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Sponsors:
American Association of Retired Persons
American Council on Life Insurance
Employee Benefits Research Institute
Deloitte & Touche
Pension Benefit Guarantee Corporation
Society of Actuaries
U.S. Department of Labor
The Actuarial Foundation
Grant Award: $25,000
$4 Trillion and Counting will be organized in
three major parts of about equal proportion. The story will be advanced
through the informative commentary of pension experts, policymakers, and
off-screen narration. State-of-the-art graphics, archival movie and television
footage, photographs, etc., will enhance the program's visual appeal.
Music and sound will be added as appropriate.
Part One: The First Hundred Years (1874-1974)
The program will open up with archival footage of the scene in the
Rose Garden on September 2, 1974, with President Gerald Ford, surrounded
by congressional leaders who forged the way for pension reform, signing
this monumental piece of legislation.
The early development of the private pension system will
then be chronicled starting with the Grand Trunk railroad in 1874 and
Railway Express in 1875. It will provide a ride through time leading us
through the Great Depression and other significant events leading up to
the enactment of Social Security in 1935. This part will then outline
the events fostering the rapid growth of pensionsBthe post-World War II
environment with wage and price controls and the Inland Steel
case, that paved the way for collective bargaining over pensions.
Part One will discuss the selection of a defined benefit
plan as the pension plan of choice adopted by the auto, steel, and rubber
industry, setting the pattern for the rest of the Nation. It will also
educate the viewer on the important distinctions between a defined benefit
and a defined contribution plan and the retirement income implications.
Part One will conclude with the abuses and misfortunes
that led to the enactment of ERISA: stringent age and service requirements
before eligibility for a pension was established; inadequate funding by
employers; termination of plans without sufficient funds to pay promised
pensions; and the diversion of funds for the private purposes of the union
or employer involved. This part will include a sampling of the "horror
stories" generated during public hearings and the publicity generated
by NBC's white paper on "The Broken Promise."
Part Two: A Quarter Century of ERISA (1974-1999)
Part Two will contain candid interviews with the key players, policymakers,
and pension experts who forged the alliance leading up to the successful
enactment of ERISA. It will inform the viewer of the intricate political
maneuvering, tactical decision-making, and delicate negotiations necessary
to bring the unprecedented legislation to the floor of the House and Senate.
This part will also graphically demonstrate the rapid
growth and change of the private pension system over the past 25 years
and its colossal role in retirement security, financial markets, and national
savings. It will highlight major policy issues that arose during the post-ERISA
era: pension plan terminations that threatened the very solvency of the
government's insurance program; "pension asset raiding;" the
push for economically targeted investments; and the effects on pension
benefits caused by corporate mergers, acquisitions, and downsizing. It
will also show the shift away from defined benefit plans to defined contribution
plans and the implications of this turn around. The program will illustrate
why many workers and firms prefer plans that offer simplicity and portability,
even if investment risk (and rewards) are shifted from employers to employees.
Contributing to the changing landscape has been the scaling back of tax
benefits to the highly compensated and federal laws that have been repeatedly
altered and made exceedingly complex.
Part Three: Challenges for the 21st Century
Part Three will describe where we are today and what the retirement
income security challenges are for the future. $4 Trillion and Counting
will show that elusive goals remain: increased pension coverage and portability.
It will also show that the nation's ability to maintain our current Social
Security system is now at risk because of changing demographics: too few
workers to support the growing numbers of elderly. The program will point
out that employer-provided pensions and individual savings through IRAs,
Roth IRAs, and 401-k plans may make the difference between living in poverty
or comfort.
This part will demonstrate that more risk will be placed
on individuals as they save for their own retirement in the increasingly
popular 401-k plan. With that comes a growing need for financial education
and products for diversifying investment risk and providing lifetime retirement
income. The conclusion of Part Three would include comments from top government
officials, industry leaders, and financial planners to advance the public's
understanding of the importance of retirement savings. People need to
be made aware of how much they will need to retire on; how close they
are to their retirement saving goal; and how much they will need to save.
The role that pensionsBboth defined benefit and defined contribution—will
play and the importance of personal savings will be made clear.
Production Team
Ray Schmitt—Producer/Director
Ray Schmitt has been producing, directing and editing film and video
productions since 1975. Schmitt also worked 25 years as a pension specialist
at the Library of Congress. His video programs have been shown on public
television and have been distributed to colleges, universities, libraries,
and special interest groups. Ray has won many national and international
awards and has produced over 30 productions ranging from original dramas
to documentaries. Awards include first place in the Canadian International
Film Festival in 1987 and a "CINE Gold Eagle" award for his
documentary "When Sound is Silent." His documentary
dealing with disability issues, "Coming to Terms,"
was a finalist in the Outstanding Educational/Documentary film category
in the 13th Annual Media Access Awards, in Los Angeles, and received
a blue ribbon in the 1992 American Film and Video Festival. In 1993,
Ray produced "A Conversation with Poet Laureate Rita Dove"
hosted by National Public Radio special correspondent Susan Stamberg.
In 1997, he produced a documentary "Adriana: Shadows on Yellow
Silk" on acclaimed Middle Eastern dancer Adriana Miller.
William C. Powell—Director of Videography
Bill Powell has a distinguished career in network news gathering.
In 1961 he worked for CBS and a year later joined NBC Network News staff.
Bill worked a number of years with David Brinkley and the "Nightly
News" and on many documentaries during the great age of network
documentaries. He became a member of the White House Press Corps, traveled
with the president, and covered major stories of the day. In 1988, after
26 years with the NBC Network, covering presidents from John F. Kennedy
to George Bush, Bill Powell retired from NBC to become an independent
videographer working for NBC, CBS, and ABC and independent companies.
He has served as videographer on television ads, corporate training
films, documentaries and nationally distributed videos. Bill is well
known in the business for his skill in lighting and camera work.
Richard T. Slade—Technical Director/Editor
Richard T. Slade is President and Technical Director of Audio Visual
Artists' Productions (AVA) in Silver Spring, MD. AVA is a full-service
production company offering state-of-the-art digital recording equipment
and an in-house component, A/B on-line editing facility, narration booth,
sound effects and music library, and Grass Valley, Dubner and Tascam
support equipment. AVA's clients have included corporations, associations,
colleges, government agencies, retailers, and other production companies.
Richard has 23 years of network (NBC) experience in film and videotape
documentary editing in addition to 17 years of freelance directing,
editing and overall post-production supervision. He is also an award-winning
still photographer.
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