Mr. Media Interviews by Bob Andelman
1133 Anat Baron, documentary filmmaker, "Beer Wars" 2009
2009: This should be an interesting show. We have a guest who is allergic to beer and a host who never touches the stuff. Naturally, the subject is… beer! Anat Baron is the director of a new documentary called . Now available for sale on DVD, it’s not a movie about rival frat houses—on second thought, maybe it is. Baron presents a sometimes tongue-in-cheek study have how the big three brewing companies—Anheuser-Busch, Coors and Miller—will stop at nothing to gobble up shelf space in your neighborhood convenience, grocery or liquor store and kick the little guys to the curb. Sprinkled throughout the film are familiar pop culture touchstones from old beer commercials to industrial films and even a word about competition from an imaginary beer, Duff. ANAT BARON podcast excerpt: "I was really interested by new consumers who are similar to those going to farmers markets, eating local foods, supporting small companies over large companies. People who are saying, 'Yes, I can buy chocolate from Hershey, but there is a guy down the street making it, too, and I want to support him.'" Baron, as I mentioned, is allergic to beer, but that didn’t stop her from becoming general manager of Mike’s Hard Lemonade, where she took the company from nowhere to $200 million in sales. Anat Baron • • • • • •