Market Basket Documentary to Premiere at Boston Film Festival

By LIZ TAURASI (Patch Staff)

The Market Basket documentary “We The People: The Market Basket Effect” is set todebut this weekend at the Boston Film Festival.

Producer Nick Buzzell says on the movie’s website as they saw the situation unfolding they quickly assembled a team of film makers and started shooting, which allowed them to capture in real time the various elements of the now infamous Market Basket story from the summer of 2014.

For nearly two months last summer, employees of the Massachusetts-based Market Basket supermarket chain protested the ouster of their beloved CEO Arthur T. Demoulas, standing firm in their beliefs that together with the company they built one of the greatest business models in the country. They stood firm in protests and work stoppages that crippled the chain in their hopes of bringing him back. In August they won the fight when the decision was made to put Arthur T. back at the helm.

Arthur T. was ousted in June 2014 when a majority of the company’s board shifted in support of Arthur T.’s cousin and rival, Arthur S. Demoulas. He was replaced with two co-CEOs from outside the company.

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The film is narrated by Lowell native Michael Chiklis and was produced by producers Nick Buzzell, Mike Buzzell, Robert Friedman and directed by Ted Leonsis and written by Jeff Pinilla. See the full crew on the movie’s website.

Last summer’s events made national news with the unprecedented show of solidarity by employees, managers and customers of the relatively small supermarket chain has made headlines locally and nationally. A work stoppage and boycott by employees and customers crippled the company costing owners upwards of $10 million a day in lost sales. Despite multiple deadlines being set by CEOs for employees to return to work or be fired, they stayed the course in a show of support for ousted CEO Arthur T. Demoulas.

Read more about the film on the film’s website >>>

Photo: Patch file