Elsewhere on the web

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register. blog comments powered by Disqus

Video

Miami: The Next Big Start-Up City?

How the city became a center for innovation

Video

Video

A Brief History of Romantic Comedies

From The Atlantic's Chris Orr

Video

Life in 'the New Arctic'

A moving portrait of a fading landscape

Video

Video

The Rise of New York City

A fascinating look at Manhattan in the 1940s

Video

What Is Methane Hydrate?

"Flaming ice" is a vast natural energy source

Video

NASA's Time-Lapse of the Sun

Now with epic dubstep music

Video

Shaken Not Tuned: Cocktail Experiments

Can a tuning fork improve a cocktail?

Video

Video

Is He Cheating? A 1950s Guide

'That little blonde secretary from the office?’

Video

New Yorkers: Vintage Vacuum-Tube Amps

Risking electric shock to restore old amplifiers

Video

The DIY Piano-Bicycle

Everybody needs a hobby

Writers

Up
Down

More in Video

In Focus

A Week of Tornadoes