Maybe I can sneak in as an extra?
Want Stealth With That? The 'Fast Food Nation' Film Goes Undercover - New York Times
In Austin, Tex., Richard Linklater, a filmmaker known for the whimsy of “Slacker” and “School of Rock,” is planning a big-screen adaptation of “Fast Food Nation,” the 2001 exposé book by Eric Schlosser. Filming began Monday in Texas and will continue at locations there, in Colorado and Mexico. The preparations have had the secrecy of a stealth mission. A recent call to the production office requesting information about the movie provoked a crackling pause on the telephone line. The hesitant voice finally said, “You mean ... 'Coyote'?”In September, The Austin American-Statesman reported that the drama, written by Mr. Linklater and Mr. Schlosser and starring Catalina Sandino Moreno (“Maria Full of Grace”), is hiding under the sheep's clothing of a pseudonym. The false name - “Coyote” - was chosen, the newspaper said, to help the production gain access to franchise restaurants and other industry locations that might be off limits if the movie's true source material were known.
Fast Food Nation
is an interesting topic to make a feature film about.
Mr. Linklater was unavailable for comment, and the co-producer Ann Carli played down the film's connection to its muckraking source material. “We're just using the fast food industry as a backdrop for a multitude of characters,” she said. “It's not a polemic. It's a character study, set in the world of the fast food industry. It's about how people grow up and make decisions to do they things they do. It's about what turns their lives.” Whether Mr. Linklater's completed film, whatever its title, proves an effective exploration of such matters remains to be seen.
And of course, there is going to be a lot of negative PR, sponsored by the fast food corporations...
...“I've got a bunch of people snooping around for info on this movie, and nobody can find anything,” said Pete Meersman, president of the Colorado Restaurant Association, who appears briefly in Mr. Schlosser's book. Although his colleague Richie Jackson, head of the Texas Restaurant Association, did not return calls for comment, Mr. Meersman said he had been in touch with Mr. Jackson. “Richie can't find anything either,” he said. “It's weird.”When told that the film could have a pseudonym, Mr. Meersman said, “If people are willing to lie about what they're doing, they can probably talk their way into most anywhere, and that could be a problem.”
Susan P. Kezios, president of the American Franchisee Association, a trade group for franchise holders, pointed out that fast food giants are capable of fighting back. “If corporations got wind that this is happening, they could issue an order overnight to all franchisees that says, 'In order to be in compliance with your franchise contract, do not let any filmmakers in,' ” she said.
But Robert Zarco, a Miami lawyer and franchise law specialist, thinks corporations would have a hard time slowing the “Fast Food Nation” movie down. He said that a franchisee's contractual obligations must be balanced with First Amendment rights. So long as the filming does not disclose confidential and proprietary franchise system information, Mr. Zarco said, “I believe that a franchisor will have an extremely high hurdle to leap to default and then terminate a franchisee for having permitted the filming of its business location.”
Apparently, Morgan Spurlock liked what he read...
Morgan Spurlock, who directed and starred in “Super Size Me,” the 2004 documentary, said that he had seen a version of the “Fast Food Nation” script, and in an interview he praised the film's comprehensive look at this huge industry.
“You see how deep the tentacles run,” Mr. Spurlock said. “You see how big the web is.”
In the DVD of Super Size Me, there is a long interview with Eric Schlosser....
“Super Size Me” (Morgan Spurlock)
complete article here
I really liked Fast Food Nation--and also wish Morgan Spurlock's excellent TV show 30 Days was still around.
I've given the book as a present to a few people. I saw a few of the 30 Days shows, but had forgotten about it. My sister works for the City of Austin tourism dept, and she claims to have the inside scoop, but I haven't talked to her about it yet.