The Corporation (2003)

Directors:

Mark Achbar
Jennifer Abbott (co-director)

Writers:

Joel Bakan (written by)
Joel Bakan (book)
(more)

Release Date:

4 June 2004 (USA)

Genre:

Documentary | History

Plot:

Documentary that looks at the concept of the corporation throughout recent history up to its present-day dominance.

Plot Keywords:

Corporation | Business | Sweatshop | Media Manipulation | Globalization

Awards:

10 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Mikela Jay	...	Herself - Narrator (voice) (as Mikela J. Mikael)
Rob Beckwermert	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Christopher Gora	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Nina Jones	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Richard Kopycinski	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Karen Lam	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Sean Lang	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Bert Phillips	...	Actor - Dramatizations
Diana Wilson	...	Actor - Dramatizations
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Jane Akre	...	Herself - Investigative Reporter
Ray Anderson	...	Himself - CEO, Interface
Joe Badaracco	...	Himself - Professor of Business Ethics, Harvard Business School
Maude Barlow	...	Herself - Chairperson, Council of Canadians
Chris Barrett	...	Himself - Corporate Sponsored University Students
Marc Barry	...	Himself - Competitive Intelligence Professional
Robert Benson	...	Himself - Professor of Law, UCLA
Elaine Bernard	...	Herself - Executive Director of Trade Union Program, Harvard
Edwin Black	...	Himself - Author, IBM and the Holocaust
Carlton Brown	...	Himself - Commodities Trader
Smedley Darlington Butler	...	Himself - USMC: Exposes Anti-FDR Plot (archive footage)
Noam Chomsky	...	Himself - Institute Professor, MIT
Shiv Chopra	...	Himself - Health Canada Scientist (archive footage) (as Dr. Shiv Chopra)
Ed Collins	...	Himself - Counselor
Thomas D'Aquino	...	Himself - President, Business Council on National Issues
Víctor Hugo Daza	...	Himself - Slain Student: Bolivia (archive footage)
Solomon DeMontigny	...	Himself - Baker
Peter Drucker	...	Himself - Founder, Drucker School of Management
Samuel Epstein	...	Himself - Professor Emeritus of Environmental Medicine, University of Illinois
Amy Field	...	Herself - Social Worker
Andrea Finger	...	Herself - Spokesperson, Celebration Florida
Nicole Barchilon Frank	...	Herself - Office Manager
Milton Friedman	...	Himself - Nobel Prize Winning Economist
Susan Gaydos	...	Herself - Environmental Technician
Sam Gibara	...	Himself - Chairman and Former CEO, Goodyear Tire
Kathie Lee Gifford	...	Herself (archive footage)
Richard Grossman	...	Himself - Co-Founder, Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy
Bruce Hamilton	...	Himself - Business Owner
Robert Hare	...	Himself - Consultant to the FBI on Psychopaths (as Dr. Robert Hare)
Lucy Hughes	...	Herself - Vice President, Initiative Media
Ira Jackson	...	Himself - Director of Center for Business and Government, Harvard University
Charles Kernaghan	...	Himself - Director, National Labor Committee
Robert Keyes	...	Himself - President and CEO, Canadian Council for Internation Business
Suk Choo Kim	...	Himself - Business Owner
Mark Kingwell	...	Himself - Philosopher
Naomi Klein	...	Herself - Author, No Logo
Tom Kline	...	Himself - Senior Vice President, Pfizer Inc.
Phil Knight	...	Himself - Founder & CEO, Nike (archive footage)
Chris Komisarjevsky	...	Himself - CEO, Burson Marsteller
James Lafferty	...	Himself - National Lawyers Guild
Susan E. Linn	...	Herself - Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard
Luke McCabe	...	Himself - Corporate Sponsored University Students
Robert Monks	...	Himself - Corporate Governance Advisor
Mark Moody-Stuart	...	Himself - Former Chairman, Royal Dutch Shell (as Sir Mark Moody-Stuart)
Michael Moore	...	Himself - Filmmaker & Author
Oscar Olivera	...	Himself - Coalition in Defense of Water and Life
Pierre Pettigrew	...	Himself - Minister of Trade, Canada
Jonathan Ressler	...	Himself - CEO, Big Fat Inc.
Jeremy Rifkin	...	Himself - President, Foundation on Economic Trends
Jim Robinson	...	Himself - Senior Vice President, U.S. Chamber of Commerce (archive footage)
Franklin D. Roosevelt	...	Himself (archive footage) (as Franklin Delano Roosevelt)
Vandana Shiva	...	Herself - Physicist & Ecologist (as Dr. Vandana Shiva)
Clay Timon	...	Himself - CEO, Landor and Associates
Michael Walker	...	Himself - Executive Director, The Fraser Institute
Robert Weissman	...	Himself - Editor, Multinational Monitor
Steve Wilson	...	Himself - Investigative Reporter
Irving Wladawski-Berger	...	Himself - Vice President, IBM Technology and Strategy Group
Don Xui Xziang	...	Himself - Burmese Refugee
Mary Zepernick	...	Herself - Program on Corporations, Law and Democracy
Howard Zinn	...	Himself - Author, A People's History of the United States
Kofi Annan	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
George W. Bush	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Jean Chrétien	...	Himself, with George W. Bush (archive footage) (uncredited)
Winston Churchill	...	Himself - Potsdam (archive footage) (uncredited)
Mohandas K. Gandhi	...	Himself - During Salt March (archive footage) (uncredited)
Frank Gifford	...	Himself - Behind Kathie Lee (archive footage) (uncredited)
Adolf Hitler	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
King George VI	...	Himself - with Queen Elizabeth (archive footage) (unconfirmed) (uncredited)
Martin Luther King	...	Himself - During March on Washington (archive footage) (uncredited)
V.I. Lenin	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Nelson Mandela	...	Himself - After Release, with Winnie (archive footage) (uncredited)
Winnie Mandela	...	Herself, with Nelson (archive footage) (uncredited)
Peter Mansbridge	...	Himself - CBC (archive sound) (uncredited)
Benito Mussolini	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Knowlton Nash	...	Himself - CBC (archive sound) (uncredited)
Pope John XXIII	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Joseph Stalin	...	Himself - Potsdam (archive footage) (uncredited)
Ken Starr	...	Himself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Martha Stewart	...	Herself (archive footage) (uncredited)
Dave Thomas	...	Himself - Wendy's Commercial (archive footage) (uncredited)
Harry S. Truman	...	Himself - Potsdam (archive footage) (uncredited)
Eugene Whelan	...	Himself - Senator: Chairs Posilac Inquiry (archive footage) (uncredited)

