newportFILM announced today writer William Cohan will talk with hedge fund titan Bill Ackman and director Ted Braun following a screening of Braun’s film “Betting on Zero” on August 11th on the seaside lawn of Ochre Court in Newport RI. Close to a thousand people are expected to attend.
“Betting On Zero” is a documentary about Ackman’s crusade against Herbalife to expose it as a pyramid scheme. Bill Ackman is an activist investor and the founder and CEO of Pershing Square Capital Management LP. William D. Cohan is a well respected author, business journalist and former merger and acquisitions banker. His books include Money and Silence: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World, and House of Cards, about the final days of Bear Stearns.
Allegations of corporate criminality and high-stakes Wall Street vendettas swirl throughout “Betting on Zero,” a riveting financial docu-thriller from “Darfur Now” writer-director, Ted Braun. Controversial hedge fund titan Bill Ackman is on a crusade to expose global nutritional giant Herbalife as the largest pyramid scheme in history while Herbalife execs claim Ackman is a market manipulator out to bankrupt them and make a killing off his billion dollar short. Caught in the crossfire are middle Americans forging their financial future, working class Latino’s seeking justice, and a business model affecting the lives of millions around the world.
“Betting On Zero” weaves deception, hubris, intrigue, and greed in a surprising, deeply emotional dive into the world of money, fraud and the American Dream.
Now in its 7th summer season, newportFILM has a history of bringing the most talked about and award-winning documentary films and filmmakers to Newport, RI during its weekly outdoor screening series. Previous titles include Liz Garbus’ “What Happened, Miss Simone?” Albert Maysles’ “Iris,” Robert Gordon and Morgan Neville’s “Best of Enemies,” Lauren Greenfield’s “The Queen of Versailles,” Rory Kennedy’s “Ethel,” and more.
newportFILM Outdoors’ documentaries are screened at picturesque locations, often thematically paired with their films, for example, “The Queen of Versailles” about the largest home ever built in America, was shown on the lawn of the Marble House Mansion, one of the country’s best examples of turn-of-the century opulence and Gilded age architecture. The screening events are unique and experiential, once including a curated exhibit of the heiress Doris Duke’s Dior collection and a Dior-inspired picnic contest around a screening of “Dior and I” at Doris Duke’s fabled Rough Point mansion. Each film is attended by hundreds of local residents as well as Newport’s summer visitors and guests from around the world. Film screenings are free to the public.
For more information, visit www.newportfilm.com
