Chris Barrett (filmmaker)

Chris Barrett (born July 24, 1982 in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) is an American Internet entrepreneur, film director, spokesperson, and author who is featured in the 2004 Sundance award winning documentary The Corporation and its 2020 sequel The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel.

Early Life and background

Barrett grew up in Bryn Mawr, PA and graduated from Haddonfield Memorial High School in 2001 where he was class president.[1][2][3] Barrett attended Pepperdine University.[2]

Career

First Corporately Sponsored College Student

Barrett launched his entrepreneurial career in high school, during a national search for a corporation to sponsor his college education.[4] In exchange for college tuition, Barrett was willing to be a company's “spokesguy” and wear clothes with the sponsors' logo on them.[5] The inspiration for the came after Chris saw a TV commercial featuring professional golfer and Nike spokesperson Tiger Woods wearing Nike logo on his hat.[6]

Barrett was named an up-and-comer to watch in 2001 by the New York Post, during his search to become the first corporately sponsored college student.[7]

Barrett became the first corporately sponsored college student, when he was named a financial responsibility spokesperson for the credit card company First USA, which was owned by BankOne. The corporate sponsorship announcement happened on NBC’s The Today Show in June 2001.[8]

Powerhouse Pictures

In 2006, Barrett co-founded Powerhouse Pictures with actor Efren Ramirez. Where he directed the documentary After School, about teacher student sex scandals,[9] which was announced on CNN’s Larry King Live.[10]

Technology Startups

Barrett founded PRServe in 2011, a public relations agency for startups. PRServe had an innovative and disruptive business model by launching as a performance-based agency.[11] Instead of charging a monthly retainer fee and collecting payment if they secure any media coverage for its clients, PRServe’s business model added a layer of transparency where it only gets paid when they secure media coverage.[12]

In 2014, Barrett co-founded the viral internet game The Rap Test with 21-year old Danny Friday.[13] In the game, you pick a rap artist and the game then plays a 15-second clip from the artists discography, then you must decide which song is playing.[14] The Fader called The Rap Test “the Best Thing on the Internet.”[15]

Political career

Grassroots For Sanders

In 2015, Barrett co-founded #BernItForward, a web app where you would donate $3 on behalf of 3 friends to the 2016 Bernie Sanders Presidential campaign.[16] He then joined Grassroots for Sanders as an assistant fundraising manager, the organization behind the subreddit r/SandersForPresident, where he helped raise $10 million dollars directly to the 2016 Sanders campaign.[17]

Elected to Office

Inspired by Bernie Sanders progressive politics, in 2017 Barrett joined the Collingswood, New Jersey democratic ticket and was elected to the Camden County Democratic Committee.[17] While elected to office, Barrett worked with the Democratic party to make the voice of younger, more progressive, voters heard within the New Jersey Democratic party.[18] Barrett is an outspoken advocate for legalizing marijuana and social justice reform,[19] eliminating student loan debt,[18] and gun control.[20]  

The Corporation

Barrett was featured in Sundance Film Festival award winning documentary film The Corporation is a 2003 Canadian documentary film written by University of British Columbia law professor Joel Bakan, and directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott. The documentary examines the modern-day corporation. Barrett was interviewed to discuss being the first corporately sponsored college student.[21]

Barrett was also featured in the 2020 sequel, The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel, a Canadian documentary film, directed by Joel Bakan and Jennifer Abbott that premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. The film profiles new developments in the political and social power of corporations since the release of the original. After 17 years, Chris Barrett returned in the sequel to share his transformation from being the first corporately sponsored college student to pay for his college education to now being a Bernie Sanders inspired progressive grassroots politician.[22][23] The film also showcases Barrett's run for political office in New Jersey and becoming an elected official.[24]

Documentary appearances
Year Title Role Ref
2003 The Corporation Himself [21]
2006 Maxed Out Himself [25]
2020 The New Corporation Himself [26]

