Greenwald's Grassroots Gospel

Even before shooting began for Wal-Mart: The High Cost of Low Price, director Robert Greenwald was organizing the feature documentary's high-impact 'Premiere Week.' But there were no clichéd red carpet affairs in the schedule of events that took place around the globe from November 13 to 19. Instead, Greenwald focused on the distribution of the film's DVD, and used an online viral strategy that included blogs, emails and six hilarious spoof ads to reach out to thousands of potential fans, volunteers and special interest groups sympathetic to the doc's polemic message.

Brave New Films, Greenwald's LA-based production company, is calling the result "the biggest grassroots mobilization in movie history." More than 8,000 volunteer screenings have been hosted in schools, living rooms and community centers in countries as far flung as China, Spain, Australia, France and Mexico. The US accounted for the majority of screenings, with places of worship alone supplying more than 1,000 of the makeshift venues. (To put those numbers into perspective, Shrek 2 was released on 4,163 screens, making it the biggest opening release ever in the US.)

An experienced drama director, Greenwald got into docs after executive producing 2002's Unprecedented: The 2000 Presidential Election. Uncovered: The Iraq War and Unconstitutional followed in 2003 and 2004 respectively, but it was the unique grassroots campaign that supported 2004's Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism that put Greenwald on the non-fiction map. In partnership with the Web-savvy political group MoveOn.org, Greenwald released Outfoxed on DVD over the Internet and sold more than 100,000 copies in three weeks at US$9.95 a disk. The doc was then picked up by a distributor and released theatrically. Greenwald founded Brave New Films the following year to produce films with controversial stories that stimulate debate and inspire people to get involved.

Greenwald says the personal stories at the heart of The High Cost of Low Price, which targets Wal-Mart as the epitome of corporate greed run amok, made it ideal as the prodco's debut title. In fact, he first took note of the retailer after a neighbor who worked for Wal-Mart said his managers were helping him apply for government aide to pay for health insurance.

"I very much wanted to combine my training and experience in the narrative world and the documentary world, and here was an opportunity to do it. Because it was personal stories, I could make a film that had human drama at the center of it," says Greenwald. "And, politically, it was raising some very important questions. I was reading the other day that governments set up corporations to serve the people; they were meant to be a tool. Now the tool has become more powerful, and the servant has taken over the master."

Reviewing the film for The New York Times, critic Anita Gates says The High Cost of Low Price "makes its case with breathtaking force." But she also questions the documentary's potential impact, noting the re-election of us president Bush despite the success of Michael Moore's Fahrenheit 9/11. However, the comparison overlooks a significant difference. While Moore is a preacher, Greenwald is a shepherd. And his flock keeps getting bigger.