Just in time for the upcoming election, documentary filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi takes viewers behind the scenes of where American politicians find the funding for their costly campaigns.
As the daughter of the first female Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, Alexandra Pelosi no doubt has a plethora of knowledge on the subject. In her new film “Meet the Donors: Does Money Talk?” Pelosi “talks with mega-donors who are funding America’s presidential candidates to find out why they are pouring millions into our elections. With the election of 2016 shaping up to be the most expensive in U.S. history, candidates from both major parties are relying on the generosity of big donors to get their message out. But who are these high rollers, and why are they giving so much of their money away?” Lobbying, corporations, unions, and advocacy groups all come into play without the general public being completely aware.
Featuring ultra-rich donors (you’ll notice they’re mostly white men) from both sides of the aisle, “Meet the Donors” paints a frightening picture of how our politicians are bought. But it seems that all is not lost. As one wealthy donor explains in the film’s new trailer, he’s given millions only to have his requested policies turned down at every chance.
The film features interviews with Haim Saban, founder of Saban Entertainment; former hedge-fund manager Julian Robertson; grocery-store magnate John Catsimatidis; Stanley Hubbard, chairman and CEO of Hubbard Broadcasting; Foster Friess, a mutual-fund investor with a Christian agenda; Sonoma vintner John Jordan; investment banker Brad Freeman; J.B. Pritzker, co-founder of the Pritzer Group and scion to one of America’s richest families; Morris Pearl, chairman of The Patriotic Millionaires; oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens; and hedge-fund manager and philanthropist Tom Steyer.
Democrat Bernard Schwartz adds that he considers his donations “a privilege…I’m investing in something I believe in,” saying, “I don’t ask for a politician to do what I say. I want them to hear me when I have a problem.”
Pelosi also steps into the other side of the argument, and features commentary from those who are “raising money to get money out of politics.” Those faces include Jonathan Soros, an advocate for Campaign Finance Reform, who feels America needs “a path for someone to run without relying on rich people”; Ben Cohen, a founder of Ben & Jerry’s ice cream; Hollywood executive Jeffrey Katzenberg; and former Republican congressman Tom Davis.
The doc debuts on August 1, just after the Republican and Democratic conventions, exclusively on HBO.
