Law School Professor Jon Hanson (right) suggested to his class that they set up their own corporation to truly learn how things work. The students went with the risky and labor-intensive option of filmmaking and formed Class Action Inc. Says Heather Thompson (left), a second-year student who emerged as the fledgling corporation's CEO, "He presented us with a problem, and we just put our best foot forward and went with it. You can't challenge 130 Harvard Law students to do something and not have something happen." The class successfully produced Harvard Goes Hollywood, which premiered at the Law School on Tuesday night, April 20. Photo by Marc Halevi.

It was the biggest movie premiere since Gone with the Wind.

Well . . . almost.

In the lobby of the Law School's Austin Hall bewigged jurists peered down from their gilded frames on a crush of tuxedos and black feather boas. A pair of spotlights cast bright ovals across the oak ceiling while "Fame" blared from the loudspeakers ("I'm gonna live forever, light up the sky like a flame . . ."). Beer and soft drinks flowed. Popcorn crunched.

The occasion Tuesday night was the first showing of an original movie called Harvard Goes Hollywood, a witty and sometimes outrageous pastiche of movie clips from Harvard-related films like The Paper Chase, Soul Man, and Good Will Hunting, interspersed with interviews with Harvard Law School students and professors. The film was made by students in Professor Jon Hanson's course Corporations.

Making a movie may seem an odd project for a law school class, but, in fact, the creation of the film was part of a larger activity that was very much in keeping with the subject of the course. In February, Hanson suggested to his class of about 130 students that if they really wanted to understand the legal aspects of corporations, they ought to set one up themselves.

"He presented us with a problem, and we just put our best foot forward and went with it," said Heather Thompson, a second-year student who emerged as the fledgling corporation's CEO. "You can't challenge 130 Harvard Law students to do something and not have something happen."

What happened surprised everyone, even Hanson, who has asked his classes to set up dummy corporations before, but never one that has actually operated a business. Faced with the task of choosing a product or a service to produce, the class rejected more conservative approaches and decided to go with the more risky and labor- intensive option of filmmaking.

"We decided to do a movie because we thought it would be a community builder," said Thompson. "But it's also been an amazing experience. About 80 percent of the class has been involved, and about 30 or 40 of us have put in an enormous amount of time."

But before the movie even went into production, the class members had to make their way through a set of processes that anyone wishing to form a corporation must undergo. For this purpose, Hanson was able to secure the help of experts.

Investment bankers from Goldman Sachs & Co. flew in from New York to help sell the stock. This event is normally referred to as an initial public offering (IPO). But since the sale of stock was limited to members of the class, the IPO was actually an initial private offering. Advisers from the New York law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver, and Jacobson helped obtain a waiver that allowed this unorthodox procedure.

Stock was sold at $4 per share, and class members were allowed to invest only up to $20, producing an initial sale of about $600. According to Hanson, the goal of most IPOs is to raise as much money as possible, but in this case the stock was priced to encourage the highest level of participation.

With a charter and by-laws written, stock sold, and corporate officers selected, the corporation officially came into existence. The students decided to call it Class Action Inc. It will continue to exist only until the end of the semester, at which time the corporation will be dissolved and the shareholders will be paid back their original investment.

"It was agreed that none of the investors will make a profit," said Hanson.

Instead, the profits earned through advertising, ticket sales, and sales of a $10 video version of Harvard Goes Hollywood will go to the Law School's Summer Public Interest Fellowships, a program that helps subsidize law students who take low-paying public interest jobs during the summer. Accountants from the firm of Deloitte and Touche helped to advise the students how best to do this.

Opening Night

But on Tuesday night, with most of the legal hurdles behind them, the class gave themselves up to pure fun. At the podium in Austin North, Hanson admitted, "I'm a little bit nervous. I'm new to this movie mogul thing." He joked that his role was to take up time in case people felt cheated paying $5 for a movie that only lasted 30 minutes.

The movie, billed in the credits as A Wicked Smahht Film, after a line from Good Will Hunting, drew laugh after laugh from the capacity crowd with its in-jokes and jabs at Harvard stereotypes. Although it is not expected to have a commercial run, the film was obviously a tremendous hit.

Heather Thompson, whom Hanson had introduced earlier as "the hardest working and lowest paid CEO in the country," summed up the experience: "This was on a very small scale, but it was very concentrated. It made me realize what a personal toll it takes to be in a position with lots of decision-making authority. But if we hadn't done it in such a hands-on way, I don't think we would have learned half as much."