MNeagle
24th July 2010, 05:17 AM
By SUSANNE CRAIG
Get ready for "Goldman Sachs: The Movie."
That isn't a real movie title. But filmmaker Ric Burns, who created the PBS series "The Civil War" with his brother Ken, is shooting a documentary about the Wall Street firm. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is paying for the film, has editorial control and is overseeing the project through its marketing department, a Goldman spokesman said.
Mr. Burns, who didn't return phone calls seeking comment, was approached by Goldman in 2007 and has been tackling the documentary on and off since then. The company's history goes all the way back to the day in 1869 when German immigrant Marcus Goldman opened a one-room office on Pine Street in lower Manhattan, near the firm's new headquarters.
Already in the can are interviews with numerous past and present Goldman employees. Goldman's leading man, Chairman and Chief Executive Lloyd C. Blankfein, is likely to appear in the film.
Given the company's starring role in the financial crisis, some filmmakers are skeptical about Mr. Burns's movie. "It is very unusual for a documentary maker of his stature to take on a project like this, and especially one with strings attached," said Robert Greenwald, whose 2005 documentary, "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," cast an unflattering look at the retailer. "It goes against everything we fight for as documentary makers."
Barbara Kopple, whose films include a documentary about the Dixie Chicks, says the Goldman film could be a worthwhile project even though Goldman is bankrolling it. "How many times do you get a view into the inner workings of Goldman Sachs?" she says. The film's cost and expected completion date couldn't be determined.
Standard Oil Co. financed "Louisiana Story," the 1948 film by documentary legend Robert Flaherty that depicted a boy's idyllic life in oil-drilling country and is considered sympathetic to the oil industry. It received an Oscar nomination.
Goldman was cast as a villain in Michael Moore's anti-Wall Street documentary "Capitalism: A Love Story," where the filmmaker confronted employees of the firm, demanding they give back money Goldman got during the crisis. (The company later repaid its $10 billion in taxpayer-funded capital.) Mr. Blankfein got less-than-rave reviews for his testimony in an 11-hour Senate hearing shortly after the company was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission in April for fraud.
Now that Goldman has settled the suit with a $550 million payment, Mr. Burns could have a harder time coming up with memorable plot twists. Will Fabrice Tourre, the Goldman employee on paid leave after being accused of fraud in the SEC suit, go back to the trading floor? Will the documentary actually include the tongue-twisting words Abacus 2007-AC1?
The documentary is for employees only, meaning YouTube might be the only chance that other people will have to see the film.
http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MI-BE760_GSMOVI_D_20100722163153.jpg
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: Goldman chief Lloyd C. Blankfein, being prepped for an interview after a congressional hearing earlier this year,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704249004575385471576237734.html?m od=WSJ_hps_LEFTWhatsNews
Get ready for "Goldman Sachs: The Movie."
That isn't a real movie title. But filmmaker Ric Burns, who created the PBS series "The Civil War" with his brother Ken, is shooting a documentary about the Wall Street firm. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. is paying for the film, has editorial control and is overseeing the project through its marketing department, a Goldman spokesman said.
Mr. Burns, who didn't return phone calls seeking comment, was approached by Goldman in 2007 and has been tackling the documentary on and off since then. The company's history goes all the way back to the day in 1869 when German immigrant Marcus Goldman opened a one-room office on Pine Street in lower Manhattan, near the firm's new headquarters.
Already in the can are interviews with numerous past and present Goldman employees. Goldman's leading man, Chairman and Chief Executive Lloyd C. Blankfein, is likely to appear in the film.
Given the company's starring role in the financial crisis, some filmmakers are skeptical about Mr. Burns's movie. "It is very unusual for a documentary maker of his stature to take on a project like this, and especially one with strings attached," said Robert Greenwald, whose 2005 documentary, "Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price," cast an unflattering look at the retailer. "It goes against everything we fight for as documentary makers."
Barbara Kopple, whose films include a documentary about the Dixie Chicks, says the Goldman film could be a worthwhile project even though Goldman is bankrolling it. "How many times do you get a view into the inner workings of Goldman Sachs?" she says. The film's cost and expected completion date couldn't be determined.
Standard Oil Co. financed "Louisiana Story," the 1948 film by documentary legend Robert Flaherty that depicted a boy's idyllic life in oil-drilling country and is considered sympathetic to the oil industry. It received an Oscar nomination.
Goldman was cast as a villain in Michael Moore's anti-Wall Street documentary "Capitalism: A Love Story," where the filmmaker confronted employees of the firm, demanding they give back money Goldman got during the crisis. (The company later repaid its $10 billion in taxpayer-funded capital.) Mr. Blankfein got less-than-rave reviews for his testimony in an 11-hour Senate hearing shortly after the company was sued by the Securities and Exchange Commission in April for fraud.
Now that Goldman has settled the suit with a $550 million payment, Mr. Burns could have a harder time coming up with memorable plot twists. Will Fabrice Tourre, the Goldman employee on paid leave after being accused of fraud in the SEC suit, go back to the trading floor? Will the documentary actually include the tongue-twisting words Abacus 2007-AC1?
The documentary is for employees only, meaning YouTube might be the only chance that other people will have to see the film.
http://si.wsj.net/public/resources/images/MI-BE760_GSMOVI_D_20100722163153.jpg
LIGHTS, CAMERA, ACTION: Goldman chief Lloyd C. Blankfein, being prepped for an interview after a congressional hearing earlier this year,
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704249004575385471576237734.html?m od=WSJ_hps_LEFTWhatsNews