Chris Barrett
Born (1982-07-24) July 24, 1982
Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania
EducationPepperdine University
Occupation(s)Internet Entrepreneur, Filmmaker, Spokesperson, Author
Political partyDemocratic Party

Chris Barrett (born July 24, 1982, in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania) is an American Internet entrepreneur, film director, spokesperson, and author who is featured in the 2004 Sundance award winning documentary The Corporation and its 2020 sequel The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel.

Early life and background

Barrett grew up in Haddonfield, New Jersey, and graduated in 2001 from Haddonfield Memorial High School in 2001.[1][2][3][4] Barrett attended Pepperdine University.[3]

Career

First Corporately Sponsored College Student

Barrett launched his entrepreneurial career in high school, during a national search for a corporation to sponsor his college education.[5] In exchange for college tuition, Barrett was willing to be a company's “spokesguy” and wear clothes with the sponsors' logo on them.[6] The inspiration for the came after Chris saw a TV commercial featuring professional golfer and Nike spokesperson Tiger Woods wearing Nike logo on his hat.[7]

Barrett became the first corporately sponsored college student, when he was named a financial responsibility spokesperson for the credit card company First USA, which was owned by BankOne. The corporate sponsorship announcement happened on NBC's The Today Show in June 2001.[8]

Powerhouse Pictures

In 2006, Barrett co-founded Powerhouse Pictures with actor Efren Ramirez, where he directed the documentary After School, about teacher-student sex scandals,[9] which was announced on CNN's Larry King Live.[10]

Political career

Grassroots For Sanders

In 2015, Barrett co-founded #BernItForward, a web app where you would donate $3 on behalf of three friends to the 2016 Bernie Sanders Presidential campaign.[11] He then joined Grassroots for Sanders as an assistant fundraising manager, the organization behind the subreddit r/SandersForPresident, where he helped raise $10 million dollars directly to the 2016 Sanders campaign.[12]

Elected to Office

Inspired by Bernie Sanders' progressive politics, Barrett joined the Collingswood, New Jersey, democratic ticket in 2017 and was elected to the Camden County Democratic Committee.[12] While elected to office, Barrett worked with the Democratic party to make the voice of younger, more progressive, voters heard within the New Jersey Democratic Party.[13] Barrett is an advocate for legalizing marijuana and social justice reform,[14] eliminating student loan debt,[13] and gun control.[15]

The Corporation

Barrett was featured in Sundance Film Festival award winning documentary film The Corporation is a 2003 Canadian documentary film written by University of British Columbia law professor Joel Bakan, and directed by Mark Achbar and Jennifer Abbott. The documentary examines the modern-day corporation. Barrett was interviewed to discuss being the first corporately sponsored college student.[16]

Barrett was also featured in the 2020 sequel, The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel, a Canadian documentary film, directed by Joel Bakan and Jennifer Abbott that premiered at the 2020 Toronto International Film Festival. The film profiles new developments in the political and social power of corporations since the release of the original. After 17 years, Chris Barrett returned in the sequel to share his transformation from being the first corporately sponsored college student to pay for his college education to now being a Bernie Sanders-inspired progressive grassroots politician.[17][18] The film also showcases Barrett's run for political office in New Jersey and becoming an elected official.[19]

Documentary appearances
Year Title Role Ref
2003 The Corporation Himself [16]
2006 Maxed Out Himself [20]
2020 The New Corporation Himself [21]

Direct Your Own Life

Barrett is co-author of the non-fiction business book Direct Your Own Life: How to be a Star in Any Field Your Choose, published by Kaplan Publishing (ISBN 9781427797667).[22]

Barrett and Napoleon Dynamite actor Efren Ramirez co-authored the book aimed at encouraging readers to achieve their life goals.[23]

References

  1. ↑ "Graduates get corporate sponsorships for college", The Trentonian, June 19, 2001, updated August 22, 2021. Accessed November 2, 2023. "Chris Barrett and Luke McCabe, both of Haddonfield, hatched an ingenious plan to get corporate sponsorship for college: they have exclusive deals with First USA to serve as 'Spokesguys.' They were graduated earlier this week from Haddonfield Memorial High School."
  2. ↑ "Chris Barrett". IMDb. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  3. 1 2 ALLISON, MELISSA. "Pair's 1st year of college on First USA". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  4. ↑ Zernike, Kate (2001-07-19). "And Now a Word From Their Cool College Sponsor (Published 2001)". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  5. ↑ "Corporate Kids". NPR.org. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  6. ↑ Powers, William (2001-08-01). "The Art of Exploitation". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  7. ↑ "Sponsored Students Set For College". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  8. ↑ Piccalo, Gina (2001-07-09). "Big 'Spokesguy' on Campus". LA Times. Retrieved 2020-11-22.
  9. ↑ "SUNDANCE: Wintertime For The Producers". Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  10. ↑ Stone, Adam (2008-10-06). "He wants the big picture". Philadelphia Business Journal. Retrieved 2008-11-22.
  11. ↑ Reyes, Juliana (2016-01-18). "These Philly technologists are on Product Hunt right now for their Bernie Sanders project". Technical.ly Philly. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  12. 1 2 Bakan, Joel (2020-09-22). The New Corporation: How "Good" Corporations Are Bad for Democracy. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. ISBN 978-1-9848-9973-6.
  13. 1 2 Trethan, Phaedra. "Norcross meets with millennials to talk guns, DACA, debt". Courier-Post. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  14. ↑ Barrett, Chris. "LETTER: Sen. Beach should listen to his constituents on legalizing marijuana". Courier-Post. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  15. ↑ "Violence, Finances, and DREAMers: Oaklyn Roundtable Talks Concerns with Congressman". NJ PEN. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  16. 1 2 Achbar, Mark; Abbott, Jennifer (2004-06-04), The Corporation (Documentary, History), Mikela Jay, Rob Beckwermert, Christopher Gora, Nina Jones, Big Picture Media Corporation, retrieved 2020-11-23
  17. ↑ "The Corporation Doubles Down – Point of View Magazine". povmagazine.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  18. ↑ "Planet in Focus 2020: The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel". 3 Brothers Film. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  19. ↑ "Democracy, not consumption is "how we will amass power to challenge the corporate behemoth"". Salon. 2020-09-21. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  20. ↑ Scurlock, James D. (2006-03-10), Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders (Documentary), Beth Naef, Mike Hudson, Louis C.K, Catherine Brown, Trueworks, retrieved 2020-11-23
  21. ↑ Abbott, Jennifer; Bakan, Joel (2020-09-13), The New Corporation: The Unfortunately Necessary Sequel (Documentary), Anjali Appadurai, Chris Barrett, Heidi Boghosian, Wendy Brown, Screen Siren Pictures, Grant Street Productions, retrieved 2020-11-23
  22. ↑ "Direct Your Own Life - How To Be A Star In Any Field You Choose". directyourownlife.com. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
  23. ↑ "Napoleon Dynamite pens self-help book". v5.femalefirst.co.uk. 11 July 2008. Retrieved 2020-11-23.
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