A shorter version of this was published today at AMI Newswire.
A documentary opening Friday about how Bill and Hillary Clinton’s marriage has powered their political dynasty is the latest entree in a growing menu of politically charged, campaign-season films.
Clinton Inc., scheduled to open in Chicago on Friday and around the country by mid-October, casts the Clinton marriage as an unusual arrangement that allows the couple to support each other's separate political ambitions, and find ways to use their positions to enrich themselves along the way.
Loosely based the 2014 book Clinton Inc. by Daniel Halper, a former Weekly Standard editor who now runs the Washington bureau of the New York Post, the film draws on interviews and archival footage to explore the psychological roots of Bill Clinton's philandering. It argues that Hillary made herself and their marriage essential to his political career by enabling and covering up his affairs (a territory also explored in the Roger Stone book The Clintons' War on Women).
The documentary is part of a growing genre of influential and successful films that criticize contemporary politics and politicians. Peter Schweitzer, the author of a book on the Clinton Foundation, “Clinton Cash,” has produced a movie version of his book which anyone can be watched for free on the website of the conservative news outlet, Breitbart.
A documentary opening Friday about how Bill and Hillary Clinton’s marriage has powered their political dynasty is the latest entree in a growing menu of politically charged, campaign-season films.
Clinton Inc., scheduled to open in Chicago on Friday and around the country by mid-October, casts the Clinton marriage as an unusual arrangement that allows the couple to support each other's separate political ambitions, and find ways to use their positions to enrich themselves along the way.
Loosely based the 2014 book Clinton Inc. by Daniel Halper, a former Weekly Standard editor who now runs the Washington bureau of the New York Post, the film draws on interviews and archival footage to explore the psychological roots of Bill Clinton's philandering. It argues that Hillary made herself and their marriage essential to his political career by enabling and covering up his affairs (a territory also explored in the Roger Stone book The Clintons' War on Women).
The documentary is part of a growing genre of influential and successful films that criticize contemporary politics and politicians. Peter Schweitzer, the author of a book on the Clinton Foundation, “Clinton Cash,” has produced a movie version of his book which anyone can be watched for free on the website of the conservative news outlet, Breitbart.
A chronicle, by means of interviews and archival footage, of the rise of the Clintons as a nascent political dynasty, Clinton Inc. builds a case that the Clinton marriage is basically an unusual arrangement where Bill and Hillary support each other's separate political ambitions, and find ways to use their positions to enrich themselves along the way. Produced on a budget of $1.5 million, the movie is heavy on exploring the psychological roots of Bill Clinton's philandering, and arguing that Hillary made herself and their marriage essential to his political career by enabling and covering up his affairs (a territory also explored in the Roger Stone book The Clintons' War on Women) The film's producer has released four different trailers on YouTube.
It's not the first time an explosive documentary has been aimed at the Clintons during an election. Many have forgotten that the famous Supreme Court case Citizens United, decided in 2010, was also about a movie, another movie about the Clintons, Hillary: The Movie (2008). A political group, Citizens United, planned to air the movie on TV during the primaries, and Democrats went to court to prevent that, claiming it was advertising that should be regulated under campaign finance law. The Supreme Court struck down those aspects of laws regulating campaign finance, arguing that they violated the First Amendment guarantees of free speech.
Doug Sain, the producer of Clinton Inc. is no stranger to making political documentaries. Sain was the executive producer of the 2016: Obama's America, which was the #1 documentary of 2012 (earning $33.5 million at the box office), the #2 political documentary of all time, and #5 documentary of all time for highest domestic gross box office. (It also came in second for the most DVDs sold for all movies during its home entertainment release week).
On a less elevated level than the Citizens United case, that Sain doc also ended up in court, with Sain suing his co-producer of 2016, conservative writer and activist Dinesh D'Souza. Sain claimed that his ownership should be increased from 25% to 50% and his production company should be paid additional fees for finding investors and other services.
The courts rejected Sain's case, but he has a chance for a rematch of sorts. D'Souza went on to produce his own movie about one of the Clintons, Hillary's America, released this past July. Starring Jonah Goldberg, an editor at National Review (a conservative rival to the Weekly Standard) and the son of Lucianne Goldberg, the PR pro who helped midwife the outing of Bill Clinton's affair with Monica Lewinsky. Hillary's America netted only $5 million at the box office. The tightening in the polls might create extra interest in Sain's later release.
This election year is seeing a lot of free speech from filmmakers. Besides Sain's and D'Souza's Hillary movies, Peter Schweitzer, the author of a book on the Clinton Foundation, Clinton Cash, also produced a movie version of his book which anyone can watch for free on the web at another conservative news outlet, Breitbart. (In an echo of the 2008 Citizens United film release, a Clinton campaign spokesperson called in August for shutting down websites like Breitbart.)
A cable network could actually do a pre-election day marathon of campaign 2016 films. Donald Trump has also become fodder for filmmakers. Johnny Depp's online mockumentary Donald Trump: The Art of the Deal, released in February, has had over 5 million visits on the Funny or Die, an entertainment industry community produced website which has many takedowns of the Trump candidacy. A relatively unknown film, One Nation Under Trump, was produced for $25,000 and released last month to bad reviews from the very few who saw it. And movies about Donald Trump as a public figure, not as a presidential candidate, have been produced every few years, going back to 1991's Trump: What's the Deal?
Not to be left out, a movie about Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson's unprecedented independent challenge, Rigged 2016, with a $1 million budget provided by Overstock.com founder Patrick Byrne, a Johnson supporter, also comes out in October. And finally a movie somewhat aligned with the Black Lives Matter movement, IncarceratingUS, is available on line and is being shown at law schools, universities, and non-profit venues. (Hillary Clinton has a cameo she probably didn't want, clapping for President Bill Clinton when he enacted mandatory minimum sentences for all crimes including non-violent drug offenses.)
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