Warren Lands Supporting Role In Obama Documentary

What do Academy Award Winners Davis Guggenheim and Tom Hanks have in common with Harvard Law School Professor Elizabeth Warren? All three have a hand in a soon-to-be released documentary highlighting the challenges of President Barack Obama's first term in office.

The Obama campaign unveiled the trailer of "The Road We've Traveled" on Thursday, and it seems that Warren has landed a big-time supporting role.

Speaking as the former advisor to the Consumer Protection Bureau, Warren characterizes the manufacturing crisis as it stood when Obama was elected in 2008.

"If the auto industry goes down, what happens to America's manufacturing base? What happens to jobs in America? What happens to the whole Midwest?" Warren asks.

On screen, the implication seems to be that Obama saved the day. The lights of an empty factory go dim and by the next frame, Obama, shirtsleeves rolled, is shaking hands with auto workers, back at work.

"The Road We've Traveled" profiles Obama's leadership in the difficult early days of his presidency when the financial crisis was in full swing. In addition to Warren, Vice President Joe Biden, former Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel, and economic advisor Austan Goolsbee offer their thoughts and insights on the challenges Obama faced during his first term.

The documentary is directed by Guggenheim, best known for "An Inconvenient Truth" and "Waiting for Superman," and narrated by Hanks.

Warren is challenging Republican Senator Scott Brown in what is considered to be one of the highest-profile U.S. Senate races in the country. Warren and Obama’s time on the public stage have been intertwined from the start. In many ways, the story of presidential reaction to the financial crisis is her own.

Warren was named the chair of the Congressional Oversight Committee in charge of monitoring the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) just days after Obama's election. Two years later, in 2010, Obama signed Warren's brainchild, the Consumer Protection Bureau, into law.

The full-length, 17-minute documentary will be released at Obama campaign offices around the country on March 15.