Log in
Porter Erisman

Directing

Porter Erisman

Porter Erisman is a former Vice-President at Alibaba Group (2000-08), China’s internet giant. He witnessed it grow from humble beginnings into the world’s largest e-commerce company. Erisman first arrived in China in 1994 and, after a year studying Chinese, he fell into a six-month stint as host of China Through Foreigners’ Eyes, a travel programme on China Central Television.

Known For

Crocodile in the YangtzeCrocodile in the Yangtze · 2012
Crocodile in the Yangtze
★ 10.02012
MovieDocumentary
Crocodile in the Yangtze follows China's first Internet entrepreneur and former English teacher, Jack Ma, as he battles US giant eBay on the way to building China's first global Internet company, Alibaba Group. An independent memoir written, directed and produced by an American who worked in Ma's company for eight years, Crocodile in the Yangtze captures the emotional ups and downs of life in a Chinese Internet startup at a time when the Internet brought China face-to-face with the West. Crocodile in the Yangtze draws on 200 hours of archival footage filmed by over 35 sources between 1995 and 2009. The film presents a strikingly candid portrait of Ma and his company, told from the point of view of an “American fly on a Chinese wall” who witnessed the successes and the mistakes Alibaba encountered as it grew from a small apartment into a global company employing 16,000 staff.
County Fair, TexasCounty Fair, Texas · 2015
County Fair, Texas
2015
MovieDocumentary
A documentary that explores a year in the lives of four kids from rural Texas as they raise animals to show at a local county fair.

Filmography

Sort
Crocodile in the YangtzeCrocodile in the Yangtze · 2012
Crocodile in the Yangtze
★ 10.02012
MovieDocumentary
Crocodile in the Yangtze follows China's first Internet entrepreneur and former English teacher, Jack Ma, as he battles US giant eBay on the way to building China's first global Internet company, Alibaba Group. An independent memoir written, directed and produced by an American who worked in Ma's company for eight years, Crocodile in the Yangtze captures the emotional ups and downs of life in a Chinese Internet startup at a time when the Internet brought China face-to-face with the West. Crocodile in the Yangtze draws on 200 hours of archival footage filmed by over 35 sources between 1995 and 2009. The film presents a strikingly candid portrait of Ma and his company, told from the point of view of an “American fly on a Chinese wall” who witnessed the successes and the mistakes Alibaba encountered as it grew from a small apartment into a global company employing 16,000 staff.

Producer