Chicago Beatdown – Talking to James Allen Smith, director of Chicago traders documentary ‘Floored’

James Allen Smith, director of the new documentary "Floored."

As the roar of pit trading in Chicago began trickling down to a whisper, James Allen Smith was there to capture the beginning of the end of an era. In 1997, Smith was introduced to this rough and wild world of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade (since merged) as a Web designer for trading companies. He witnessed the trading floors once filled with screaming, flailing traders – many of them self-made millionaires with no education after high school – become a shell of its former self, as traders opted for more sterile computer trading in large droves. (Since ‘97, 90% of Chicago’s pit traders have left). Some adapted. Some couldn’t. And some refuse to abandon traditional trading, even though those days, sooner or later, are most certainly numbered.

After 10 years working on the outer rim of the trading world, Smith delved into its belly, and started shooting a documentary, what would become his first feature film, “Floored.” Combing through 140 hours of footage shot across three years, the first-timer’s delivered compelling and illuminating 80-minute glimpse into the freespending glory days of trading, the Chicago trading scene’s difficult transition today, the people who have won a fortune, and others who nearly lost it all.

In anticipation of the film’s Chicago premiere Jan. 15 at the Gene Siskel Film Center, Smith spoke to Chicago Beat about the trials of a first-time filmmaker and Chicago traders today.

Chicago Beat: So how did you get into making a film about trading in Chicago?  How did you go from your 9-to-5 to suddenly being a director?

James Allen Smith: Well, I didn’t really come from 9-to-5 first of all. I never really had a 9-to-5. I went to art school in Boston and found myself in Springfield, Missouri in the 90s promoting rock shows at a club. And from there I moved to Chicago and started doing web design for a lot of finance related companies. So basically that’s kind of how I was introduced to the environment. I always knew I wanted to be in the arts but I wasn’t sure I wanted to be a filmmaker. But seeing this community, going onto the trading floor, I thought somebody really needs to make a film about these guys. So that was kind of it, being exposed to that world, and knowing that was a film I wanted to make.

CB: So what was it about trading and the floor and people that fascinated you so much? Why were you compelled to devote so much energy to a film on this topic?

JAS: When you say that, that’s a really excellent way to put it. Because I’m sure you know, filmmaking is a struggle, it’s a battle. It’s the best times of your life and the worst times of your life all wrapped into one. But getting back to your question, the reason is because the people are so dynamic, the people are so fascinating to me, that sort of pull yourself up by your bootstraps, truly Chicago-centric character.  It’s not a character that you see anywhere else, at least I haven’t. I just loved that sort of blue-collar, doesn’t matter where you came from kind of attitude. These guys are the quintessential American cowboys. They’re the last of a dying breed of Americana. These guys are just incredible characters. So I think for me I was drawn to the character that these guys have, and the struggles that they face every day. These guys are trading with their own money. Every time they walk into work they could be risking a house, they could be risking a car, and this happens daily. It’s a very particular kind of discipline to be able to do this type of work. It’s not for everybody.

CB: But what were your perceptions about the pit and the people you ended up documenting going in, and as you came to know more about them and this way of life, did your perception about the pit or traders or trading change?

JAS: I started meeting these guys in 1997, and it wasn’t until almost 10 years later that I started filming these guys. And I didn’t know some of the characters specifically, but I got to know them. So it was a gradual evolution, so by the time I shot my first footage, I thought I knew them pretty well. And that was probably one of the reasons I was granted so much access, because I wasn’t just this guy off the street with a camera.  A lot of these people already kind of knew me, and in some senses I was already a fixture. So with that being said though, I was sort of attracted to, how do I put this? How many films do you see where the guy is against all odds, and he has this one shot to make it, and you’re sitting on the edge of your chair thinking, ‘Can he do it? Can he do it? Is he going to make it?’ And he does. And the whole audience takes a big breath of relief. But how many films do you see about the guy who doesn’t make it, who has this one shot and loses it? And for me, there’s so much humanity, so much beauty in that as well. I’m just really attracted to people who are up against these odds and they don’t knock it out of the park, and that’s fascinating to me as well. And that’s one of the things about this situation with the trading floor going away. You’ve got guys in their 40s and their 50s and even their 60s who don’t know how to do anything else, and all of a sudden, the way they’ve done it, the way their dad or grandparents or great-uncle told them to do it, now they’re being told, ‘Here’s your mouse. You can open a trading account on a computer and do it that way.’

