Interview: Patrick Creadon (I.O.U.S.A)

[Ed’s note: This was originally published during the 2008 Sundance Film Festival.]

Patrick Creadon

Can you discuss the genius of this project – how did the initial idea come about or how did this become a story you wanted to tell? Did Wordplay put you in a financial hole?
As we were wrapping up our last film “Wordplay” we received a call from producer Sarah Gibson about doing a film about the national debt. The film is based loosely on the writings of William Bonner and Addison Wiggin and their book “Empire of Debt”.  We thought the story they told was a very fascinating and important one and decided to take on the project.  Sarah and the authors had seen “Wordplay” and – only half-jokingly — thought that if we could make crossword puzzles interesting and entertaining, imagine what we could do with the federal debt!

As for “Wordplay”, it was film that Christine and I financed with help from my brother Michael Creadon and my best friend Patrick Walsh.  The two of them invested in the film and were the Executive Producers of “Wordplay”.  I’m happy to announce that all our investments were paid back in full and that financially “Wordplay” was a success for all parties involved.

Can you elaborate on what kind of work went into the pre-production process (how long you’ve been working on this project prior to pre-production and what specifically you did to prepare, and were there specific people involved in this process that are worth signaling out?
We started reading and researching the project in November of 2006.  At the time the ideas of America facing the dire financial situation it is now in seemed fairly remote.  We imagined the film would serve as a warning for what might happen at some point in the future.  All that changed in late August of 2007 as the sub-prime mortgage mess began to unravel.  To the great credit of William Bonner and Addison Wiggin, they saw the writing on the wall and very accurately predicted the mess that we are now in today.

Our number one priority with this project was to make a film about economics that would somehow appeal to a general audience.  Several of the people we interviewed for the film, including Warren Buffett and former Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin commented that they were happy we were trying to tell this story, but that they had no idea how we would make it interesting and accessible to a general audience.  I think to the credit of our very talented team we’ve done that.

If you could name just one – what stands out as your most favorite experience you had during filming?
The past few weeks have been extremely rewarding because we can finally see all the pieces of this story fitting together. Unlike “Wordplay”, which was a small topic about an interesting group of people, “I.O.U.S.A.” is an extraordinarily complex story that not only affects every American, it ultimately affects every nation on the planet.  We were concerned that we’d never quite crack this nut from a storytelling perspective.  We’ve had several private screenings recently and I’m feeling more and more confident that we’ve done the topic justice.

Anatomy of a scene: What was the most difficult sequence during production?
The challenge for the whole film was how do we allow viewers to connect with the topic.  We were very fortunate to gain access to Mr. David Walker, the Comptroller General of the United States, and to Robert Bixby, the Executive Director of the Concord Coalition.  They are two people who know more about this issue than just about anyone else in the country.  They invited us into their lives and allowed us to tell their stories.  Without them we would have been in trouble.

Our film is an examination of two very large enitities – namely, the federal government and the American economy.  There’s simply no way to tell this entire story in 85 minutes.  As a result, figuring what to include and more importantly what to leave out proved to be the biggest challenge to our team.

What are you hoping that future audiences will take away from this film?
I hope our audiences take away two important things once they’ve seen our film. First, I hope they realize that financially our country is in trouble. We have been the richest country in the world for a very long time, but if we don’t accept that we have a problem and take steps to address the problem, the economic health of our country is at risk.  Secondly, I hope voters realize that the days of electing officials that ignore this issue – and of voting for people who promise low taxes and large benefit programs – are over. That is a recipe for financial disaster and we will have our children and grandchildren to answer to if we don’t change our ways. 

At what part in the timeline did you consider submitting the film to Sundance?
We always intended for this to be a Sundance submission. “Wordplay” enjoyed its World Premiere at Sundance in January 2006 and went on to become the second-highest grossing documentary of 2006. It’s a great honor to be returning two years later with our next film “I.O.U.S.A”.

I.O.U.S.A is released in theaters today!