The Cartel

Bob Bowdon, Director

● Politics
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An award-winning documentary about waste and corruption in American public schools, The Cartel argues that only a small percentage of the money spent on public schools ever reaches the classroom or has an effect on the quality of education children receive.

The Cartel also explores what parents, teachers, officials and reformers are doing to make schools better for our children, and includes interviews with education experts such as Clint Bolick (former president of Alliance for School Choice), Gerard Robinson (president of Black Alliance for Educational Options), and Chester Finn (president of the Thomas B. Fordham Institute).

The Cartel has screened at the following film festivals:

  • Washington DC Independent Film Festival: 2010 Visionary Award, as well as the 2010 Audience Award for Best Documentary
  • Philadelphia Independent Film Festival
  • New Jersey State Film Festival
  • New Jersey Film Festival Downbeach Film Festival
  • Hoboken International Film Festival Jersey Shore Film Festival

Bob Bowdon, The Cartel's director, has been a television producer, reporter, news anchor, and commentator. In addition, he's appeared in satirical news sketches for the Onion News Network and shaped Bloomberg Television's World Financial Report. He is president of Bowdon Media, an Internet marketing firm, and holds degrees in mechanical engineering, engineering management, and film production from Purdue University, Stanford University, and New York University.

The Cartel will premiere in eleven major cities starting on Friday, April 16 in New York at the Quad Cinema, and in Los Angeles at Laemmle's Sunset 5. Each theater will be showing the film for a week (Friday-Thursday). For additional listings and tickets, please visit: http://www.thecartelmovie.com/cgi-local/content.cgi?g=22

Interview with Bob Bowdon

t21: Favorite hour of the day?
BB: When I begin drinking my first coffee of the day.

t21: First website you check?
BB: http://www.TheCartelMovie.com.

t21: Personal motto?
BB: If you ever feel stuck, keep trying new things.

t21: If I were not a filmmaker, I would be a _____
BB: I'd hopefully be reinventing the late night talk show.

t21: The biggest global problem today?
BB: Corruption, because it leads to so many of the other problems. In the Third World, humanitarian aid gets confiscated and hoarded by petty dictators. In emerging economies, small businesses get shaken down by local thugs, disrupting the incentive to invest and therefore the potential for economic opportunities. In America, billions of school system dollars disappear to patronage jobs, meaning the money doesn't reach the classroom. So while the problems of different parts of the world are quite varied, if I had to pick one overarching, global, root cause of human suffering -- I'd say "corruption."

t21: Favorite city or landmark?
BB: Anywhere with old, interesting architecture. Any place I go, I'm fascinated by the original details of classic buildings.

t21: Favorite public figure?
BB: Steve Martin.

t21: Last song that was stuck in your head?
BB: “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life.”

t21: Last meal you made?
BB: A veggie stir-fry.

t21: Coffee, tea or water?
BB: Please see answer #1.

t21: Boat, plane or train?
BB: I love long-distance train trips.

t21: Latest obsession?
BB: Marketing my movie.

t21: Source of inspiration?
BB: My friends.

t21: First job?
BB: Dishwasher at a gourmet hamburger joint in Houston, Texas.

t21: Whom would you love to work with?
BB: Steve Martin, Chris Christie, Paul Simon.

t21: What motivated you to make The Cartel ?
BB: My friend got a job as an English teacher in an urban high school, and I began to hear her stories of what really went on.

t21: Biggest obstacle in making it?
BB: My own chronic laziness.

t21: Favorite/most unexpected response to The Cartel ?
BB: A request I received today for the film to be screened in China.

t21: Ten-year goal?
BB: To reinvent the late night talk show.

t21: Your next or current project?
BB: Marketing both The Cartel and my PBS debate show, Two-Way Street.

t21: Your question for t21?
BB: Who's going to send me a t21 t-shirt???

t21: We're working on it! Hopefully we'll have t-shirts soon.

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This book by Diane Ravitch presents a fair assessment of the problems facing American public schools:

The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education

The problems facing U.S. public schools are mostly due to:

Submitted by lauren on Sun, 04/04/2010 - 7:51pm