I definitely wanted to recognize the stereotype [of the trader] in the film, and I wanted to pull it apart a little bit, and kind of examine the stereotype, to see what things support that stereotype, and what things blow that stereotype out of the water.  You’ll see in the trailer Jeff Ansani, he is not you’re a plus personality type. He’s from that world and he is that guy, who had that one shot and lost that shot, but he’s still there, and again that’s what really fascinates me about that world.

CB: So then as you got closer to them, there must have been aspects about their characters that surprised you, when these people were opening up to you as people and you see these weaknesses. Because I imagine the trading floor is a place where you can’t show weakness.

JAS: Absolutely. I really respect these guys for opening up to me and the camera and to being honest. All of the people who I’ve spoke with, they really kind of took a chance and put a lot of trust in me and this project to do this. These guys do not show fear, they don’t show weakness. And in order to get that, to show the true dynamic of the character, I had to burn a lot of tape, and I had to spend a lot of time with these individuals. And I had to gain trust and let the camera roll and get those moments that I think will surprise a lot of people who think they may know these guys just because of what they’ve heard or because they know this stereotype.

CB: So what was it like for you first day of filming and then going into the editing process? You took on a very ambitious first feature-length film.

JAS: It was, and I kind of learned along the way. But I had started a film about my family two years prior called ‘My Name is Smith.’ So that’s where I cut my teeth sitting through a whole half-hour interview and realizing I forgot to hit the record button.

I knew in 2005, I wanted to be a filmmaker; I wanted to make a documentary. And what was the one subject I know better than anybody else, and who will be the most patient and accommodating people. So obviously, that was my family.  So that’s where I started. I’d guess you’d say I lucked out, because I happen to have a very interesting family, and my mom and dad are very charismatic people. But outside of that, that was really the motivation I needed.

With ‘Floored,’ I had a little bit more technical savvy. I used the same camera and things like that. But it was a huge difference. I went from filming the grand total of four people to interviewing 40 people for ‘Floored,’ and 20 maybe actually made it into the film. It was an enormous change, absolutely night and day. ‘My Name is Smith’ is a very quiet family film, and this is of course nothing like that. So it was very different, but it was refreshing as well. Now I’m revisiting ‘My Name is Smith,’ and its premiering next month at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival for the first time, and its refreshing now after being buried in ‘Floored’ for four years to go back to my quiet little family film. I almost have a split personality with these two projects, but if you watch both films you would definitely see that I made them both.

CB: You started in 1997 getting immersed in the floor, you were observing it for a good amount through 2009. The changes there obviously have been so dramatic. Tell me a little bit about that transition from the beginning when you were first there and how the floor has since changed, how it’s gone from a room of people to more computer-centric. Is that sad to you, or is that progress?

JAS: From the beginning, the writing was on the wall that computers were taking over. I think in some regards from a storytelling perspective I think the timing couldn’t have been much better, because literally while I was filming, the pits every time I went down there was a noticeable shift and noticeable diminishment of individuals on the floor. So that was incredible to see this sort of amazing situation. So seeing that was pretty intense, and of course when the economic crisis hit in the fall of ’08, we were already well into our editing process, and all of a sudden we find that our country is going into the worst economic slump we’ve seen since the Depression, and here I am making this finance-related documentary, and I’m faced with this huge issue. It’s like, ‘How do we deal with that?’ And a lot of people approached me and said, ‘Oh, you’re so lucky. You’re making this finance movie, and now the end of your film can be this economic crisis.’ What I realized was I had to be true to the film. The film wasn’t about the economic crisis. It was about transition, and the film was about invention versus convention, and the film was about people finding themselves facing the dilemma of having to reinvent themselves later on in life. And that to me is the really heart of the project, and quite honestly, that never really changed even though the climate changed around it, and we do recognize the economic crisis in the film. But it’s just another trading day, that’s how I dealt with it. There was a global fed rate cut one of the days that I filmed, and it was intense and it was a really tough day of trading. But it was in the context of the film another situation that these guys have to deal with every day.