Directed by
Mark Achbar
Jennifer Abbott		(co-director)

Writing credits
Joel Bakan		(written by)
Joel Bakan		(book "The Corporation: The Pathological Pursuit of Profit and Power")
Harold Crooks		(narration written by) &
Joel Bakan		(narration written by) &
Mark Achbar		(narration written by)
Mark Achbar		(developer) &
Joel Bakan		(developer) &
Thomas Shandel		(developer) (as Tom Shandel)
Mark Achbar		(creator) and
Joel Bakan		(creator)

Produced by
Mark Achbar	....	executive producer
Mark Achbar	....	producer
Joel Bakan	....	associate producer
Dawn Brett	....	associate producer
Cari Green	....	co-producer
Maureen Levitt	....	consulting producer: Vision TV
Nathan Neumer	....	co-producer
Thomas Shandel	....	co-producer (as Tom Shandel)
Bart Simpson	....	producer

Original Music by
Leonard J. Paul

Cinematography by
Mark Achbar		(camera)
Rolf Cutts		(camera)
Jeffrey M. Hoffman		(camera) (as Jeff Hoffman)
Kirk Tougas		(camera)

Film Editing by
Jennifer Abbott

Art Direction by
Henry Faber

Production Management
Bart Simpson	....	production manager
Jeanne Slater	....	post-production supervisor
Larry Di Stefano	....	post-production supervisor (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Trish Dolman	....	second unit director
Beth Pielert	....	first assistant director
Bart Simpson	....	second unit director

Art Department
Henry Faber	....	graphic designer
Henry Faber	....	lead designer

Sound Department
Hennie Britton	....	foley artist
Jeff Carter	....	location sound
Stephen Cheung	....	dialogue editor
Ian Emberton	....	sound re-recording mixer
Tony Gort	....	sound effects editor
Jeff Henschel	....	location sound
Michael Keeping	....	foley artist (as Michael P. Keeping)
Sean Lang	....	location sound
Roger Morris	....	adr mixer
David Novack	....	sound re-recording mixer (as David Novak)
Chris Ove	....	dialogue recordist
David Raines	....	dialogue pre-mixer
Velcrow Ripper	....	sound designer
Rick Senechal	....	foley engineer
Bart Simpson	....	location sound

Visual Effects by
Bienvenido Cruz	....	layout
Bienvenido Cruz	....	motion designer
James Tocher	....	di producer

Camera and Electrical Department
Nancy Bleck	....	stills
Ruth Boyle	....	camera operator
Elaine Brière	....	stills (as Elaine Briere)
Ed Callaghan	....	technician: stills
Adriano Cavina	....	camera operator
Daniel Conrad	....	camera operator
Clancy Dennehy	....	camera operator
Jonas Goldman	....	camera operator
Sandi Higgins	....	additional videographer
Jeffrey M. Hoffman	....	director of photography: documentary
Sean Lang	....	camera operator
Danny Nowak	....	camera operator
Bill Olson	....	camera operator
Beth Pielert	....	camera operator
Dennis Porter	....	camera operator
James Tocher	....	camera operator

