Producers Betsy Carson and Trish Dolman
Interview by Laurie Casey
Screening Saturday, March 13, 6:30 p.m. CST, “The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel" tackles the friction between democracy and unfettered capitalism. Tickets available to U.S. viewers only.
In the face of fracturing societies, climate change, and the hollowing out of democracy, “The New Corporation” is a cry for social justice, deeper democracy, and transformative solutions. From Joel Bakan and Jennifer Abbott, filmmakers of the multi-award-winning global hit “The Corporation,” comes this hard-hitting and timely sequel. “The Corporation'' (2003) examined an institution within society. ”The New Corporation” reveals a world now fully remade in the corporation’s image, perilously close to losing democracy. The film traces the devastating consequences, connecting the dots between then and now, and inspires stories of resistance and change from around the world.
Laurie Casey talked with the film’s producers, Trish Dolman, President of Screen Siren Pictures Inc., and Betsy Carson.
Q: What was your motivation for producing "The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel"?
Betsy: By 2015 corporate power had increased in leaps and bounds since “The Corporation” was produced in 2003. It was evident that as a global society we had unwittingly participated in allowing this transfer of control over our lives on several levels, ranging from the personal to institutional. Anxiety and feeling helpless to effect change were fueling an apathy which would only increase as big corporations continued to privatize, evade taxes, pour dollars into lobbying and deregulation and capture our personal data. When Trish proposed the idea of a sequel, I was delighted to see if we could help connect the dots between this amorphous anxiety of a society that had adopted corporate values but sensed something very wrong about doing so, and the deliberate manipulation of corporations to increase their profits. Giving people the understanding of how deeply corporations are involved in government as well as our daily lives and showing examples of change were at the top of my priorities.
Q: Corporate greed is a big theme in your film. As individuals, it's easy for us to feel powerless. What has to happen in a person's mindset to feel emboldened to fight that seemingly all-powerful force?
Trish: Well for me personally that is the entire reason I got into filmmaking—to change people’s perceptions, to create social change, to change the conversation. Filmmaking is one way to do that, and from people’s responses to the film to date, it’s doing its job. We all need to remember that democracy is the representation of citizenship, and if we want it to change we have to get involved. There are so many examples of people getting involved in democracy as a way to fight corporate greed and to implement impediments to corporate greed. The very nature of corporations is to deliver never-ending profits, so their greed is inherently insatiable. There are ways to curtail it—citizens’ direct challenge to overarching corporate power (often called activism), government regulation, and ideally, the evolution of alternative economic systems that don’t demand never-ending profit, which is really the root of that greed.
Q: The Jan. 6 attack at the U.S. Capitol building was frightening to watch. In the wake of the attack, some corporations are distancing themselves from/pledging to not financially support the 2022 campaigns of elected members of congress who voted against accepting the election results. Does this give you hope, or is it an empty threat?
Trish: Well it’s an empty threat unless they follow through. I think the film does a good job of articulating how we got to this place, why the capitol building is being stormed in the first place: Decades of decimating the middle class, destroying education, removing government regulation and oversight, allowing corporate takeover of the public commons, reducing corporate taxation, dividing and conquering the people, and most importantly, allowing corporations to become omnipotent. We only need to look at human history to see that the amalgamation of too much power never benefits the greater good. An attack on elections and therefore democracy is the ultimate final chess move by corporations to gain complete control—if you believe that Trump is a representative of corporate interests.
Q: What are the most important "action items" you hope people take away from your film?
Betsy: I hope that people discuss with their families, their friends, and their coworkers how they can disentangle their lives from corporate values. That constant growth is not a sign of success but a sign of greed. And that joining groups that work on environmental change, democratic change, poverty and inequality issues, or other issues that work toward a more equal society is worth doing. That it's rewarding to participate in change in many ways.
This film screens Saturday, March 13, 6:30 to 9 p.m. CST. After the screening, you’ll have another chance to hear from Trish Dolman during the post-film discussion led by Rebecca Leber, Environmental Politics and Policy Reporter, Washington DC Bureau, Mother Jones magazine. Olivia Knight, As You Sow, Racial Justice Coordinator, will also be part of the discussion.