Movie fictionalizing 1999 WTO protest films for 3 days in Seattle
“Battle In Seattle,” a film about the
1999 World Trade Organization
(WTO) protests, ended up filming for
three days in Seattle, and 28 days in
Vancouver, British Columbia. In ef-
fect, most of the filming and all of the
post-film production work was”glob-
alized,” for budget reasons, to Vancou-
ver, British Columbia.
The movie’s producers also sought
initially to shoot nonunion in Seattle,
but Seattle Film Commission director
James Keblas was able to broker a deal
with local unions — including Team-
sters and the International Alliance of
Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE)
— that enabled the production to use
union film crews. [The production
used a mix of union and nonunion
workers in Vancouver, where filming
took place Nov. 4 to Dec. 14.]
Dec. 9-11 was an odd kind of deja
vu for downtown Seattle, as several
hundred extras played “protester.”
Many extras had been real protesters
the first time around, and some
brought the same signs they carried
during the week of massive protests.
“It brought back a lot of memo-
ries,” said Keblas, who took part in the
largest of the WTO protest events, the
35,000-strong union march.
“Battle in Seattle” stars Charlize
Theron, Woody Harrelson, Ray Liotta,
Andre Benjamin, Martin Henderson,
Channing Tatum, Michelle Rodriguez,
Jennifer Carpenter, Connie Neilson,
and Joshua Jackson.
Writer-director Stuart Townsend
appears to have viewed the events of
late 1999 through his own lens. Thou-
sands of union members remember
taking part in huge and well-organized
protests against corporate-led global-
ization, but “Battle in Seattle” looks
set to emphasize street battles with po-
lice — production spokesperson Anna
Dupas referred to the event as a “riot”
and to participants as “rioters.”
Few union members are likely to
agree with that characterization: While
some vandalism occurred, most pro-
Union invites young members
to ‘Bowl-A-Rama on Feb. 10
The American Federation of State,
County & Municipal Employees Ore-
gon Council 75 is inviting its younger
members to take an interest in union-
ism with a Feb. 10 “Bowl-A-Rama.”
The social event starts at 4 p.m. at
Hollywood Bowl, 4030 NE Halsey
St., Portland, and is open to young
AFSCME members and their fami-
lies. Several younger members of the
Oregon Legislature are also expected
to attend.
Bowl-a-rama organizers are ex-
pecting to see a wave of strikes, but
will also settle for spares.
The event is sponsored by Next
Wave, a new group of young mem-
bers promoting involvement in the
statewide public sector union. For
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more information, call Lydia Hallay at
AFSCME’s Portland office, 503-239-
9858.
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testers were peaceful, including many
hundreds who committed acts of civil
disobedience that prevented delegates
from getting to the meeting on the first
day of the summit. On the other hand,
police tactics were repressive and in-
discriminate, as amply documented in
later lawsuits. That, and a weeklong
suspension of civil liberties, produced
a political reaction that ended the ca-
reers of Seattle’s mayor and police
chief.
Townsend’s fictionalized take on
those events is expected to be released
later this year.
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©2005 JPMorgan Chase & Co. All Rights Reserved. P-UP 104 2A-7604 10/05
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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