Code for the People Documentary - The human story of the open web

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The human story of the open web

The stakes

The open web is arguably the world’s most vital invisible utility – and it is under siege.

We have traded a free internet for a collection of walled gardens. Today, a handful of digital landlords use algorithms to dictate our reality, while closed AI threatens to change the ways we connect. We are at a breaking point: we can either let gatekeepers continue to consolidate their power, or we can reclaim the open source spirit that built the web in the first place.

The film

The future of the internet is being decided right now and it needs our help.

From acclaimed director Bao Nguyen (BTS: The Return, Be Water, The Greatest Night in Pop), Code for the People is a documentary short exploring the past, present, and contested future of the open web.

While more than 40% of the internet runs on open source WordPress, this film is about something much bigger than software. It is a cinematic interrogation of what the internet is actually for, who gets to own it, and what it takes to keep it free.

Releasing Summer 2026 with flagship premieres in San Francisco and New York taking place in July.

The web belongs to all of us. Help build and support what comes next by getting involved.

Bao Nguyen, director of Code for the People

Build the open web

This is your invitation to write the next chapter of the internet.

Open source is about community. Explore what open source is all about.

Join millions of people around the world who share a passion for building, using, and maintaining open source software for anyone to use, regardless of borders and backgrounds. Learn open source terminology, its history, and where it’s going.

Here are five ways you can participate:

1.

Own your home on the internet

Register a domain. Publish something. Stop renting space on someone else’s platform and own your corner of the web.

Learn WordPress

2.

Move one thing

Pick one piece of your digital life and bring it to an open platform. A newsletter. A portfolio. A blog. One move is enough to start.

Find an open platform

3.

Contribute something back

Code, documentation, translation, testing, or a donation. If you use open-source tools, water the garden. Find your project’s "good first issue" and show up.

Start contributing

Join us at WordCamp US

Start contributing

Join us at WordCamp US

4.

Back organizations that defend open source

Mozilla. Internet Archive. EFF. Creative Commons. WordPress Foundation. These are the institutions holding the open web together. Support them.

Find an organization to support

5.

Connect with people who share your passion

Run a screening. Assign the film. Write about it. The movement grows every time the conversation does.

Find your people

You’re not starting from scratch. Millions of developers, designers, writers, and builders are already here. They contribute code, maintain projects, run local communities, and show up every day for something they believe in.

The open web is already being built. Join us.

Join the WordPress community

Support another Open Source project

Credits

Directed by

Bao Nguyen

Produced by

Kenneth Nguyen

Edited by

Sue Ding, Sarah Garrahan

Music by

Gene Back

Featuring

Matt Mullenweg and builders of the open web

Code for the People was a UK-based WordPress agency that joined Automattic in 2014.

Company

Automattic.com ↗

Privacy policy ↗

Work with us ↗

Do not sell my data ↗

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An flick

© Automattic Inc., purveyors of fine blogging and site-building services since 2005.

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