“A Tale of Two Cities: The Circuit City Story” is reviewed in the current edition of the
Virginia Libraries journal by Joseph Yamine, English professor and writer at Ferrum College. Click
here to read his review of the documentary, which also includes a few notes on the second ”Bonus Features” disc. The two-disc DVD set retails for $199.95 with public performance rights. If you’d like to see more reviews on Amazon.com, click
here.
Producer/Director Tom Wulf’ recently published an article in
Training magazine on the leadership lessons gleaned from the Circuit City Story. Click
here to read it.
Click here to read the review
Help share the leadership lessons of the Circuit City Story with your comments about the documentary. Click
here 
Available through Victory Multimedia and Amazon.com
to read the current reviews on Amazon, and to write your own review.
Haven’t seen the film? Watch the
promotional clip, or the
trailer, then click
here for the special sale price from Amazon, with free shipping available.
A Tale of Two Cities: The Circuit City Story is a feature-length documentary that captures the company’s 60-year history, chronicling the meteoric rise and catastrophic fall of the former “Good to Great” retailer. The company’s collapse in 2009 resulted in the direct loss of more than 34,000 American jobs, and nearly a quarter million jobs indirectly. The documentary examines the devastating ripple-effect of the 2008 financial crisis — a corollary to recently acclaimed films such as ”Inside Job” and “Too Big to Fail.” As the nation’s jobless rate continues to stagnate, the Circuit City story is a timely and cautionary tale. It reveals the human toll exacted when a large corporation puts the best interests of Wall Street ahead of its employees and customers.
The film features interviews with Alan Wurtzel, the son of the company’s founder and the creator of the Circuit City brand. CarMax co-founder and CEO Austin Ligon also shares his insights, along with former Circuit City associates and executives, many of whom lost life-long careers when the company shut down. Other contributors include faculty from the University of Richmond’s Robins School of Business, former Circuit City vendors, and key figures from WTVR – the South’s first television station.
In response to requests from numerous business leaders and educators, WulfTeam Productions has licensed the DVD for public exhibition so that it can be presented in any classroom or training facility. As the Dean of Robins’ International Business Programs remarked, “This film should be required viewing for all business students.”
A brief history of the film’s recent success:
“Good to Great to Gone: Leadership Lessons from the Circuit City Story” has just been published in the June issue of Training magazine. Click here to read it: Training Magazine article Writer/Director Tom Wulf has an exclusive offer for Training readers. To see the offer on the WulfTeam Productions web site, click here: http://wulfteamproductions.com/portfolio.
WulfTeam Productions is proud to announce it has signed an agreement with Victory Multimedia for non-exclusive distribution rights to “A Tale of Two Cities: The Circuit City Story.” Promotional materials just went out to Barnes & Noble, Borders, Baker & Taylor, Ingram Entertainment, etc. A big thanks to the talented Adam Rosenberg who assisted with graphics once again. The suggested retail price with Victory is 49.95, but the DVD is available through Amazon for just $44.99. It is essential viewing for business leaders, educators, consultants, trainers and anyone who ever worked or shopped at the late-great retailer. Click here to read more reviews on Amazon or to order the 2-disc set.
“It’s a great story that should be told to every business leader across the country.”
- Brian Keller, Director of Sales Training, McKesson
“This is a documentary for people who don’t normally watch documentaries.
It manages to keep our interest focused throughout the film, even though
we know the way the story ends…or at least we think we do.”
- Don Talley, WTVR Executive
(50-year association with Wards/Circuit City)
Click here to read reviews on Amazon
The first disc includes the “Director’s cut” of the documentary, which is a fascinating ride through the company’s 60-year history featuring interviews with CEO Alan Wurtzel, CarMax CEO Austin Ligon, and a host of other long-tenured CC associates.
The second disc contains bonus interview clips that provide a deeper analysis of how and why the Fortune 500 company fell. It also includes an archive of TV commercials and orientation/training videos.
“A Tale of Two Cities: The Circuit City Story” premiered at the Virginia Film Festival in November 2010. The documentary has been featured in Style Weekly, Richmond.com, RichmondBizSense, the Hanover Herald-Progress, and DealerScope magazine. Writer/Director Tom Wulf has appeared on WTVR’s Virginia This Morning and on the PBS television series ”Virginia Currents.”
“Your documentary delivered about 6,000 television households or about 15,000 viewers which was a tie for first-place against the PBS national programming at 8pm and 10:30pm, congratulations.”
– John Felton, Vice President and Program Director, ideastations.org
The documentary aired several times on Central Virginia PBS stations in February 2011, to overwhelmingly positive ratings and reviews:
“It is a great business training tool, but also shows the heart that the company and its employees had.” – Dennis Pack, University of Richmond Robins School of Business
“It’s a great story that should be told to every business leader across the country.” — Brian Keller, Director of Sales Training, McKesson
“Great job! I am very proud to be a part of this project.” — Alan Wurtzel, son of the company’s founder, CEO 1972-1986, and creator of the Circuit City concept
The documentary chronicles the entire 60-year history of the Richmond-based retailer – from its humble beginnings as the family-owned Wards TV, to its meteoric rise to become the nation’s largest specialty retailer of consumer electronics, to its tragic downhill slide into bankruptcy and liquidation in 2009. The film tells the tale of two “Cities:” one that went from good to great, and the other that went from great to gone.
“A Tale of Two Cities: The Circuit City Story” has received generous support from the Virginia Film Office, WTVR CBS 6, VCUarts Department of Kinetic Imaging, and Ellen Wulf – Edward Jones Investments.
Stay tuned for information about future screenings and film festivals. Thanks for your interest and support!
A Tale of Two Cities: The Circuit City Story
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NOTE: ”Circuit City” and “circuitcity.com” are the registered trademarks of Systemax, Inc. Also, please note that Circuit City, Circle logo and CircuitCity.com are registered trademarks of CircuitCity.com Inc. according to the current website. For more on the revival of the brand, see website at: www.circuitcity.com.
