His big retail opportunity
Documentarian Robert Greenwald makes no secret about where his allegiances lie. The filmmaker has skewered the Bush administration for embarking on the war in Iraq, the Republican Party for alleged malfeasance in the 2000 presidential election, and Rupert Murdoch’s Fox News Channel, whose take on current events, he claims, is far from “fair and balanced.”
Now he’s taking aim at what he calls a “bipartisan” target: the Wal-Mart chain, which, with 1.6 million employees internationally and $285 billion in annual revenues, is the largest retailer in the world.
“Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price” tells the story of five people -- current and former employees as well as family business owners -- affected by the policies of the retail behemoth. The $1.6-million film premieres on DVD Nov. 13.
Though Greenwald had no name recognition when he started out, sales of his DVD projects opened doors this time around. “Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election” (2002) sold more than 40,000 copies, “Uncovered: The Whole Truth About the Iraq War” (2003) more than 120,000, and “Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch’s War on Journalism” (2004) more than 200,000. While not in the league of documentaries such as Michael Moore’s “Fahrenheit 9/11” or Morgan Spurlock’s “Super Size Me,” they’ve given Greenwald newfound clout.
Ralph Tribbey, editor of the online DVD Release Report, called Greenwald’s documentary an example of how the home video explosion has changed moviemaking, diluting the power of the Hollywood hierarchy.
“DVDs are where the money is,” he said. “If just 3% or 4% of 75 million DVD households are into a social message, selling a couple of hundred thousand units isn’t unreasonable. It’s always hard for independent filmmakers. But home video, the Internet and [news-hungry] 24/7 cable news channels help.
“If someone throws gasoline on something, he’s likely to get a spark ... without studio involvement.”
The Web, Greenwald found, is a powerful tool for fundraising and information gathering. So far, he’s raised $750,000 -- of which $50,000 came from donors. (Anyone giving $30 or more gets a free DVD.) The director also used the Internet to sign up 600 field producers, novices as well as professionals, and elicit footage, photos and tips about Wal-Mart. The title of the movie was the winner of an online popularity contest.
“This is my universal studio,” said the 61-year-old filmmaker, pointing to a computer in his Culver City office, once a motel at which, legend has it, MGM executives across the street held their lunchtime trysts. “Through our website we’ve reached hundreds of thousands of people without a multimillion-dollar marketing push.”
A potential theatrical run is in negotiation, according to Greenwald. After the DVD premiere, more than 2,500 houses of worship, schools, businesses and homes have volunteered to hold screenings that week, followed by a discussion of related issues, he said.
Concern about Wal-Mart policies in the areas of environment, labor relations and employee benefits crosses economic, ideological and geographic lines, Greenwald said. “There are actually more Republicans than Democrats in the film,” he said. “Wal-Mart is an equal-opportunity offender.”
The film business, he says, is also a victim of the chain, which, experts say, accounts for 30% or more of DVD revenues.
“Because the company controls sales of so many DVDs, books and albums, it’s a [conservative] commissar of culture,” said Greenwald. “Decisions it makes about what to stock affect what gets made in Hollywood.”
The inspiration for the project came last September when Greenwald ran into a neighbor who had been hired full time by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. Unable to afford the company’s healthcare premium, he was applying for public assistance.
Greenwald soon embarked on the documentary but kept a veil of secrecy over the proceedings. In a headline-grabbing move, he announced the project in June, just before the start of the company’s shareholders’ meeting.
Wal-Mart has declined to participate in the film. A request to interview the firm’s chief executive, H. Lee Scott Jr., was turned down, the company said.
“Some of our critics have legitimate concerns,” such as the environment and smart growth, said Sarah Clark, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart. “But Greenwald’s film is not an accurate reflection of who we are. Even if we chose to participate, we question whether it would be a level playing field.”
Greenwald’s project isn’t the first to put Wal-Mart in the cross hairs: A PBS “Frontline” last year and a 2003 Los Angeles Times Pulitzer Prize-winning series explored much of the territory.
In response to such portrayals, the company decided to become proactive in telling its side of the story instead of letting others take the lead.
“In January we held a ‘set the record straight’ day to field questions from the public and the media,” Clark said. “We also launched Walmartfacts.com to counter our critics.”
In a Nov. 4 conference organized by the company, academics and others will analyze the impact of Wal-Mart on the marketplace before an audience of journalists and business leaders. Though the date was only announced in July, the event has been in the works for a year, said Nate Hurst, Wal-Mart’s public and government relations manager, and isn’t a reaction to the DVD release that month.
While there’s always room for improvement, Wal-Mart remains an attractive place to work, company representatives say. In Valley Stream, N.Y., 15,000 people recently lined up to apply for 400 positions with the company. And 76% of its management team started out as hourly workers.
Karen Burke, another Wal-Mart spokeswoman, disagreed with the contention that Wal-Mart’s merchandise choices are driven by ideological concerns rather than customer demand.
“We’re a retailer, not a censor,” she said. “With 100 million customers a week, we have to appeal to a wide variety of cultures, age groups and interests. While it’s too early to say if we’ll stock his [DVD], Greenwald’s ‘Outfoxed’ and ‘Uncovered’ are available on Walmart.com.”
The director said that there’s a pervasive “climate of fear” surrounding Wal-Mart employees. More than 20 employees who were going to participate in the film, he said, later declined for fear of losing their jobs. On another front, two Hollywood figures who had pledged “several hundred thousand dollars apiece” to fund the movie also backed out for fear of raising Wal-Mart’s ire.
Clark challenged that perception, saying she doesn’t “envision any retribution” against those who cooperate with the film.
Greenwald jokes that documentaries are his night job, a break from TV movies such as 1984’s “The Burning Bed” and 2003’s “The Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron,” which ran on CBS.
His moonlighting is far less risky, he says, now that the marketplace has changed.
“Films no longer have to be designed to appeal to everyone, like the ones distributed by bottom-line corporations,” he said. “And I don’t have to beg a gatekeeper, ‘Please let me in.’ ”
