Company Town

Company Town / 1983

The former coal town of Widen, West Virginia. Once a model of paternalistic domination, Widen had been sold to the Pittston Corporation in 1963. Ricky Leacock said of the film, "I find Company Town to be a beautiful film that I can enjoy over and over. It manages to avoid the obvious cliches but causes one to wonder 'why do they stay?' and at the same time to understand that this place, these activities, these people, with all their limitations, are unique and wonderful."

Company Town /

A look at the lives of government agents who all live in the same Washington D.C. neighborhood.

Company Town / 2016

The once free-spirited city of San Francisco is now a 'Company Town,' a playground for tech moguls of the 'sharing economy' and social media. Billionaire venture capitalists virtually control the city's government. Skyrocketing rents and evictions have driven out ethic and middle class communities. But a grassroots backlash threatens the power of tech. The feature-length documentary, 'Company Town,' is the story of an intense election campaign that will determine the fate of the city at the epicenter of the digital revolution. The whole world is watching as similar revolts against Uber, Airbnb, and other multi-billion dollar companies erupt around the world.

Company Town / 2020

A Canadian union and workers in a GM plant mobilize to save it in what will become the fight of their lives.

Company Town / 2017

Company Town is an investigative documentary following one man's mission to save his town in Crossett, Arkansas, polluted by Georgia-Pacific, one of the nation's largest paper and chemical plants, owned by Charles Koch and David Koch. They produce Brawny paper towels, Angel Soft toilet paper, and Dixie cups. Neighbors work for the mill and are sick with cancer. Company Town represents hidden towns across America battling illness and pollution by big business.

California Company Town / 2008

Lee Anne Schmitt explores California's landscape and past to document the history of one-time boom towns built and abandoned by the industries that necessitated their creation. Sold as a limitless land expansive with free opportunity, California was actually, from its onset, fissured by the interwoven needs of private and public interests. Schmitt's film covers various locations through time, as the major industries of the early 20th century (mining, lumber, oil) give way to the military, eventually leading to multinational corporations, and the use of small towns as satellites for growing urban metropolises.

Where You Goin' Company Town /

This short documentary examines the changing relations between labour and management in the long-established company town of Trail, BC, in which 90% of the workforce is employed by Cominco, the world’s largest lead-zinc smelter. The metal workers in the town are outspoken about the health risks associated with their line of work, and a debate about unionization ensues. The days of paternalistic management are gone, and the emphasis is now on participation and involvement. An eventual strike over dissatisfaction with labour relations turns violent when management, union executives, and workers clash over competing interests.

Fenceline / 2002

African-American residents in Norco, Louisiana, who believe that increasing pollution is negatively impacting their health, demand to be relocated from under the shadow of a Shell oil refinery.