Skip to main content

The context you need, when you need it

When news breaks, you need to understand what actually matters — and what to do about it. At Vox, our mission to help you make sense of the world has never been more vital. But we can’t do it on our own.

We rely on readers like you to fund our journalism. Will you support our work and become a Vox Member today?

Join now

Tech Outreach Video Has the Most SF Cast List Ever (Updated)

Duboce Girl. Burrito Guy. Tech Journalist. Lyft Driver. Biz Stone.

It has been six months since the last major anti-tech bus-blocking protests, and San Francisco’s local characters and Silicon Valley tech titans are finally showing they can agree on some things.

Or at least they can make a video together.

For the launch of One City, a campaign to unite tech companies, elected officials and public opinion, everyone from San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee to Twitter co-founder Biz Stone made a cameo appearance. The video below promotes One City’s big initiative, called Circle the Schools, which partners a Bay Area tech company with every public school in San Francisco.

The joke: Stone starts the video off by saying, in an interview, “My book will launch soon,” and all of sudden everyone is asking about this MyBook, as though it were a new iPhone.

It’s the cast list — peppered with SF-famous names and types — that makes it work: Duboce Girl. Burrito Guy. Tech Journalist. Lyft Driver. M.C. Hammer.

The complete cast:

Tech Journalist — Rachel Delante
Biz Stone — Himself // co-founder of Twitter
Biker 1 — Olivia Rosaldo-Pratt
Biker 2 — Mylen Lee
Tech Journalist — Christina Farr // reporter at Reuters
Colorful Hat Guy — Daniel Juenemann
Lyft Driver — Ronen Sberlo
Basketball Guy — Jay Gierak // founder and CEO of Stik.com
Mayor Ed Lee — Himself
Castro Resident — Rotimi Agbabiaka
Frank Chu — Himself
Tent Guy — Matt Lieb // Bay Area Comedian
Joe Montana — Himself
Police Chief Suhr — Himself
Startup CEO — Dan Greenberg // founder and CEO of Sharethrough
Businessman — Warren Serkin
Duboce Girl — Danielle Schnur
M.C. Hammer — Himself
Surfer Guy — Jesse Perri
Harrison Barnes — Himself
Broke Ass Stuart — Himself
Burrito Guy — Tomas Wischerath
Comedian — Joe Nguyen // Bay Area Stand-up Comedian

The same production company, Portal A, created some other funny “let’s all get along” videos. One is called “Ed Lee is 2 Legit 2 Quit”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fbdd_Fasz0k

And then there’s the more demure “This Is How Technology Will Create a Smarter San Francisco”:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PlaJOE8yflo

This article originally appeared on Recode.net.

More in Technology

Podcasts
Are humanoid robots all hype?Are humanoid robots all hype?
Podcast
Podcasts

AI is making them better — but they’re not going to be doing your chores anytime soon.

By Avishay Artsy and Sean Rameswaram
Future Perfect
The old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemicThe old tech that could help stop the next airborne pandemic
Future Perfect

Glycol vapors, explained.

By Shayna Korol
Future Perfect
Elon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wantsElon Musk could lose his case against OpenAI — and still get what he wants
Future Perfect

It’s not about who wins. It’s about the dirty laundry you air along the way.

By Sara Herschander
Life
Why banning kids from AI isn’t the answerWhy banning kids from AI isn’t the answer
Life

What kids really need in the age of artificial intelligence.

By Anna North
Culture
Anthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque messAnthropic owes authors $1.5B for pirating work — but the claims process is a Kafkaesque mess
Culture

“Your AI monster ate all our work. Now you’re trying to pay us off with this piece of garbage that doesn’t work.”

By Constance Grady
Future Perfect
Some deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapySome deaf children are hearing again because of a new gene therapy
Future Perfect

A medical field that almost died is quietly fixing one disease at a time.

By Bryan Walsh