CB: So from your point of view has the pit lost some of its magic?

JAS: The mystique has definitely gone away. A lot of the things about trading, that these sorts of characters I’ve grown to love, no longer exist. It takes a totally different person to stand and scream and yell at the top of your lungs and look at your opponent right in their eyes and read exactly what’s on their mind by looking at his face than it does to sit in a very sterile environment and click a mouse. It’s just completely different. So going back to that American cowboy thing, it doesn’t take a cowboy to make a boatload of cash on a computer, it takes massive attention, it takes computer scientists, it takes a nerd. It doesn’t take a burly Chicagoan; it takes some nerd who might be halfway across the world in his mother’s basement. And a lot of these guys have a real problem with that. One guy told me he would never tell people what he did. If people asked him what he did for a living, he would tell them he was a cab driver, because he didn’t want them to know how good he had it. He didn’t want people to know that anybody could show up at the doorstep and climb the ranks and become a multi-millionaire, local Chicago floor trader right out of high school. That was sort of kept under wraps a lot of times.

The downside is just as dynamic and therefore absolutely brutal. For every guy who makes a million dollars, a million guys are losing $1. That money has to come from somewhere. And so there’s a lot of loss. There’s a lot of loss. A lot of guys just didn’t make it.

CB: So how do you feel about coming back to Chicago to show the film for its local premiere? Are you scared? Are you thrilled?

JAS: Gosh, I have every emotion you can imagine. I’m nervous. I’m excited. This film is Chicago to me, and its very important for me that Chicago’s trading community embraces it. That’s something I was really conscious in making the film. I wanted to be honest, but I wanted something they could show their grandkids someday and say, ‘This is what I used to do.’ So it’s important for me that these guys, maybe they’re not going to like every moment of it because it is pretty gritty. But I hope they will look at it and say, ‘He was honest, and he told it like it was, and this was the place that I lived and I worked in.’ So getting back to your answer, I can’t wait for Friday to come. It’s already sold out entirely for Friday and I’m told Saturday and Sunday are very close. So there are a lot of people that want to see it so that’s fantastic.

CB: Have any of the traders you feature in the film seen the movie?

JAS: None of the people that I actually followed as characters. Some of the folks you see in standard interviews a couple of those folks have seen it and I’ve gotten extremely positive feedback from them.  So far, so good. Everybody’s been really happy with it and excited.

CB: But I’m sure it can be scary. You don’t want to piss off a trader of all people, right?

JAS: Yeah, but at the same time, I tried to stay out of the way. When you’re a filmmaker, there are so many different approaches to documentary. But there’s no narration in the film, so what you hear is what they said and what they did. So they may not like every minute of it, but it’s a story told in their own voice. In some senses, I probably protected myself for letting them tell their own stories.

CB: So what do you ultimately hope people will take from the film?

JAS: They’re going to get a peek into a world that a lot of people are going to see the fringes of. When I was a kid I watched ‘Ferris Bueller’s Day Off’ and watched Cameron walk up to the window and make funny hand signals to the guys. I wanted to take a peak into that world that a lot of people have heard of but have never gotten to look too closely at. But another thing is, unemployment right now is at an all-time high, and a lot of people are finding themselves in a situation where they have to reinvent themselves and they have to figure out a new way to do something. I think in a lot of ways it will be interesting for people to watch these guys who have this reputation of being fearless struggle and have to reinvent themselves will speak a lot to an audience.

“Floored” is playing at the Gene Siskel Film Center, 164 N. State St., Jan. 15-21. $10. Tickets and showtimes are available here. Smith, and producers Steven Prosniewski and Joe Gibbons, will be present for evening shows Jan. 15-18.