Federal News Radio

Hooray for Hollywood

By Max Cacas
Federal News Radio

January 30, 2008

Audio: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/emedia/105783.mp3

WASHINGTON -- Can Hollywood do for America's looming fiscal crisis what An Inconvenient Truth did for global warming? That's the goal of a new documentary film entitled I.O.U.S.A., which debuted last week at the Sundance Film Festival in Utah.

Comptroller General David Walker is one of the stars of the 85-minute documentary. It chronicles most of his travels last year, along with his friend Bob Bixby, Executive Director of the Concord Coalition, and others during the "Fiscal Wake-Up Tour".

"I have been traveling the country [both] by myself and with others, to help state the facts and speak the truth about our true financial condition and fiscal outlook -- but to see it on the big screen and to receive a standing ovation was even more special," Walker said in a telephone interview.

I.O.U.S.A. is the brain-child of Hollywood director Patrick Creadon, who says its not the first time he's taken a topic that most might find boring and mundane and turned it into a compelling film.

"Our last documentary film was called Wordplay. And it was about crossword puzzles, and a man named Will Shortz, who edits the puzzle for the New York Times. And a lot of people told us that time, how are you going to make a film about that interesting? We had the same question asked of us at the start of this project . . . how are you going to make the federal debt and tax and spending issues cinematic?"

Wordplay debuted to critical acclaim at the 2006 Sundance Film Festival and was nominated by the National Board of Review and the Broadcast Film Critics Association as best documentary of that year.

Creadon says I.O.U.S.A. boils down about ten months of life in 2007 for Walker and Bixby.

"We started talking to Mr. Walker and Mr. Bixby back in February and started shooting in February, and we shot throughout the whole year."

Creadon adds that some of the interviews for the film were shot as late as November last year in Los Angeles.

Bixby says that, as Creadon's film crew followed the "Fiscal Wake-Up Tour," there was a certain consistency to the film making process. They visited New Hampshire and Iowa, states where some of the earliest presidential primary elections are scheduled and also went to Los Angeles.

"At each of those, he would drive around with us in the van and ask us questions. And each time, he would ask us the same questions."

Creadon says posing the same queries in different venues is part of the art of documentary film making.

"We found that by asking the same set of questions over and over again, we would get the same answers, but there would be subtleties and nuances that we didn't get the first time around. In the end, we had a lot more options to choose from when we went to edit the film and we were able to craft a lively and interesting film."

The benefits of using a documentary to tell the story of America's fiscal crisis isn't lost on David Walker.

"Obviously, the documentary format has the ability to deal with the topic in much more depth, than, for example, the [CBS News] 60 Minutes program. 60 Minutes did an outstanding job, [but] they filmed for two and a half days and ultimately cut it down to 12 minutes."

Walker added that I.O.U.S.A is almost an hour and a half and utilizes graphics and other materials that can make it, "educational, and yet, somewhat entertaining."

Bixby says it's important to remember that this movie -- and the "Fiscal Wake Up Tour" -- have a vital message to impart.

"The long-term fiscal policy of the nation is unsustainable, and the people who are most at risk are future generations, so we emphasize its not just about numbers, it is a moral issue."

Creadon says it was fascinating to work with Bixby and Walker.

"The work that they are doing is heroic. They're out there spreading a message that is not a popular message, but they're spreading it nonetheless, because if America doesn't acknowledge that it has a major debt problem, and then figure out how to fix it, we are going to dig such a big hole for our kids and our grandkids that we might not be able to get out of it."

Creadon says both Walker and Bixby, as actors, are, "terrific characters, because they're very passionate, very likeable, in fact, they're quite funny in their own right."

He adds those characteristics make the story of the "Fiscal Wake Up Tour" very, "compelling and entertaining."

I.O.U.S.A. was screened five times at various locations during the Sundance Film Festival. By his own admission, Bixby is very much a budget wonk and says his newfound stardom took a little getting used to.

"I now understand why some actors don't like to watch their own movies," saying that he watched the first half of an NFL playoff game last Sunday and then stood in the back of a theater to catch the last half of one of the first screenings of his movie. He says he was also approached for an autograph by one viewer.

At his side was Comptroller General Walker, who says he had his own challenges when getting used to the spotlight.

"I attended the first two screenings, the first in Park City and the second in Salt Lake City. Both were sold out, crowds stayed to the end, and didn't leave early. For the second screening in Salt Lake City, which involved more than 300 people, we were fortunate to receive a standing ovation, which is gratifying considering the sober nature of this subject."

Creadon says I.O.U.S.A. has already prompted favorable comparisons with Vice President Al Gore's film on global warming, An Inconvenient Truth.

"We got the highest compliment last week at the Sundance Film Festival. One of the top film critics in the country, Kenneth Turan with the Los Angeles Times, said I.O.U.S.A. was probably the most frightening film at the Sundance Film Festival."

On the basis of positive reviews in Variety and other Hollywood magazines, Creadon says his movie now has the attention of "Hollywood on the Potomac".

"The day after David Walker returned from the Sundance Film Festival, he got calls from key members of Congress, who had read about Sundance, and read about the film, and they want to see the film. And they want to get together with David and they really want to discuss the problem -- and they want to discuss solutions."

Creadon has been invited to show his film at the Silver Docs festival at the American Film Institute this spring. He also says he's hoping to finalize a national distribution deal for I.O.U.S.A. in the next several weeks.

Source: http://www.federalnewsradio.com/index.php?nid=169&pid=&sid=1335588&page=1