Netflix Doc Chronicles Bryan Johnson’s Anti-Aging Crusade

When Chris Smith saw a headline about 47-year-old LA tech entrepreneur Bryan Johnson’s quest to spend $2 million a year to turn 18 again, the director knew he had found the subject of his next documentary. But there was a problem.

“I wrote to (Bryan’s team) and they said I was the sixty-fifth production company/person to contact them about creating a document,” Smith recalls.

Fortunately for Smith, known for his timely docs like ‘Fyre’ and ‘Bad Vegan’, Ashlee Vance – the journalist who Bloomberg article about Johnson making him a worldwide sensation – was a fan. Vance encouraged Johnson to collaborate with the director.

For twelve months, Smith followed the tech entrepreneur on his crusade to prevent death. The result is the Netflix documentary “Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever,” about the controversial wellness practices Johnson uses to not only defy aging, but also turn back his body’s clock.

The document describes the algorithm-based, ultra-regimented body care system that Johnson follows. It involves taking 130 pills a day, eating at 11 a.m., going to bed at 8:30 p.m., a 90-minute workout, weekly MRIs, weekly skin care treatments, plasma exchanges and even follistatin gene therapy, which is not approved by the US government. FDA. Instead of celebrating his birthday every twelve months, Johnson blows out candles every nineteen months.

Laughably funny at times, the film explores the effects Johnson’s journey has had on his life and those around him, including Johnson’s father and teenage son. Doctors, researchers and scientists with no ties to Johnson or his health initiative company Blueprint, which promotes the multimillionaire’s protocol therapies online, are interviewed throughout the 88-minute documentary.

“It’s not science,” says Dr. Vadim Gladyshev, a Harvard professor interviewed in the documentary. “It’s just attention.”

But Johnson and his team view his anti-aging steps as a way to advance anti-aging science. “He’s the best guinea pig anyone could ask for,” said Dr. Oliver Zolman, Johnson’s longevity advisor.

“We really show that some people think what Bryan is doing has a lot of value, and other people don’t,” says Smith. “One of my hopes is that people take away from the film that a wide range of health benefits can be achieved through sleep, diet and exercise. That is something that is achievable for everyone.”

Variety spoke with Johnson about Blueprint, DJ Grimes and the value of sleep.

In the documentary you live a regulated life that is not exactly enviable. Do you still live this way? Do you ever have fun?

Johnson: I still live as regulated as I did (in the document). I think the difference is that I was recently at a party with DJ Grimes. Her set was at midnight. So I went to bed at 8pm and slept until about 10 or 10:30pm. I got two hours of deep sleep. I woke up and went to the party. I danced for a few hours, and when I got home, I got the remaining hours of REM sleep. So I still have a sleep score of 100%. But I did it in a biphasic way. So I try to try new things that allow me to participate in certain events. It would have been better if Grimes’ event was from 6pm to 10pm, but that’s okay. I work with what I have.

You are 47 years old, but how old is your body?

Biologically, I’m probably in my late twenties.

You say that you have chosen to live your life in this disciplined way, for the sake of science. However, it costs more than $300 per month to subscribe to your Blueprint health protocol. So, what would you say to people who are trying to take better care of themselves but can’t afford Blueprint?

I have demonstrated that I have the best biomarkers in the world. There is no one who has better biomarkers than me. So the good news for everyone else is that I now have a guide that anyone can follow, based on this evidence that they can do, and most of it is free. We’ve heard that sleep is good for us, yet culturally we give it less priority, and it’s the first thing we do when we have to work late or travel, or stay up to see a show. watching or going out with friends. friends. So to demonstrate how important sleep is for the body, I achieved eight months of perfect sleep. I showed people with five habits that you can, in fact, achieve high-quality sleep every day and that sleep is the most powerful anti-aging tool in the world. And it’s free. Good health is therefore within everyone’s reach. I shared my protocol with the world for free. I’m trying to encourage a culture change.

In the film, a scientist criticizes you for not using your money to fund scientifically based critical research. Why don’t you want to use your money for that?

If I have one dollar to do a certain thing, as an entrepreneur I am trained to think about what is the maximum contribution to society that the dollar could make? A clinical trial is one way to spend a dollar. I don’t think this is the most effective way to spend a dollar. If you’re trying to achieve better health outcomes for the entire world, I think creating a global revolution or a zeitgeist shift around health is much more effective than a clinical trial. The problem is not that we don’t know what to do. The problem is that we don’t do what we know we should do.

What did you think of the Smith’s portrayal of you in the document?

I didn’t know what to expect when it started, but I think Chris rightly identified that the biggest story in my life was my relationship with my son and father. At the time, I didn’t talk about (my family) publicly because I usually keep those things private. I was mostly talking about health, but I think Chris got to the heart of what I’m really thinking about and what I care about. So in that respect I feel seen.

“Don’t Die: The Man Who Wants to Live Forever” is currently streaming on Netflix.