Film is a powerful tool to take on the government. I seized the opportunity to tackle the competing economic visions championed by Presidents Reagan and Obama with my new documentary, "I Want Your Money."
It resulted in a duel of speeches, wit, animation and narrative that will leave audiences laughing, cheering and yelling.
"I Want Your Money" exposes these two diametrically opposed visions of government and challenges the American public to embrace Constitutional principles that were born from the extraordinary vision of the Founding Fathers. Somehow, we have strayed from those very basic concepts about the role of government and slowly ceded many of our rights and freedoms in the process.
When Obama passed the $787 billion stimulus package, I knew I had to do something about it. That moment was the impetus for me to make the film. The amount of money this current administration is spending is unsustainable. I felt the consequences of this spending binge needed to be explained to the everyday citizen. While the political documentary landscape has traditionally leaned toward left-wing fare, "I Want Your Money" taps the millions of Americans for whom fiscal conservatism isn’t just politics – it’s a national emergency.
In fact, the movie trailer has gotten more than 2 million views in only a few weeks and has become one of YouTube’s “Most Viewed” videos in the entertainment category, and is growing at more than 100,000 views per day. It’s getting more YouTube views for its trailer than every other movie releasing this October, other than "Jackass 3D" and "Paranormal Activity 2."
The whole project took about a year to put together. Knowing I wanted the animated clips to make the film multi-dimensional, we started on those in the beginning of our journey. The film exposes the shocking reality of a bloated government while offering alternatives to help steer the United States back toward firm fiscal ground. By utilizing interviews with key leaders of America’s conservative movement – Newt Gingrich, Steve Forbes, Mike Huckabee – movie clips, dramatic portrayals, music, graphics and even comedic animation, "I Want Your Money" tells the story in the plainest terms of the choice between Reaganomics’ and Obamanomics.
Normally I like big box office family films that have a science fiction or fantasy element to them. However, I felt compelled to make this documentary because of the freedoms we are losing in this country. I needed to step out of what I like to normally do and make a film that will hopefully make a difference this election — to take back the house.
Making a documentary was a difficult journey as I was always unsure if what I was doing would resonate with others. I promised myself if I was going to make a documentary, it would be one that I’d want to watch and hold my interest, which is a big reason why we have the animation.
"I Want Your Money" uses a colorful tapestry of humor and fact to effectively propose the Reaganesque notion that Americans know better what to do with their money than a large centralized bureaucratic government and includes commentary from a long list of high-profile individuals. We had reached out to several liberals to tell their side but unfortunately, they were not interested in being in the film.
I know the U.S government is spending like crazy and our economy can't sustain that kind of debt. Working on this film really painted a clear picture of how much we are spending and on some of the ridiculous things we are spending it on. That was the real eye opener for me.
I want audiences to walk away from this film reminded that the government works for them. Their voices can be heard and it is their money the government is spending. Don't let the government continue to think they know what's best for you.
