Anna Gunn, who played Walt's wife on Breaking Bad, stars in "Equity," a 2016 film. Directed by Meera Menon, it was written by Sarah Megan Thomas, Alysia Reiner, and Amy Fox. The film also features both Thomas and Reiner, as well as Craig Bierko and James Purefoy.
The title has a dual meaning: It's about Wall Street, and it's about women in what used to be man's world.
Gunn is Naomi Bishop, an investment banker brought into her current firm to be a "rainmaker." It hasn't been going great for her since her last initial public offering didn't go very well. Her job is to bring private companies public by selling to institutional investors at a good price, and those investors sell the company on the stock market.
Naomi has an excellent prospect to bring public, a company called Cachet, which deals in keeping information private. And the waters are shark-filled. First, there is her ambitious, pregnant assistant Erin (Thomas), Naomi's broker boyfriend, Michael (Purefoy), and an old friend who is now a prosecutor looking into insider trading (Reiner). On top of all of it, the owner of Cachet doesn't like her and prefers working with Erin. Before she knows it, Naomi is on the defensive.
The way these IPOs work when there is chicanery involved is the following: Someone gets some negative insider info and gives it to the press, driving the price way down before the offering goes to the public. After the offering goes on the stock market at, say $13 less than was promised, all these people buy it. Then whomever gave them the info retracts her statement. The price goes up. The buyers clean up.
I guess the moral of this story is that women are as driven and as underhanded and as untrustworthy as men are in certain businesses. You can't trust anyone, your friends most of all.
The acting was good. For me the script was underdeveloped. It took us into the lives of three women but didn't go quite far enough for me. This situation was presented in a simplistic manner, but one certainly did feel the pressure the main character was under. No such thing as a free lunch.
The title has a dual meaning: It's about Wall Street, and it's about women in what used to be man's world.
Gunn is Naomi Bishop, an investment banker brought into her current firm to be a "rainmaker." It hasn't been going great for her since her last initial public offering didn't go very well. Her job is to bring private companies public by selling to institutional investors at a good price, and those investors sell the company on the stock market.
Naomi has an excellent prospect to bring public, a company called Cachet, which deals in keeping information private. And the waters are shark-filled. First, there is her ambitious, pregnant assistant Erin (Thomas), Naomi's broker boyfriend, Michael (Purefoy), and an old friend who is now a prosecutor looking into insider trading (Reiner). On top of all of it, the owner of Cachet doesn't like her and prefers working with Erin. Before she knows it, Naomi is on the defensive.
The way these IPOs work when there is chicanery involved is the following: Someone gets some negative insider info and gives it to the press, driving the price way down before the offering goes to the public. After the offering goes on the stock market at, say $13 less than was promised, all these people buy it. Then whomever gave them the info retracts her statement. The price goes up. The buyers clean up.
I guess the moral of this story is that women are as driven and as underhanded and as untrustworthy as men are in certain businesses. You can't trust anyone, your friends most of all.
The acting was good. For me the script was underdeveloped. It took us into the lives of three women but didn't go quite far enough for me. This situation was presented in a simplistic manner, but one certainly did feel the pressure the main character was under. No such thing as a free lunch.