Posted by Larry Gleeson

By Anita Busch

EXCLUSIVE: Hollywood has begun lining up to help get the word out on Robert Greenwald’s documentary feature Oscar contender Making A Killing:Guns, Greed And The NRA. Michael Douglas, Alec Baldwin and Tony Goldwyn are lending their names and voices and have done videos to help promote the film, which was executive produced by Beasts Of No Nation exec prod Bill Benenson and his wife Laurie. But so has California Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom. And, Hillary Clinton’s running mate Sen. Tim Kaine — after seeing the film and meeting with the director — is also standing behind the film.

Newsom, who has been leading the charge in California for sensible gun legislation, has also advocated for the film on video as well. You can see all of the videos here.

The documentary about America’s gun issues comes after the fallout of Katie Couric’s editing debacle on Under The Gun. She and director Stephanie Soechtig are being sued for defamation to the tune of $12M after leaving out responses to questions from interviewees in the documentary.

Now that Under The Gun is unlikely to receive attention, Hollywood and political activists are putting their weight behind Making A Killing. The film got its Oscar-qualifying run courtesy of indie distributor Gravitas Ventures in August when it bowed in New York and Los Angeles. Last month, House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif) scheduled a congressional screening for House members in D.C.

Even Kaine is getting into the act, offering up this promotional quote for the film: “Making a Killing shines a light on the inordinate power that gun manufacturers and the NRA exert on our political system and the countless tragedies that occur because of politicians’ unwillingness to stand up to that power. The stories of the victims of firearm loopholes are instrumental in exposing what’s wrong with our gun laws. I hope my colleagues in Congress will hear the voices in this film and find the courage to side with citizens over the gun lobby.”

The documentary focuses on victims of gun violence while interspersing video and documents showing the amount of money that the NRA and gun manufacturers are amassing. Douglas, Baldwin, Goldwyn and Newsom are encouraging people to view the film and host screenings at their homes and churches.

Greenwald is a well-known documentary filmmaker that previously took on the Koch brothers (Koch Brothers Exposed), Walmart (The High Cost Of Low Price), the lead-up to the Iraq War (through several documentaries), the use of drones (Unmanned: America’s Drone Wars), the price of whistleblowing (War On Whistleblowers: Free Press And The National Security State) and Fox News (Outfoxed) through his Brave New Films moniker.

The filmmaker, who for decades has exposed the dark side of power via film, has yet to be nominated for an Oscar. However, his films have won other awards including a Peabody. Greenwald has also been honored with a DGA Award for his contribution to diversity, two NAACP Awards, and a TV Producer of the Year award from the American Film Institute for his body of work.

(Source: http://deadline.com)