The One Percent Director: Jamie Johnson, USA, 2008, 60
minutes
Wednesday May 27 | 9:00PM | Vancity Theatre Advance tickets sold out. Rush tickets may
be available at the door.
Sunday, May 31 | 12:00PM | Vancity Theatre Advance tickets sold out. Rush tickets may
be available at the door.
In an earlier film, Born Rich, Jamie Johnson profiled
several young people born into wealth, who spoke frankly about
a ‘taboo’ subject they’d been scrupulously taught to avoid: their
family’s money. In his new film, The One Percent, he
exposes this taboo to deeper scrutiny. The film focuses on the
growing wealth gap in America, as seen through the youthful eyes
of filmmaker Johnson, a twenty-seven-year-old heir to the Johnson
& Johnson pharmaceutical fortune. Utilizing his family’s name
and connections, Jamie sets his sights on exploring the political,
moral, and emotional rationale that enables a tiny percentage
of Americans, the one percent, to control nearly half the wealth
of the entire United States. Concerned about the widening chasm
between the rich and everyone else, Johnson tracks down several
icons of capitalism, pressing them to elaborate on their beliefs.
Featuring an all-star cast including a presidential candidate,
a Nobel laureate, a photocopying tycoon, an infamous arms merchant,
and a wiener empire heir, the story sheds light on the absurd
sense of entitlement that drives megalomaniacs to amass their
fortunes. The film also gives voice to those born into wealth
who question the fairness of a system that benefits them, often
with startling repercussions from their families. Throughout the
making of the documentary, Jamie’s father and his financial advisors
pressure the budding filmmaker to stop working on projects that
could be damaging to the company that feeds them. A shocking,
yet unceremonious, scene reveals that Warren Buffet actually ex-communicated
his granddaughter for simply participating in this film. In the
end, the Johnson clan is portrayed as quite tolerant of their
sometimes naive but well-intentioned filmmaking kin, narrowly
averting a ‘poor trustafarian’ sentiment. One of the funniest
moments in the film is when Jamie gets his comeuppance from Milton
Freedman for taking a laissez-faire approach to his research and
interviews. This film offers a rare and unique glimpse into a
part of society that works hard to keep us out.
Director’s Biography
Jamie Johnson is a 27-year-old heir to the Johnson & Johnson
pharmaceutical fortune. Johnson, who cut his film teeth at NYU
and made the Emmy-nominated 2003 HBO documentary Born Rich,
recently made the follow-up film, The One Percent, exploring
the political, moral and emotional rationale that enables a tiny
percentage of Americans — the one percent — to control
nearly half the wealth of the entire United States.
