San Francisco-based documentarian Kaylie Milliken is turning her camera on the often domineering business phenomenon that is Yelp. She's about halfway through filming “Billion Dollar Bully," which appears to be a pointed indictment of the company's practices.
As the International Business Times reports, one of her subjects, Dave Cerretini, is the San Franciso restaurateur who encouraged negative reviews at his restaurant by offering discounts for 1-star ratings in a subversive stunt. Unsurprisingly, many others share his outlook on Yelp's behavior, though the company maintains its stance that such opinions represent a "conspiracy theory."
Prost Productions, Milliken's studio, is about to launch a Kickstarter campaign and hopes to raise $60,000 in 35 days to complete the documentary. So far, she's only interviewed 6 businesses, and Yelp hasn't given her an interview, or, for that matter, the time of day. Further, many business owners aren't willing to speak to her on the record, as she tells the Business Times. "There are a lot of different business owners that I’ve spoken with that will not go on camera because they’re afraid of retaliation from Yelp. I would say that equates to about 80 percent of the businesses I spoke with." Yelp is a force to be reckoned with, but could this documentary be that reckoning?
Previously: Yelp Is Allowed To Manipulate Ratings And Remove Good Reviews, Says Court