Corporation, The

The 145-minute documentary film (click here to view a 2-minute trailer) examines the repercussions of the corporation's increasing preeminence. Based on a book penned by one of the co-creators entitled The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power, the film is a critical inquiry that explores the corporation's inner workings, history, controversial impacts, and possible futures. It features 40 interview subjects that include CEOs [chief executive officers] and top-level executives from a range of industries: oil, pharmaceutical, computer, tire, manufacturing, public relations, branding, advertising, and undercover marketing; among them are "a Nobel-prize winning economist, the first management guru, a corporate spy, and a range of academics, critics, historians and thinkers". In the words of producers, "The Corporation charts the spectacular rise of an institution aimed at achieving specific economic goals as it also recounts victories against this apparently invincible force."

The tone of the film is provocative, as illustrated by the following synopsis of one part of it: "While marketers, public relations practitioners and others explain the art of managing and manipulating public perceptions, academics and activists ponder the implications of living in a world in which The Walt Disney Company has created its own planned community (Celebration, Fla.) and biotechnology companies race to patent our genes. Is every human relationship destined to become a commercial transaction? Is life itself just another commodity to be bought and sold?"

A key component of this programme is The Corporation website, which includes a number of interactive features designed to engage people in talk and activism based on the issues raised in the film. Organisers characterise it as "a portal for action". Its features include a link to a sister website called docback.org, which includes this introduction: "The film The Corporation tackles the very root of corporate misrule - the legal imperative for every corporation to serve the bottom line. But there is a cost to this devotion to profit, certainly to the planet and its life forms, but also, apparently, to the truth...." One page on this website includes an excerpted transcript from the film, focused on Bovine Somatotrophin (BST) or Bovine Growth Hormone (BGH), a drug designed to increase milk production. Other interactive features of The Corporation website include a "Personality Test", the first question of which is "Water is a resource, not a commodity" and the last of which is "Not all who increase their wealth are wise". Based on one's responses to this short test (agree, no opinion, or disagree), a page of custom online content is generated that can then be reviewed and then integrated into a new, specified test. In a "Vote" section of the website, users are encouraged to ask themselves whether and why we should "re-write, regulate, or reform" the corporation, and then enter into an email debate by clicking on a dedicated email address. The "Talk" section (various e-forums) and interactive events calendar are other means of engaging citizens in issues raised in the film - and encouraging them to use their voice in their communities and through the voting process. Links to organisations working on issues raised in the film are also provided.

This programme also uses television and video to inform and motivate. In October 2004, the film was premiered on national television in Canada as part of a 3-part series (1-hour episodes each Wednesday). Organisers urged, "If you've seen the film already on the big screen then gather round the TV with your family and friends in your own living room. It's a good time to catalyze a discussion around what is to be done with the corporation." Furthermore, an educational VHS/DVD version of the film was made available for purchase in Canada and the USA; a DVD home release version is expected to be offered in North America in March 2005. Citizen participation is encouraged here, too; organisers say, "If you can help with a grassroots launch for the home use DVD, email Grassroots@theCorporation.com and put "DVD - I can help" in the subject line." Other products, such as a book and "sweatshop free" t-shirts, may be viewed or purchased by clicking here.

Globalisation, Rights, Environment.

In the long term, organisers "are working towards partnering with organizations to use our subscriber base of well over 12,000 people (and growing [18,000 as of this writing[) to promote issue-based campaigns linked to the film."