Enron documentary to debut at film festival

Magnolia Pictures Distribution has announced it will market and distribute the documentary Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, shot largely in Houston over the last year by Emmy- and Grammy- winning filmmaker Alex Gibney.

"I'm not saying this will be a Meet the Fockers, but I'm hopeful it will do well for an independent documentary," said Gibney, a New York City-based filmmaker who has been in and out of Houston regularly.

The movie, which will have its world premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah later this month, will likely show in Landmark Theaters such as the River Oaks and Greenway and maybe others too, Gibney said recently.

Unlike the 2003 TV movie Crooked E: The Unshredded Truth About Enron, the documentary is expected to be more reality-based.

It is drawn, in part, from the book The Smartest Guys in the Room by two Fortune magazine reporters.

"Using insider accounts and incendiary corporate audio and videotapes, Gibney shows the almost unimaginable personal excesses of the Enron hierarchy and the utter moral vacuum that posed as corporate philosophy," reads the press release about the distribution deal.

It promises "a harrowing denouement" as audiences hear traders pull profits from the California energy crisis and offers understanding on how Enron executives' avarice "had a shocking and profound domino effect that may shape the face of our economy for years to come."

Not Meet the Fockers, indeed.

"I have high expectations," said Philip Hilder, the Houston lawyer for ex-Enron executive Sherron Watkins, who penned the now- famous memo predicting corporate scandal. Hilder and Watkins were interviewed for the film.

"These filmmakers seemed to understand the significance of the Enron story, and I expect they will treat it in an important manner," Hilder said.

Gibney comes with a fine pedigree. His 2003 Grammy was for best historical album, Martin Scorsese Presents the Blues: A Musical Journey, and his Emmy for a 10-hour 1992 PBS series The Pacific Century.

A Houston premiere is scheduled just before the movie's full distribution nationally, likely in late spring.