Marie Brenner

The Insider -- A former tobacco executive, fired by his employer, becomes a paid consultant for a story regarding unethical practices within that controversial industry.

Jeffrey Wigand was a central witness in the lawsuits filed by Mississippi and 49 other states against the tobacco industry which eventually were settled for 246 billion. Wigand, former head of research and development and a corporate officer at Brown and Williamson, was a top scientist, the ultimate insider. No one like him had ever gone public before. Meanwhile, Lowell Bergman, investigative reporter and "60 Minutes" producer, mostly for Mike Wallace segments, arranged a legal defense team for Wigand and taped the famous Wallace interview with its devastating testimony. However, before the most newsworthy "60 Minutes" segment in years could air, Bergman would lose to a CBS corporate decision to kill it and would experience breakdown and bitter divisions within "60 Minutes." Wigand would find himself sued, targeted in a national smear campaign, divorced and facing possible incarceration. Wigand, having wagered so much and now unable to deliver his testimony to the American people, and Bergman, trying to defeat the smear campaign and force CBS to air the interview, are two ordinary people in extraordinary circumstances. They find themselves in a fight from which no one will emerge as he entered and nothing will be the same again.

When Dr. Jeffrey Wigand is fired by his employer -- one of the largest tobacco companies in America -- he agrees to become a paid consultant for a story 60-Minutes producer Lowell Bergman is working on regarding alleged unethical practices within the tobacco industry. But what begins as a temporary alliance leads to a lengthy battle for both men to save their reputations, and much, much more. As they soon find out, Corporate America will use all legal means at its disposal to save a billion-dollar-a-year habit. And as the corporate giants soon find out, Bergman and Wigand are honorable men, driven to smoke out the evidence.