Vice Is Broke is a raw, rugged deep dive into the rise and fall of the Vice Media empire, directed and narrated by chef-turned-filmmaker Eddie Huang, who spent years honing his craft as a documentarian inside the Vice ecosystem as the host and producer of travel series Huang’s World.
Unfortunately, Huang says, when the company declared Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2023, it never paid him over $100,000 in residuals it owed him. That inspired him to make Vice Is Broke, which details how the company rose from a free magazine to a global media juggernaut that was worth a reported $5.7 billion before it came crashing down.
“He was in the belly of the beast and he’s gonna tell all, and that’s exciting,” says Jijo Reed, who led post production on Vice Is Broke. “You feel like, OK, nothing’s going to be held back, and it goes there. That’s why it’s a great documentary, because that’s the main purpose of documentaries, to really do exposés that are deep and voyeuristic, as well.”
Reed is the founder of Sugar Studios, one of L.A.’s most stylish, inviting and accommodating full-service post-production houses. The busy producer’s dazzlingly decorated, retro headquarters is perched high above the Wiltern Theatre, one of the city’s most iconic music venues.
The Art Deco landmark is a fitting building for Huang to shape his first feature-length documentary after a long career that included writing the bestselling memoir-turned-sitcom Fresh Off the Boat.
“He’s a rock star, for sure,” Reed says. “He’s just got boundless energy, and he was very involved in every part of the post production. It was just awesome to work with Eddie.”
Sugar Studios was responsible for all the color correction, visual effects, sound design, mixing and final delivery, while Huang and fellow producers Raymond Mansfield and Sean McKittrick (Get Out, BlacKkKlansman) brought in editor George Mandl to cut the doc. It made its world premiere last year at the Toronto International Film Festival.
Vice Is Broke strikes a sweet spot between journalism and the kind of street-smart insider knowledge Vice was once known for.
“Vice’s existence challenged everything we knew about journalism and brands,” Huang says in the film. “We invested in story and character and showed that with a DIY, [expletive]-what-you-heard, I’ll-see-it-for-myself attitude.”
It’s a fun cautionary tale, thanks to Huang and the other personalities who share their experiences of working there, including Proud Boy provocateur Gavin McInnes, a Vice co-founder who parted ways with the company in 2008. His troubling perspectives on women and race are on full display as Huang confronts him in the film, accusing McInnes of embracing neo-fascist ideology as a ploy to make money.
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“That’s why it’s captivating,” says Reed of Huang’s unconventional interview style. “He’s guiding you through this, and he’s not going to sugarcoat it.”
Vice, which recently relaunched its print edition, said in a statement when the documentary debuted that it was “old news and no longer relevant news,” adding that the company has “strategically reconfigured to meet the challenges and culture of a new media landscape.”
Sugar Studios’ Jijo Reed on Creativity and Vice Is Broke
Reed believes that in order for films to find their sweet spot, filmmakers need a sweet space to work, a philosophy guiding Sugar Studios since he launched the company with just a laptop and a hard drive in 2012.
“Generally speaking, the design and the environments of post-production houses have not been, in my opinion, conducive to the creative process,” he says. “And I’m very against the notion that post production is a utilitarian part of the process.
“This is a very creative part of the process of filmmaking,” he adds. “So many creative decisions are made in the editorial process, in the color process, in the sound design process — things that really bring a film to life. And I won’t say it’s equal to what is achieved on set with direction and shooting, but it definitely should be in the same conversation.”
Reed notes that editors and post supervisors often find creative solutions that can not only save problems with raw footage, but improve the whole project.
“Especially with documentaries and unscripted, because your editor has to be a story producing writer as well,” he says. “Typically when you start editing a documentary, you still haven’t recorded all of your interviews; there’s often more interviews that are shot and cut in during the edit. And let’s not forget that documentaries follow the direction of the answers of the subjects.”
It’s not unusual for Sugar Studios clients to actually shoot scenes for their films in the tri-level creative space that Reed and his wife, Sugar Studios COO Nicole Wainstein, have cultivated for the last 13 years.
Huang was no exception: He interviewed former Vice writer Lesley Arfin on Sugar’s seafoam- green penthouse patio, overlooking the sprawling cityscape.
A functional creative space, however, is nothing without the team running it and the state-of-the-art technology they’re operating on. In addition to the 12,000-square-foot facility’s glossy good looks, amplified mid-century modern design and relaxing amenities throughout, Sugar Studios prides itself on being “not just a pretty face,” boasting top-tier creative suites.
“Even though we’re working on independent films and not going after Marvel pictures, the talent and technology is the same as all the much bigger and more expensive houses,” Reed says.
“It becomes a creative environment due to the fact that there’s freedom, relaxation, comfort and confidence,” he adds, noting that comfortable clients do better work.
“They know that they’re being taken care of, and that we honestly care and are passionate about their film. We really care about every project that goes through here, whether it’s a low budget or a big budget.”
For Vice Is Broke, Sugar went above and beyond to help finish a cut of the film in time for TIFF last year. In order to effectively tell the story of Vice, Huang needed a lot of archival footage. And given the critical tone of the film, it wasn’t always easy to obtain.
“We had to secure a lot of archival footage that was being held very tightly by a lot of people,” Reed says. “This is a very controversial piece, and it doesn’t show everyone in the best light, and so to be able to get permission to use these interviews wasn’t always smooth sailing for the producers. But they managed to do it through being persistent and focused, which is why we were able to create such a compelling doc.”
In the film, Huang makes the case that Vice crumbled in part because corners were cut, directors weren’t credited for their hard work, and hunger for expansion took priority over quality assurance.
“It meant something to all of us, and we gave our youth to this place,” Huang says in his narration. “But I swear to f—ing God, it didn’t have to end like this.”
The film is loaded with lessons applicable to any industry. Reed’s top takeaway as the CEO of a booming business that he built from the ground up is simple: Value people over profit.
“We feel so fortunate here at Sugar, and I think a large part of it is because we respect and value everyone who works here,” he says.
“Oftentimes, people will want me to franchise out to other states with better post tax incentives. It happens quite a bit where I’m asked to maybe set up something in Atlanta or New York, and I’ve resisted, because it’s not just about the cool furniture, the technology or the interior design. It’s about our people here who make that all happen.”
You can learn more about Sugar Studios at sugarstudios.com.