MAXED OUT takes viewers on a journey deep inside the rapidly unraveling world of America's debt crisis. With stories that span from small American towns all the way to the White House, the film depicts how the modern financial industry really works. It showcases an America completely "maxed out" on insurmountable credit card debt and mortgage payments, and tells us why the poor keep getting poorer and how the world's largest banks are flirting with disaster. At times, hilarious and profoundly disturbing, MAXED OUT is a definitive picture of a national nightmare that has become an international phenomenon. The film makes its television premiere on
SHOWTIME on Wednesday, May 14th at 9 PM ET/PT.
The film could not be timelier as many of its predictions have come to pass while the film's director James Scurlock continues to call for the repeal of bankruptcy reform and the return of meaningful financial regulation. MAXED OUT goes in depth to reveal the stories behind headline-making bank bailouts, a national economy in recession, mountains of home foreclosures, and a government helpless to fix the problem.
Winner of the Special Jury Prize at the SXSW Film Festival and an official selection of more than 10 international festivals, MAXED OUT was written, directed and produced by James Scurlock. The film was released by Magnolia Pictures in March 2007 and was one of the best reviewed films of the year, landing on several top 10 lists, including the Washington Post and Mother Jones. The film has been screened at the United States Capitol and received the national media award from the National Association of Consumer Attorneys in 2007. Red Envelope Entertainment/Magnolia Home Entertainment released the DVD in June 2007 and it quickly rocketed to the third-most queued film on Netflix.
MAXED OUT is James D. Scurlock's first feature film. He is also the author of "Maxed Out: Hard Times and Easy Credit" which was published by Simon & Schuster imprint Scribner in March 2007. It just recently won the prestigious 2008 Ridenhour Prize.
