Dear cj,
I want to mention a major (as in: scary, formidable, beyond my experience)
project whose feasibility I'm nontheless contemplating. It would be a
documentary (tv mini-series) on GLOBALIZATION - what it is, what it means
to you, who benefits, what they're not telling you, etc. There would be
six to twelve full-length (50 min?) segments. The aim would be to
distribute wordwide as a centeneray piece, although I doubt if mainstream
venues would take to it.
Source materials would include interviews with mainstream players, experts,
and officials; interviews also with alternative sources (eg Chomsky,
Parenti, Nader); archive material - examples of media treatment of
globalization issues; interviews with workers, consumers, and officials in
countries at various stages of development and global integration; field
takes of factories, housing conditions, etc; graphics to show
relationships, such as who gets what piece of the profit pie.
Each segment would take a different "cut" at the topic, organizing source
material around some focus... here are some uneditied (brainstorming) ideas
for segments:
"Globalism in action: life cycle of <some familiar product>"
"Prosperity or umemployment? - economic consequences"
"Privatization: reform or sell-out?"
"Free trade: what are the hidden costs?"
"Market forces: are they all they're cracked up to be?"
"Deregulation: liberation or lawlessness?"
"Global order: whose military and which missions?"
"EU and NATO: continental harmony or organized imperialism?"
"EU case study: fishing rights"
"Who will run things? - the question of sovereignty"
"Corporations vs Nations - the hidden war"
"The Big Picture - prognosis for the 21st century"
"Is globalism inevitable? What are the alternatives?"
In each segment attention would be given to historical background, current
theory and reality, identification of trends, review of media spin, and
reflection on material presented.
One suggestion has been to seek out independent production teams in various
countries and organize a collaborative approach to the project (providing
variety of style and minimizing travel/location costs). So far, I've
recruited the collabortion of a Dublin independent tv producer, and we're
planning to submit an initial proposal to the Irish Film Board. They
decide on documentary funding end of May - nice timing.
I'd welcome any suggestions, contacts, identification of previous similar
productions, etc. I'm buying a tv and want to review all similar
documentaries I can get my hands on. The tv brings fear - will my mental
health survive drinking the polluted waters of the mind?
-rkm
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