Lauren Greenfield: How Capitalism Exploits Insecurities

The filmmaker and photographer Lauren Greenfield, best known for the documentaries Generation Wealth (2018) and The Queen of Versailles (2012), has been poking at the ugly underbelly of consumerism for more than 25 years. Through her unsparing lens, the latest incarnation of the American dream has been revealed in all its blingy, exploitative glory, particularly when it comes to its toll on women and girls. In an interview with Topic recorded in late November of 2018, Greenfield talks about the major themes running through her work, and what she calls “the ultimate cost, and degradation, of capitalism.”

  • Lena Greene
    Director
  • Lauren Greenfield
    Writer
    Queen of Versailles, Generation Wealth
  • Topic
    Producer
  • Aaron Augenblick
    Producer
  • Lauren Greenfield
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Animation, Short
  • Genres:
    Interview, comedy, 2D Animation
  • Runtime:
    3 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    January 30, 2019
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Distribution Information
  • Topic
    Country: United States
    Rights: Internet
Director Biography - Lena Greene

Lena Greene is a director, animator and illustrator currently living in New York by way of Los Angeles. Some notable projects include directing and animating an episode of Topic's Monologue series, creating and producing two musical short animations for Comedy Central’s Saturday Morning-ish Cartoons, directing three stop motion music videos for Grammy nominated artist Tommy Trash X Fool’s Gold Records, and co-creating an 8 episode web-series, R.I.P, on Blumhouse’s Crypt TV, the premiere episode of which enjoyed a reach of 300,000 views. As a freelancer, Lena has worked with companies such as Vice and Droga5, as well as created various commercial animations for clients such as J. Crew, Gucci, Comme Des Garçons, Knoll, Kiehl’s, Tory Burch and Audible, among others. She also worked with Artist Camille Henrot, animating, designing and fabricating large scale 3D zoetropes. Lena teaches an animation course at Queens College, and is a graduate of RISD, where she received a BFA in film, animation and video. For fun Lena likes to slap on a wig and sing karaoke.

Add Director Biography