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When
I first heard about a filmmaker who had shot video for two years
while working at Columbia House corporate headquarters, I assumed
that he was using a hidden camera. I was wrong. He showed up
for his first day of work with a video camera, and when no one
objected to being filmed, he proceeded to bring it to work everyday
for the next two years. His name is Chris Wilcha.
Using the video he accumulated
while working in the Columbia House corporate culture, Chris
Wilcha created the film The Target Shoots First. His
experience forces him into a personal examination of what it
means to be part of a music corporation when your roots are
punk and your perceived goal isn’t to advance through the corporate
ranks.
After graduating from college
and quitting his punk band, Chris needs a day job to support
him in New York while he figures out what he wants to do with
his life. He starts as an assistant in the marketing department
and quickly becomes the main marketing person who must be the
liaison between marketing and creative people at Columbia House.
The tension between these two groups is revealed in the way
they interact in meetings and how they generalize when describing
the other group. Another division exists between those in management
and those in general workforce. Because of his increased authority
and responsibility, Chris loses a friendship that he had established
while working with a peer. As part of management, he is no longer
a peer.
Both the setting and Chris’ interests
make the evolution of music a main focus of the film. The viewer
gets to see corporate discussions on whether "heavy metal"
still exists, the growing acceptance of alternative music as
a legitimate category, and even how one acknowledges the death
of a rock hero. The film also provides a good overview of the
history of music buying clubs and how they work. As part of
his introductory training, Chris tours a Columbia House production
and distribution facility in Indiana, and discussions with the
workers and management help explain how the system works.
Despite, his at times, negative
view of the music clubs, and how they decrease the royalties
that artists receive, Chris reveals that the late Nirvana frontman
Curt Cobain’s early music exposure came from his Dad’s music
club record collection. Chris also acknowledges that his own
introduction to the musical group Black Sabbath came by way
of a record club.
The film doesn’t tackle any huge
issues. It is not an expose, and that is why even the chairman
of Columbia House consented to an interview by Chris. The films
is a very personal journey through corporate America, that anyone
who has worked in it, rallied against it, or wants to see it
from the inside, should enjoy.
Joshua Davis
davis@documentaryfilms.net
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The reviewer’s view of
this film is clouded by his overwhelming desire for Chris Wilcha’s
Columbia House job. One of the perks of the job is a complimentary
copy of every CD in the Columbia House library. In 2000,
the number of CDs in the catalog is 20,000. Don’t think everyone
at Columbia House is so lucky. At the time, only three people
in the whole company had access to this perk. While not lusting
after other people’s jobs, Josh is the publisher of Documentary
Films .Net.
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