So you don't have any formal training in filmmaking…
What drove you to filmmaking and how did you get your start?

I’m really just a frustrated writer. I had been writing free-lance for a few magazines and publishing a couple of newsletters when I decided, four years ago, to move to Los Angeles and pursue filmmaking. At first I started writing screenplays, but just getting anyone (besides my mom and sister) to read them proved next to impossible. Plus it was quite lonely and I didn’t feel like I was learning anything about how to actually make a film. I figured I had two options: go to film school or start making films. I chose the latter because I’m just not good with school. That being said, I was very fortunate because I’d made a good deal of money in the stock market and I was able to finance myself. My first film, Parents of the Year, took a little over a year to make and it eventually sold to HBO and some other broadcasters in Canada and Europe. I re-cut a short version and it’s played at over twenty-five film festivals and won a bunch of awards. Last Friday it was featured on 20/20, two years after I made it. Go figure.

Where did you get the idea for Maxed Out?

Debt is the one issue that affects all of us: old or young, rich or poor, black or white, gay or straight, vegan or fast-food junkie. Originally I wanted to do something like “Supersize Me”—something light which kind of poked fun at consumer behavior but then hinted at something darker. A lot of reviewers are comparing “Maxed Out” to “Supersize Me” but I think that they are very different films. In the end, I was asking a much broader question: why can’t most of us get out of debt? And though it starts out in a pretty light place—this real-estate agent in Vegas selling $6 million spec McMansions—it gets pretty dark towards the end. I should mention that I’ve always been a finance junkie and I went to Wharton, so money has always been floating around my subconscious.

Was financing difficult? How did you secure funding
for this project? You didn’t go into debt yourself did you?

I didn’t go into debt. I was lucky to have made some money, and I had family money before that. I prepared myself early on for making the worst investments of my life, but now it looks like maybe they’re not such bad investments, so we’ll see. I know a lot of people who spend all of their time looking for money, and I empathize with them. I’ve just been really lucky, but I’ve been willing to sacrifice and take risks with what I have at the same time.

How did you go about looking for interview subjects?
What is difficult to get them to speak with you about their debt?

Yeah, it’s very difficult to get people talking about debt. It really is the last taboo in this culture of ours, being in financial trouble. I was talking to this guy who’s in Debtors Anonymous, which is the twelve-step program for debtors, and he told me, “being an alcoholic, being a drug addict, even, is kind of glamorous, is socially acceptable. But being in debt, that’s not polite cocktail conversation.” I think that’s true, unfortunately, because so many of us are in trouble and we need to start talking about it. I’ve just seen too many examples of suicide over this issue. Hopefully the film will get some people to start coming out of the closet and stop pretending that they’re alone. The subjects we did find were ultimately people who’d been through that sense of alienation and humiliation and said, “you know what? Maybe some of this is my fault, but not all of it.” Those were the people who were willing to talk. At first I found a lot of these people off of the Internet, because initially I was looking for those “out there” stories, the really extreme ones. But then I kind of developed this network of counselors and academics and radio hosts and journalists who referred me to people who were willing to talk. That being said, a lot of people cancelled on us or just disappeared. But I can’t express how grateful I am to the people who gave it up for us. We even shot a few debt collectors at work!

It was really shocking to see that people had committed suicide and had gone missing because of their debt problems… Did you find a lot of these types of cases?

That’s a really good question. I remember when I realized, in our first interview, that this was an emotional subject more than anything. You think about debt and credit cards and you probably assume, “okay, this is going to be kind of academic, informational.” But I can tell you that this is by far the most emotional, visceral, loaded topic you can imagine. We heard suicide mentioned at every turn. Because money defines us and money is what facilitates our lifestyles, our identities. Lose it and what do you have left? I know that a lot of people will criticize us for finding these “extreme” cases and these really emotional people, but, you know what? These people aren’t the exceptions and people who watch the film better realize that.

What was the most surprising thing you discovered about the
credit industry?

The most surprising thing I learned was that your credit score—this determines how much credit you get—has nothing to do with your income. In other words, it has nothing to do with whether you can pay it back or not. That’s why college kids and retired widows and people who’ve just declared bankruptcy are getting deluged with credit offers. It’s not only unethical, it’s ultimately going to haunt these financial companies.

Although this is a heavy subject you did a good job lightening the
mood with humor… How did you get Louis CK involved?

Thanks. That was very important to us—because at some point, you can’t do anything but laugh at how absurd it is. I think that Louis CK is a phenomenal talent and he just nails it.

What are some things that most people don’t realize about how
credit works?

I think that most people think banks are still rationing out credit to people who’ve “earned” it or people who “deserve” it. That’s certainly what they want us to believe. But the truth is that banks are pushing credit onto people who will pay them the highest fees and the highest interest rates. That’s the real definition of “valued customer.”

What kind of challenges did you have with production?

Our biggest production challenge was that we were crossing the country, multiple times, chasing people who often changed their minds. Of course, I can’t blame people for deciding not to put their financial problems front and center for all the world to see, but it definitely took its toll. I lost our first sound recordist because he just couldn’t stand sitting around in a crappy hotel all day.

What kind of equipment did you use? Did the equipment cause
any issues you had to deal with?

We used the Panasonic Varicam, which was terrific. The sound stuff we rented from Location Sound and it performed beautifully.

How about distribution? Did you make any deals at SXSW?
How did you go about finding a distributor?

We had a couple of distribution offers previous to SXSW, based on the rough cut, but we decided to wait until after the premiere. We wanted distributors to sit in a big theater with a bunch of Americans to get an idea of how emotional and how personal this issue really is. The danger for us, I think, is convincing the industry that this is an immensely engaging subject for millions and millions of people—that they want all of this information. They don’t want a character assassination piece, or a fluffy bit of reality television. They want to know.

How did editing go? Did the story seem to change much from your
original vision?

Editing was really tough. The editor, Alexis Spraic, is just amazing. I can’t say enough good things about the work she did. She basically took a bunch of interviews we’d shot and then went out and found something like a hundred hours of archival footage and crafted scenes that were compelling and impactful without being manipulative. That’s incredibly tough. I came up with the structure at the beginning, and we ended up sticking to it for the most part, but just finding the right balance of humor, impact, archival and interview took us over a year.

Did you ever feel like you were distorting reality at all?

I feel like we were discovering reality. That being said, when you create a film like this, you’re creating 90 minutes of your reality. People will argue with whether it’s the reality or not. I’ve already heard viewers say, “you went too easy on people for being irresponsible,” and then, “you went too easy on the industry.” So maybe if I’m getting it from both sides, I’ve done my job.

What do you hope audiences take away from this film?

I hope two things: one, that people, particularly the older audience, which, incidentally, is the group that’s really getting into trouble with credit now, understands how the financial industry has changed so that they have a fighting chance. Watching a sixty-year-old woman lose everything she has because she didn’t think a bank would give her credit if she couldn’t afford it, that’s fucking heartbreaking. I don’t want to watch any more of that any more than anyone else; second, if this doesn’t sound too presumptuous, I’d like to shift the debate. We’ve got the Suze Ormans and Dave Ramseys and Jean Chatskys and Jerry Falwells talking about consumer behavior until they’re blue in the face. Well, let’s start talking about the behavior of the financial industry and the behavior of Congress, which is supposed to regulate it.

What advice would you give to new filmmakers about making their
first documentary?

Do it. Get a camera, find a story and try like hell to do it justice.