Ben Hamper - Television and Film

Television and Film

Hamper has appeared in a number of high profile TV and film roles, most notably in association with Michael Moore. In fact Hamper was at Moore's side for most of Moore's career from his very early days to his TV shows in the mid 1990s.

Hamper first began writing articles for the Flint Voice. In fact, on the day Moore and Hamper were to meet to discuss Hamper's writing for the Flint Voice, Harry Chapin — a long time benefactor for the paper — was killed in a car accident. Hamper turned around and went home. He did however end up with a writing assignment and rather quickly became a local celebrity who wrote scathing true stories of life on the assembly line. He was kept on when the Flint Voice became the state-wide Michigan Voice where he was again one of the more popular writers. When Moore left for Mother Jones in 1986, he brought Hamper over with him and put him on the cover. Moore was fired shortly after. Hamper was asked to keep writing for Mother Jones, but out of loyalty chose not to continue {Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line, pg 220}.

When production of Moore's documentary film Roger & Me began in early February 1987, Moore asked Hamper to recall one of his infamous panic attacks stemming from his work at the GM Truck & Bus plant on Van Slyke Road.

After Roger & Me, Hamper's book Rivethead became a national bestseller. He then appeared on the cover of The Wall Street Journal and was interviewed by NBC and CBS for various news shows.

Matt Dillon was tapped to star in the film adaption of Rivethead, with Richard Linklater writing and directing, but the project did not move beyond early stages of development.

In 1995, Hamper had a memorable cameo appearance in Michael Moore's film Canadian Bacon and was later tapped as a correspondent for both TV Nation and The Awful Truth documentary television shows. These were the last official associations with Moore, but the two remain good friends to this day.