From the cutting room floor

Over the last couple of years, I participated in a Netflix series called Inside Bill’s Brain looking at my work and portions of my life. It was fun to spend time with the filmmaker Davis Guggenheim answering questions both serious and silly, and helping him explore my motivations and memories. I hope many people will watch and learn more about the amazing job I’m lucky to have and the people I’m able to meet through this journey Melinda and I find ourselves on as philanthropists. The series is made up of three episodes and is available now on Netflix.

Working on this project gave me a deep regard for how much time and effort goes into crafting a documentary. Filmmakers spend many hours behind the camera to get just a few minutes of the stuff that makes it into the film that viewers see. So much is left on the cutting-room floor. As the project wound down, I decided I’d pick up some of the stories that didn’t make it, ones that I think complement what you’ll see on Netflix. In some cases, the stories I’ll post dive deeper into an issue raised by the documentary. In others, I’ll give the history of why I made an important decision. In all cases, I hope I can show a little bit about myself and the joy I get from trying to help solve the puzzles we face in advancing the human condition.