‘The best business films never made’ by Amy Duff, Director, December 2010

This is a tongue in cheek article that is rather typical of the Director Magazine’s approach to business topics. It is however quite thought-provoking and entertaining to read and makes a nice follow up to my reviews of the theatre version of ‘Enron’ and of the recent film ‘Social Network’. These productions showed how real life stories of conflict in business can make great entertainment, though it has to be admitted that the Enron and Facebook stories have more dramatic features than most.

The article suggests ten possible stories ranging from Rupert Murdoch’s battle with the unions at Wapping to the rise, fall and rise of Steve Jobs at Apple. Because I cannot get enough of books about conflict and drama in business, I was left thinking that every one of the ten stories quoted would make a great film and why hasn’t it been done much more? The Saatchi Brothers losing control of the company they built, Gerald Ratner destroying his company’s value in one speech, Richard Branson taking on BA and winning most of the battles; these all seem sure-fire hits.

So why aren’t there more films about business? Maybe it’s because not everyone is as fascinated as me; maybe it’s because the laws of libel make it too risky (I still don’t know how they avoided litigation from Facebook); maybe it’s because the average filmgoer prefers fiction to fact. But the overall conclusion from this article is that business can produce compelling drama that is often stranger than fiction; and that we can always learn from the stories of success and failure.

Click here to read the article in full;
http://www.director.co.uk/MAGAZINE/2010/11_December/business-films_64_04.html