May 15, 2019

To Whom It May Concern:

Weird Box was an interactive film that magically transformed any public Instagram account into the catalyst for a couple's bizarre breakup. Millions of people watched it, shared it, and said nice things about it since it premiered in June 2017. It received international acclaim from Fast Company, SFist, Boing Boing, and many more.

It took a year and a half to make. I didn't get paid to make it, and I didn't accept any of the commercial partnership offers I received after it blew up. I made Weird Box simply because I think Instagram is fucking dumb, and I thought there should be a movie about how Instagram is fucking dumb.

Apparently the feeling is mutual — because for two years, Instagram (and their parent company, Facebook) tried their best to shut Weird Box down. Mark Zuckerberg isn't very good at respecting your privacy, free speech, or American "democracy," but he is very good at putting a stop to free art projects.

After too many hotfixes, hacks, and backup servers spun up across four continents, I decided it's probably time to worry about something else instead.

Thank you to everyone all over the world for the nice messages, support, and bad memes. We had some lols!

R.I.P. Weird Box
2017 — 2019

Your pal,
Noah Levenson