Netflix is in negotiations to buy the worldwide rights to “American Factory,” which recently premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in the documentary competition.
“American Factory,” directed by Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert, centers on the aftermath of the 2014 purchase of a General Motors plant in Dayton, Ohio, which had closed in 2008. A Chinese billionaire reopened the facility as Fuyao Glass America, with the promise of giving work to more than 2,000 local residents, along with bringing hundreds of Chinese workers to Ohio.
Tensions mount among the Americans due to low wages and concerns about safety, while the Chinese managers are rankled by low productivity and the possibility of unionization. “American Factory” also shows the Chinese workers attending seminars that teach them about stereotypical aspects of American personalities.
Bognar and Reichert previously directed the Oscar-nominated short film “The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant,” which chronicled the Dayton plant being shuttered.
“American Facotry” was financed by Participant Media and is produced by Bognar, Reichert, Jeff Reichert, and Julie Parker Benello. The co-producers are Mijie Li and Yiqian Zhang. Jeff Skoll and Diane Weyermann executive produced the movie.
The news was first reported by Deadline Hollywood.