In just over a week I have the extreme honor of going to New York City to attend a symposium on non-fiction filmmaking and pitch session sponsored by Current TV. Not only will this be an awesome career thing, but it will also be a chance to meet two of my favorite people in person; Al Gore and Albert Maysles.
Gore needs no introduction, but many may not know that he is actually the founder of Current TV, and maintains an interest in the progressive user-created content network.
Albert Maysles, with his brother David, were the seminal documentary filmmakers of their time, chronicling the 1970 disaster at Altamont (“Gimme Shelter”) and Jackie Onassis’ kooky relatives (“Grey Gardens”), and made the highly influential film “Salesman“, which follows a group of salesmen trying to sell expensive bibles to low income Catholic families. My friend and writing buddy Travis recently told me that some of the characters in one of my other favorite movies, Glengarry Glen Ross, were inspired by the men in this film.
In addition their features, the brothers also made dozens of shorter works documenting cultural milestones of the fifties and sixties. Their enviable list of subjects include the arrival of the Beatles in America, Yoko Ono’s “Cut Piece” Performance, and Christo and Jean-Claude’s large scale sculptures.
Of all of these films, however, the one that caught my eye immediately was a short film from 1964 called “IBM: A Self Portrait”
I’m fascinated by corporate history. I love that Radio Shack was once a leather saddle company, or that Nintendo is over 100 years old and began as a supplier of playing cards. The history of our companies is the history of ourselves, since our history is largely the story of how we spend our money. What corporate history charts the last few decades’ course through technology better than IBM’s? That the Maysles brothers pointed their camera into the boardroom of this then fledgling company that would become such a huge part of all of our lives is evidence of their ability to predict the zeitgeist with stunning precision. I can only imagine what their footage reveals, however, since this film is not distributed by anyone.
David Maysles passed away in 1987, but Albert continues his prolific output. I look forward to the opportunity to meet the legend in person.
Read more about Albert and David Maysles at their website, Maysles Films.