The TikTok page @lifeonfilm.27 is filled with imagery of college students partying, couples on vacation and pop stars playing to sold out crowds. But the account's most recent video is something entirely different: the life of President Biden at the White House.
The account's creators approached Biden's team with the idea of the President participating in one of their videos. The process typically involves the creators handing a disposable film camera to a stranger or celebrity and having them take photos with it. Then, the individual sends the film camera back and the team makes a video with the best shots.
"Being able to have created something with the president at this point in his career is the honor of a lifetime for all of us," Grant Weintrob, one of the page's creators, said. "And hopefully that would be like the lasting impression the video gives."
@lifeonfilm.27 President Biden on film - One year ago, we had the idea to give disposable cameras to strangers and bring their photos to life in a video. Thank you to everyone who has helped us get here. We’ve come a long way. — Christian, Grant, & Griffin - life on film - giving disposable cameras to strangers #lifeonfilm #disposablecamera #onthestreet #whitehouse #biden #givingdisposablecamerastostrangers ♬ original sound - Life on Film
The photos show various stills from Biden's life: views of the White House taken from the presidential limo, newly signed bills and other documents in the Oval Office and Biden staffers mingling and posing for photos. The video of the stills has over 6 million views on TikTok, and Weintrob said that the response has been overwhelmingly positive, and surprisingly apolitical.
"We were honestly shocked how overwhelmingly positive the sentiment was in the comments," Weintrob said. "I think people viewed it more like an American video than a political one. This was just the documentation of the president at this moment in time."
During the presidential campaign, Democrats and Republicans tried to win over young voters on social media apps like TikTok. The Biden and Harris administrations have been collaborating with various creators on the platform through the administration's Office of Digital Strategy, which is how the @lifeonfilm.27 creators ended up in the Oval Office. The account currently averages 26 million views per episode across TikTok, Instagram Reels and YouTube Shorts and have collaborated with stars like Ice Spice and Lil Yachty.
"I think it shows that there is this new way to communicate directly with people, especially with a younger audience," Griffin Katz, one of co-creators of @lifeonfilm.27 said.
Katz said his favorite picture is one of Biden at the Resolute Desk, where he signs bills into law. Rather than a photo of Biden signing a bill, however, this photo is taken from Biden's seat, showing newly signed documents and a pen.
"I'm kind of like a little bit of a political nerd. So the fact that we were able to see that and, you know, have that included that is just wild to me," Katz said.
The creators said they can't be 100% sure Biden himself took all the pictures. They were sent back already developed film photos and weren't able to spend two weeks watching the president or his staff taking pictures. Still, Katz said the photos have a personal and intimate quality to them.
"I think the biggest thing that resonates with people is the beauty and creativity strangers are able to capture," Katz, one of co-creators of @lifeonfilm.27 said.
The team behind @lifeonflim.27 chose the song "My Way" by Frank Sinatra, layered on top of Biden's 2016 speech at the Democratic National Convention. Weintrob initially wanted to use a song by rapper Biggie Smalls, but his co-creator, Christian Baiocco, said a different song might make the whole thing seem less like a meme and more inspiring.
Baiocco wanted the video to fit into the "hope core" genre of TikTok, where videos are meant to uplift people.
"It immediately clicked in my head that hope core might have an amazing vibe to like, channel into this video." Baiocco said.
The creators hope that the video brings more awareness to the highly produced work being made on TikTok, a platform typically associated with low-effort short form content.
"We put hours and hours into the art we create," Weintrob said. "We look at every single post as a little indie movie. I think the president participating in an episode of our show is the greatest stamp of approval we could ever get."
The digital version of this piece was edited by Obed Manuel. The audio version was edited by Ashley Westerman.
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