When we peel back the layer of a service or app we use for convenience on our phones or web device, can we find out what the real cost and impact on our society, global cultural change and the environment?

Shannon Walsh’s feature fills in this picture for us – bringing together authors, entrepreneurs and journalists to detail the mechanics of what’s come to be known as “Gig-Work” and how its influencing our work, our human capital and labour all around the globe. Weaving together this big-picture with snapshots of workers and activists who are grinding their way through a system that has become a faceless behemoth – the film shows us how these issues are embedded in the devices we hold in our hands in this digital age.

“The Gig Is Up makes both an emotional and practical plea for viewers to take a closer look at the price of convenience offered to them through ride-sharing, food delivery and other on-demand digital platforms.” Julia Mastroianni, Now Toronto (4 out of 4 N’s)

“…there is a long way to go to curb the power of corporations that have found in gig work a way an army of labour that not even 19th-century coal barons and factory bosses could have dreamed of.” David Smith, The Guardian

“…bite-sized examples of the everyday cruelty and dehumanization of the gig economy, the ever-expanding system of global capitalist exploitation that Shannon Walsh’s almost paradoxically fresh-faced and accessible documentary The Gig Is Up aims to highlight.” Jessica Kiang, Variety

Awards and Nominations

Canadian Screen Awards 2022, Canadian Screen Award for Best Editing in a Feature Length Documentary, Nominee
Forest City Film Festival Southwestern Ontario, 2021 Old Oak Audience Choice Award, Winner
Copenhagen International Documentary Film Festival 2021, CPH:DOX, F:ACT Award, Nominee
Dokufest International Documentary and Short Film Festival 2021, Truth Award, Nominee
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival 2021, Best Canadian Documentary, Nominee
Millennium Docs Against Gravity Warsaw 2021 “Co Jest Grane 24” Big Screen Doc Award, Nominee