Direct Your Own Life

Barrett is co-author of the non-fiction business book Direct Your Own Life: How to be a Star in Any Field Your Choose, published by Kaplan Publishing (ISBN 9781427797667).[27]

Barrett and Napoleon Dynamite actor Efren Ramirez co-authored the book aimed at encouraging readers to achieve their life goals.[28]  The book was endorsed by Netflix’s Co-CEO Ted Sarandos ”Efren and Chris attack everything they do with a spirit and a level of enthusiasm that we all aspire to have in our work and our lives.” [29]

References
  1. "Chris Barrett". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  2. ALLISON, MELISSA. "Pair's 1st year of college on First USA". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  3. Zernike, Kate (2001-07-19). "And Now a Word From Their Cool College Sponsor (Published 2001)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  4. "Corporate Kids". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  5. Powers, William (2001-08-01). "The Art of Exploitation". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  6. "Sponsored Students Set For College". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  7. Greene, Leonard (2001-01-01). "KEEP YOUR EYE ON THESE UP-AND-COMERS IN 2001". New York Post. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  8. Piccalo, Gina (2001-07-09). "Big 'Spokesguy' on Campus". LA Times. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  9. "SUNDANCE: Wintertime For The Producers". Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  10. Stone, Adam (2008-10-06). "He wants the big picture". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  11. Bryant, Martin (2012-11-09). "PR and the Price on a Blogger's Head". The Next Web. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  12. "In Defense Of PRServe". Techli. 2012-11-10. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  13. Reyes, Juliana (2014-06-24). "The Rap Test, a buzzy rap trivia game, has South Jersey roots". Technical.ly Philly. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  14. "This 21-Year-Old Dropped Out Of College To Test Our Knowledge Of Rap". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  15. "The Rap Test Is the Best Thing on the Internet (For Real This Time)". The FADER. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  16. Reyes, Juliana (2016-01-18). "These Philly technologists are on Product Hunt right now for their Bernie Sanders project". Technical.ly Philly. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  17. Bakan, Joel (2020-09-22). The New Corporation: How "Good" Corporations Are Bad for Democracy. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-9848-9973-6.
  18. Trethan, Phaedra. "Norcross meets with millennials to talk guns, DACA, debt". Courier-Post. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  19. Barrett, Chris. "LETTER: Sen. Beach should listen to his constituents on legalizing marijuana". Courier-Post. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  20. "Violence, Finances, and DREAMers: Oaklyn Roundtable Talks Concerns with Congressman". NJ PEN. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  21. Achbar, Mark; Abbott, Jennifer (2004-06-04), The Corporation (Documentary, History), Mikela Jay, Rob Beckwermert, Christopher Gora, Nina Jones, Big Picture Media Corporation, retrieved 2020-11-23
  22. Toronto, Point of View Magazine • 392-401 Richmond Street West •; email, ON • M5V 3A8 • Canada •639-0653 • Send us an. "The Corporation Doubles Down – Point of View Magazine". povmagazine.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  23. "Planet in Focus 2020: The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel". 3 Brothers Film. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  24. "Democracy, not consumption is "how we will amass power to challenge the corporate behemoth"". Salon. 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  25. Scurlock, James D. (2006-03-10), Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders (Documentary), Beth Naef, Mike Hudson, Louis C.K, Catherine Brown, Trueworks, retrieved 2020-11-23
  26. Abbott, Jennifer; Bakan, Joel (2020-09-13), The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel (Documentary), Anjali Appadurai, Chris Barrett, Heidi Boghosian, Wendy Brown, Screen Siren Pictures, Grant Street Productions, retrieved 2020-11-23
  27. "Direct Your Own Life - How To Be A Star In Any Field You Choose". directyourownlife.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  28. July 2008, 11. "Napoleon Dynamite pens self-help book". v5.femalefirst.co.uk. Retrieved 2020-11-23.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  29. "Direct Your Own Life - Endorsements". www.directyourownlife.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
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