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The Bit Player

  • 2018
  • 1h 30m
IMDb RATING
7.3/10
416
YOUR RATING
The Bit Player (2018)
In a blockbuster paper in 1948, Claude Shannon introduced the notion of a "bit" and laid the foundation for the information age. His ideas ripple through nearly every aspect of modern life, influencing such diverse fields as communication, computing, cryptography, neuroscience, artificial intelligence, cosmology, linguistics, and genetics. But when interviewed in the 1980s, Shannon was more interested in showing off the gadgets he'd constructed - juggling robots, a Rubik's Cube solving machine, a wearable computer to win at roulette, a unicycle without pedals, a flame-throwing trumpet - than rehashing the past. Mixing contemporary interviews, archival film, animation and dialogue drawn from interviews conducted with Shannon himself, The Bit Player tells the story of an overlooked genius who revolutionized the world, but never lost his childlike curiosity.
Play trailer2:15
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12 Photos
BiographyDocumentary

The Bit Player tells the story of an overlooked genius, Claude Shannon (the "Father of Information Theory"), who revolutionized the world, but never lost his childlike curiosity.The Bit Player tells the story of an overlooked genius, Claude Shannon (the "Father of Information Theory"), who revolutionized the world, but never lost his childlike curiosity.The Bit Player tells the story of an overlooked genius, Claude Shannon (the "Father of Information Theory"), who revolutionized the world, but never lost his childlike curiosity.

  • Director
    • Mark Levinson
  • Writer
    • Mark Levinson
  • Stars
    • John Hutton
    • Judith Ivey
    • Kaliswa Brewster
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    7.3/10
    416
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Mark Levinson
    • Writer
      • Mark Levinson
    • Stars
      • John Hutton
      • Judith Ivey
      • Kaliswa Brewster
    • 10User reviews
    • 1Critic review
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • Videos1

    The Bit Player
    Trailer 2:15
    The Bit Player

    Photos12

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    Top Cast25

    John Hutton
    • Claude Shannon
    Judith Ivey
    Judith Ivey
    • Betty Shannon
    Kaliswa Brewster
    Kaliswa Brewster
    • Michelle
    Andrew Pastides
    Andrew Pastides
    • Claude Shannon (young man)
    Olivia Gilliatt
    Olivia Gilliatt
    • Norma Levor
    V.J. Scarpaci
    • Claude Shannon (boy)
    Toleeya Napolitano
    • Young girl neighbor
    Adam Heller
    Adam Heller
    • Psychoanalyst
    Maura Grady
    • Norma's girlfriend
    Cleve Asbury
    • Bell Labs Engineer
    Mark Lyons
    • Bell Labs Engineer
    Randall McNeal
    • Bell Labs Engineer
    Andrew Patrick Nelson
    • Bell Labs Engineer
    Michael Rose
    Michael Rose
    • Bell Labs Engineer
    Remi Sandri
    • Bell Labs Engineer
    Geoff Schuppert
    Geoff Schuppert
    • Bell Labs Engineer
    Jack Sochet
    Jack Sochet
    • Bell Labs Engineer
    Kurt Ziskie
    • Bell Labs Engineer
    • Director
      • Mark Levinson
    • Writer
      • Mark Levinson
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews10

    7.3416
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    Related interests

    Ben Kingsley, Rohini Hattangadi, and Geraldine James in Gandhi (1982)
    Biography
    Dziga Vertov in Man with a Movie Camera (1929)
    Documentary

    Storyline

    Did you know

    • Trivia
      The Bit Player was commissioned by the IEEE Information Theory Society, a community of over three thousand academic and industrial researchers and engineers working to further understand the role of information and its impact on modern science and technology.
    • Quotes
      • Michelle: I heard that one of your later papers proved that you could make a reliable circuit from unreliable components. Do you think this might have applications for the brain?
      • Claude Shannon: [chuckles] I hope so. I mean, the brain can suffer all kinds of damage and still handle things pretty well, which means there must be redundancy. The fact that the brain has ten billion neurons probably means it was cheaper for biology to just make more components that to figure out sophisticated circuits. Trying to work out all the different connections would be astronomical, impossible, but if we can find patterns, well, there may be ways to simplify things.
    • Connections
      References The Music Man (1962)

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    Details

    • Release date
      • June 26, 2020 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official site
      • Official site
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Minden bitek atyja
    • Production company
      • Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    • Runtime
      • 1h 30m(90 min)
    • Color
      • Color

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