Animation Department
Brock Ellis	....	animation illustrator

Editorial Department
Larry Aavisto	....	logger
Binky	....	logger
Ness Broom	....	additional editing
Ness Broom	....	logger
Rudy Buttignol	....	commissioning editor: TVO
Ewan Deane	....	post-production coordinator
Larry Di Stefano	....	assistant editor
Heather Frise	....	additional editing
Tama Gempton	....	post-production assistant
Julie Hatton	....	logger
Sherri Hayden	....	logger
Trent Hignell	....	additional editing
Trent Hignell	....	first assistant editor
Marie Madeiros	....	post-production assistant
Andrew Notman	....	assistant editor
Allan Pinvidic	....	on-line editor
Tina Reilhan	....	additional editing
Liz Schulze	....	post-production assistant
Speedy Steckley	....	logger
Speedy Steckley	....	post-production assistant
Christy Thomas	....	post-production consultant
Todd Tomorrow	....	logger
Jan Weitzel	....	logger

Music Department
Doug Blackley	....	additional music composition
Velcrow Ripper	....	music supervisor
Russell Scholberg	....	musician: double bass
Sarah Shugarman	....	musician: violin
Sarah Webster	....	music clearances

Other crew
Mark Achbar	....	research
Warren Arcan	....	consultant
Laura C.V. Arena	....	production assistant
Joel Bakan	....	research
Toren Barnes	....	production assistant
Cooper Battersby	....	computer services
Manfred Becker	....	consultant
Ted Beke	....	production assistant
Lyle Bibler	....	production assistant
Philippe Bouchard	....	production assistant
Dawn Brett	....	research
Sarah Butterfield	....	consultant
Josh Byer	....	additional research
Betsy Carson	....	consultant
Scott Challgren	....	outreach
Hazel Cho	....	production assistant
Mark Cohen	....	computer services
Satya Columbo	....	production assistant (as Satya Colombo)
Alysia Davies	....	research
Linda Desormeaux	....	production assistant
Katherine Dodds	....	director of corporate communications
David Duprey	....	technical coordinator
Jock Ferguson	....	consultant
Eric Freeburg	....	production assistant (as Eric Freeberg)
Tama Gempton	....	production assistant
Susan Gleason	....	production assistant
Mick Gzowski	....	additional research
Corinna Hagel	....	assistant: research and clearances
Brian Hamilton	....	consultant
Shiela Hone	....	production assistant
Karelyn Hrushowy	....	production assistant
Henrieta Isufllari	....	video to film transfer
Lorena Jara	....	translator: Spanish
Mikela Jay	....	catalyst: creative and organizational (as Mikela J. Mikael)
Jason Katz	....	production assistant
Martin Kostian	....	production assistant
Karen Lam	....	consultant
Nina Lanegra	....	production assistant
Suzanne Lapierre	....	production coordinator
Louis Laporte	....	production assistant
Justin Lipson	....	production assistant
Kim Lloyd	....	additional bookkeeper
Gary Marcuse	....	consultant
Terry McEvoy	....	additional research (as Terry Mcevoy)
Sue Mcnaughton	....	transcriptions
Lea Moss	....	assistant: research and clearances
Elizabeth Murray	....	additional research
Irene Nemeth	....	transcriptions
Margaret Newton	....	auditor
Pamela Pellegrini	....	transcriptions
Beth Pielert	....	additional research
Beth Pielert	....	production coordinator
Paula Sawadsky	....	archival researcher
Eva B. Schmieg	....	legal counsel: Heenan Blakie (as Eva Schmeig)
Jill Sharpe	....	consultant
Bart Simpson	....	additional research
Sherill Sirrs	....	accountant (as Sherrill Sirrs)
Venoula Steinberg	....	transcriptions
Darba Wakefield	....	transcriptions
Louise Walker	....	research
Eileen Wiley	....	travel agent
Amy Wilson	....	additional archival research
Peter Wintonick	....	consultant
Gil Yaron	....	research

Thanks
Reid Cohoon	....	our thanks to
Rachel Dilk	....	acknowledgment: brain sculpture "Braindead" by
Sandi Higgins	....	our thanks to
Mark Piron	....	acknowledgment: excerpt from Group Intervention courtesy of
Rick Prelinger	....	special thanks
Nicholas Racz	....	acknowledgment: additional footage courtesy of
Bruce Spangler	....	our thanks to

