It sounds like a screenplay, but it happened to two Berlin film students in real life.
Moritz Henneberg and Julius Drost made an animated short for their final university project. Titled “Butty,” it follows a household robot that gets kicked out when it can’t do its job properly. After the filmmakers uploaded it to YouTube, the film went viral. Encouraged, they submitted it to festivals — and were stunned to learn it had already been entered under another name.
US student Samuel Felinton had downloaded their film, made minimal edits, retitled it “T-130” and removed the original credits. Claiming authorship, he won multiple prizes and built a reputation in the United States.
Shocked by the brazen theft, Henneberg and Drost sought legal advice but were warned that suing would be long and expensive. Instead they decided to confront Felinton in person — and to turn the experience into a documentary.
They researched him intensely, watching his vlogs and immersing themselves in his world. Rather than reacting with anger, they say they felt a mix of bewilderment and curiosity; family and friends were furious, but the filmmakers wanted to understand how it had happened.
With a film crew, they traveled to Morgantown, West Virginia, where Felinton lived. Using a New York filmmaker posing as someone making a documentary about young animators, they gained his trust and finally met him face-to-face.
They had prepared for many possible reactions — shame, anger, flight — but Felinton remained unnervingly calm. He explained that he had shortened and “improved” the film, which is why it became successful, and offered to transfer any prize money. After the interview they even barbecued together and played basketball. His cool, matter-of-fact demeanor unsettled the two Germans and fueled their fascination.
Public reaction to their handling of the case was split. Some critics said they should have sued or punished Felinton; others praised their creative, nonlitigious approach. Henneberg emphasized that the theft wasn’t personal — if a major studio had taken their film, they might have reacted differently — and they chose not to publicly humiliate him.
They turned the episode into a documentary titled Der talentierte Mister F. (The Talented Mister F.), a nod to The Talented Mr. Ripley about identity theft and deceit. Felinton later sent back the trophies he had won and a sum of money, though festival organizers largely distanced themselves, saying the awards had already been given and it was up to the filmmakers to resolve the dispute.
Roland Emmerich became an investor supporting an international release of the documentary, raising the possibility of greater exposure in the US. Since the documentary premiered in Germany in October 2025, attention to the original animation has increased further. Henneberg and Drost reuploaded “Butty” to YouTube, this time including a credit with special thanks to Samuel Felinton.
The filmmakers note that the theft was possible because the original upload in 2023 was downloadable. They don’t regret sharing the film online — the alternative would have been never showing it at all. Their advice to other young creatives is practical: don’t be discouraged, be aware of the risks of putting work online, and consider creative responses rather than immediately turning to costly lawsuits. Show the world that you are the authors.
What began as an instance of film plagiarism ended up becoming material for another project — an unusual twist in a very quirky story.
This article was originally published in German.