Hollywood plans film on Enron

Published February 9, 2002

LOS ANGELES, Feb 8: The spectacular collapse of US energy giant Enron, the biggest corporate failure in history, is to be the subject of a new Hollywood-style television movie, producers said on Thursday.

FX, the Fox Television cable entertainment wing, and Artisan Television said they were developing a made-for-TV movie on the implosion of the corporate giant and are also examining other projects focussing on the scandal.

“We are committed to making a credible and compelling movie out of this pretty incredible and complex story,” said Kevin Reilly, Fx’s president of entertainment.

“The dramatic guts of the story — cronyism, dishonesty, ambition and capitalism gone awry — are taking shape with each passing day,” he said.

Award-winning producer and veteran investigative reporter Lowell Bergman has been hired as a consultant on the project which is in its planning stages as details on the scandal begin to emerge in Washington and Texas.

However, many facts of the disastrous collapse remain murky, with top executives of the Texas-based oil firm refusing to answer the questions of legislators’ probing the collapse amid cries of foul play.

Enron filed for bankruptcy protection on December 2, sending shock waves through global business, financial and accounting sectors.—AFP