Production Companies

• Big Picture Media Corporation

Distributors

• Against Gravity (2006) (Poland) (all media)
• Film West Associates (2003) (Canada) (DVD) (educational)
• Films Transit International (worldwide)
• Front Row Filmed Entertainment (2004) (United Arab Emirates) (all media) (Middle East)
• Giangiacomo Feltrinelli Editore (2005) (Italy) (DVD)
• Madman Entertainment (2005) (Australia) (DVD)
• Mongrel Media (2004) (Canada)
• UPLINK Company (2006) (Japan) (DVD)
• Yleisradio (YLE) (Finland) (TV)
• Zeitgeist Films (2004) (USA)

Other Companies

• Adbusters  additional footage courtesy of (as Adbusters Media Foundation)
• Adelphia Communications  additional footage courtesy of (as Adelphia Communications Corporation)
• BBC Worldwide  additional footage courtesy of
• Bento Box Media  graphics
• Callow Insurance Associates Ltd.  insurance (as Callow Insurance)
• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC)  additional footage courtesy of
• Chronos-Media  additional footage courtesy of
• Finale Editworks  video post production services by
• Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co.  additional footage courtesy of (as The Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company)
• Greenpeace Canada  additional footage courtesy of (as Greenpeace)
• Habitat for Humanity  additional footage courtesy of (as Habitat for Humanity International)
• Heenan Blaikie Lawyers  legal counsel (as Heenan Blakie)
• ITN Archive  additional footage courtesy of
• Jeremy Walker + Associates  publicity
• Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division  additional footage courtesy of
• National Archives and Records Administration (NARA)  additional footage courtesy of (as NARA)
• National Film Board of Canada (NFB)  additional footage courtesy of
• New York Stock Exchange Inc.  additional footage courtesy of: stock exchange footage used with permission of (as NYSE)
• PETA  additional footage courtesy of
• Pfizer  additional footage courtesy of
• Post Modern Sound  audio post production services by
• S.L. Feldman & Associates  music clearances (as SL Feldman & Associates)
• SVT Film & Video Sales  additional footage courtesy of (as Sveriges Television, SVT Sales)
• Sequence Post  DVD authoring
• Sequence Post  DVD design
• Sequence Post  animation
• Sequence Post  dvd mastering
• Sequence Post  dvd special edition packaging
• Studio X Labs  music recorded at (as Studio X Labs, Vancouver BC Canada)
• Video Tape Library  additional footage courtesy of
• Villon Films  additional footage courtesy of
• Vision TV  funding
• Western Close Captioning  captions

Also Known As:

Runtime:

145 min | Argentina:150 min (Buenos Aires Festival Internacional de Cine Independiente) | Hong Kong:165 min (Hong Kong International Film Festival)

Country:

Canada

Language:

English | Spanish

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Australia:PG | Brazil:10 | Canada:G (Québec) | Canada:PG (Alberta/British Columbia/Ontario) | UK:PG | USA:Unrated | Singapore:PG | Netherlands:12 | New Zealand:M

Filming Locations:

Celebration, Florida, USA

Company:

Big Picture Media Corporation

Trivia:

One of the "subplots" that didn't make the final cut was about a children's festival where the Canadian singer/ children's entertainer Raffi was due to give a concert. Upon entering the festival, parents were greeted by a mocked-up KIA car showroom that would inevitably get the children excited as they were allowed to play in the cars, whilst being given KIA merchandise. The presence of this corporate employment of children pester power to be directed at their parents so disgusted Raffi that he pulled out of the concert. One of the reasons this segment was not included was that the film-makers were denied the opportunity to film the KIA showroom, and the handheld footage that they shot secretly wasn't good enough to be used in the final film.

Quotes:

[first lines]
Narrator:150 years ago, the business corporation was a relatively insignificant institution. Today, it is all-pervasive. Like the Church, the Monarchy and the Communist Party in other times and places, the corporation is today's dominant institution. This documentary examines the nature...

Movie Connections:

Features Moby Dick (1956)

Soundtrack:

Talu

powerful & compelling

The first time in a long time that I've seen a movie audience launch into applause at the end -- and I was as enthusiastic as everyone else.

While quite long (2 hours, 45 minutes)this film piles detailed examples on top of interviews on top of documentary film clips. Liberally laced with interviews with folks like Noam Chomsky, Naomi Klein and Michael Moore, it also includes insightful commentary from a (small) handful of liberated corporate executives.

The sum total is a compelling story of the evil that can be and is done by and in the name of corporations. I say this as one who has worked in a corporate environment my entire career, and who for a very long time has had difficulty getting past the 'but these are almost all nice people -- I don't know any ogres out to intentionally rape & pillage' perspective.

What I'm gradually wakening to is the realization that yes, the corporate structure is very efficient at doing what it's designed to do -- which unfortunately does not include taking social responsibility or the greater good into account. Instead it's ruthlessly focused on the bottom line, come hell (literally) or high water -- or polluted water.

I highly recommend this film. I know I'll be going back for a second viewing -- there's that much content, that I know I didn't absorb it all the first time around.