FORMER MTV PRODUCER GOES FROM GLITZ TO GRIT

PRESS RELEASE:

“It's tempting to compare filmmaker Greg Spotts with Michael Moore. Like that pugnacious documentarian, Spotts aims to champion the little guy…” - Seattle Times

“Stories of heartache and fear as jobs move overseas…His goal in making the movie was not to solve the problem, but to start a dialogue.” - CNN “Lou Dobbs Tonight”

PERSONAL INVESTIGATION EXPLORES LOSS OF AMERICAN JOBS TO FOREIGN COMPETITION, REVEALING PARALLELS BETWEEN PLANT CLOSURES AND “OFFSHORE OUTSOURCING”

Los Angeles and Seattle Premieres Scheduled In September

Features Music by Bob Dylan, Rickie Lee Jones, Randy Newman & Dr. John

August 17, 2004 Santa Monica, CA – As the presidential candidates spin employment numbers and offer economic proposals, first-time filmmaker Greg Spotts is readying a very different take on the state of the American economy. The result of a self-funded personal investigation that took Spotts to nineteen cities, the nonpartisan documentary AMERICAN JOBS will be released on DVD on Labor Day.

One year ago, Spotts was working as a freelance television producer in music and sports. While producing the Shortlist Music Prize concert special for MTV2, Spotts, 36, realized that many of his friends were unemployed and began researching the loss of American Jobs to foreign competition. After gathering hundreds of news articles on his hard drive, Spotts became convinced that the only way to understand the country’s economic plight was to go out and see the damage for himself.

Having visited the homes of dozens of recently laid-off American workers, Spotts is now convinced that the economy is undergoing structural rather than cyclical change. “While our politicians argue about the relative strength of the recovery, thousands of Americans are losing their jobs to low-wage foreign competition, and these jobs are never coming back,” he explains.

While “American Jobs” follows in the footsteps of recent direct-to-DVD political documentaries like “Outfoxed,” Spotts’ film did not receive financing from political parties or advocacy groups, and represents a fiercely independent point-of-view. To promote “American Jobs,” Spotts plans to bring the movie back to many of the cities and towns in which it was filmed, for a series of premieres and screenings throughout September and October.

Among the first stops on Spotts’ journey will be the west coast premiere at Seattle Town Hall on September 13th, which will feature a panel discussion on jobs and trade. The film will also be screened during the Silverlake Film Festival at the ArcLight Theater in Los Angeles in late September. Premieres and other showings are in the works for New York, Washington DC, Denver, Orlando, Kannapolis, North Carolina, and several industrial cities in Ohio.

From January to April 2004, Spotts traveled alone to over nineteen cities and towns in eight states, interviewing workers in their homes with a Panasonic DVX-100 digital video camera and a few lights. “The whole kit fits in two heavy suitcases,” explains Spotts. “It’s the very smallest amount of gear you could use to make a decent-looking film, and about the maximum amount of luggage one person can handle in an airport.”

In his travels, Spotts saw firsthand the new perils faced by American families, as multinational corporations use “global sourcing” to replace middle-class Americans with lower-wage foreign labor. In the worker’s own words, the documentary reveals families left behind by the brave new world, facing bankruptcy, foreclosure, and no health insurance while they struggle to retrain for an uncertain future.

“American Jobs movingly shows the devastating consequences of policy decisions that put business interests above the basic wellbeing of Americas working families. The gripping interviews with hardworking men and women who have lost their jobs should be a must-watch for corporate leaders and legislators. The film makes a compelling case for protecting and advancing workers rights as a human right both abroad and in the U.S.” - Former Congressman David Bonior, Chair of American Rights at Work

Edited on an Apple laptop, the film was produced in just six months from start to finish. Reaching into his music industry rolodex, Spotts tapped radio personality and music supervisor Chris Douridas (KCRW, Shrek 2) to define a music backdrop for the film. “Chris suggested we seek out the swampier, funkier side of Americana,” explains Spotts, and the result is a potent mix of songs by Bob Dylan, Rickie Lee Jones, Dr. John, Odetta, Johnny Guitar Watson, and Randy Newman, with original music by noted record producer Tom Rothrock (Beck, Elliot Smith).

In addition to the displaced workers, the documentary features interviews with students, economists, academics and politicians, including US Members of Congress Sherrod Brown, (D-OH) Donald Manzullo, (R-IL) Rosa DeLauro, (D-CT) Robin Hayes, (R-NC) and Hilda Solis, (D-CA). The film also features a segment covering Spotts' visit to Juarez, Mexico, illustrating the cross-border social costs of the new global supply chain.

To view clips from the film, visit AJF