About this project
THE FORECLOSURE CRISIS MOVIE
This documentary will infuriate you. It will educate you. It will inspire you and motivate you. It will bring you hope. It will make you wonder whether there's any future for our species. It will convince you that, maybe, with enough of us, with enough love in our hearts, with enough intelligence, with enough courage, we might just make it. The choice is ours. Back in the 60s we stood up and changed the world. It is time to do that again.
SETTING THE RECORD STRAIGHT
Wall Street and the banks would have you believe that the financial crisis was caused by 20,000,000 greedy homeowners who woke up one morning and decided to buy a house they couldn't afford. What really happened was pre-planned. It was the greatest Ponzi scheme in history. It made trillions for its perpetrators at the expense of everyone else. It was the crime of the millennium.
A TSUNAMI OF EVICTIONS
With the support of the US Justice system (the COPS), the banks have seized millions of homes. They intend to seize millions more. Millions of families have been evicted, while Wall Street and the banks (the ROBBERS) report the highest profits in history. Thousands of former middle-class Americans are living in refugee camps, euphemistically called "tent cities". Families are sleeping in their cars in WalMart parking lots. The government has been worse than useless in terms of helping the folks (the PEOPLE) who elected them. Thomas Jefferson issued his stern warning about the banks more than two hundred years ago, and here we are. It has come to pass. This is one of the major social justice issues of our time!
The filmmakers are criss-crossing the nation, interviewing the people and filming the developing stories they are following. There is human drama a-plenty. It is front-page news. Everyone knows somebody who has lost a home, and everybody's real estate equity has gone down the toilet. Almost everyone is "upside down and underwater." What happened? Who did this? Why? And, most importantly, what are We the People going to do about it?
Fortunately, there are some heroes in this story, often outgunned by the highest-paid law firms in history, but relentless and increasingly effective: courageous homeowners and visionary attorneys, senators, judges, public officials, investigative reporters and community activists who "get it". Things are not what the banks would have us believe. Foreclosure fraud is all over the news. Thanks to these brave and determined individuals, there is light at the end of the tunnel. At last!
There are several films exposing the Wall Street banks and the criminal fraudsters who caused the ongoing economic collapse, but none about the grassroots folks who are getting hammered but standing up and fighting back. It is a classic David versus Goliath story. We "take the high road", seeking to re-inspire America to its higher conscience. How do "We the People" restore justice and truth to a dream that has become a nightmare? We are delving deep into the wounded heart of America in search of a vision for a positive future. What will we discover?
AN OPPORTUNITY DISGUISED AS A DISASTER
This is, ultimately, a hopeful film about the ongoing foreclosure catastrophe, a disaster which signals the demise of the corrupted American Dream. It is a film of the People, by the People, for the People. Against all odds, the mortgage crisis is the beginning of a rebirth. It is a Wake Up call which we ignore at our peril. This ugly caterpillar will become a butterfly. It must, or we will have failed our children's children. And our ancestors!
Filmmakers Andrew Cameron Bailey and Connie Baxter Marlow (IN SEARCH OF THE FUTURE) are no strangers to the subject of foreclosure. They have been fighting the mega-banks in court for almost two years with no money and no lawyer. On the other hand, they have been relentless, and the judges are finally starting to listen. The tide is beginning to turn.
Andrew and Connie began documenting the foreclosure mess in July, 21009. They produced a 10-hour DVD series with Wall Street whistleblower Neil Garfield MBA JD to train homeowners and attorneys in the complex legal field of foreclosure defense. In the process, they became very well-informed on the subject.
THE HEROES
A sampling of the heroes we plan to interview for this film:
Attorneys Neil Garfield (AZ), April Charney (FL), Matt Weidner (FL), Max Gardner (NC), Jeff Barnes (UT); Senators Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Dick Durbin (D-IL), Bernie Sanders (I-VT), Jeff Merkley (D-OR), Jon Tester (D-Mont); Federal Judges Schack and Skinner (NY); Harvard Law professor Katherine Porter; Georgetown Law professor Adam Levitin; Bank regulator and U of Missouri Law professor William Black; Rolling Stone writer Matt Taibbi; New York Times writer Gretchen Morgensen; Filmmakers Michael Moore (CAPITALISM: A Love Story), Danny Schecter (PLUNDER) and many more. If you know of any Republicans or Tea Partyers fighting on the side of the People, we'd like to hear about them.
SEND US YOUR STORY
We are constantly in search of stories, especially stories of courage and success against overwhelming odds. We have a YouTube channel dedicated to videos submitted by our Backer community. Shoot something and send it to us. Don't worry about quality. Content is king!
PRODUCTION TIMELINE
We have been in pre-production for over a year, researching background, characters and stories. We have shot something like 40 hours of footage so far. Once we are funded, we will get to work full-time on the project. We expect to have the film in the can and in post-production by mid- summer, with a release in August or September. Exclusive early cuts will be available to our Kickstarter backers.
DISTRIBUTION
This is an important and informative film, that will encourage, educate and inspire the viewer. It needs to get out there as widely as possible. We will make COPS 'n ROBBERS vs THE PEOPLE available FREE over the Internet, along with a large body of other helpful material, a lot of which is already on our YouTube channels. Click on the links below our bios for more. The film will be available as an affordable DVD ($10 plus S&H). A streamed PPV version will be available as well. We will be submitting the film to festivals, and if we get distribution, a theatrical release is possible.
HOW YOUR MONEY IS BEING SPENT
The money you generously contribute to this KICKSTARTER project will be spent exclusively on the production: getting our film shot, edited, and duplicated on DVD.
Equipment, media, digital storage: $10,000
Production - three months on the road: $7,500X3 = $22,500
Post-production: $7,000
Permissions, legal, stock footage: $2,500
Duplication: $2,500
Amazon.com fee (5%): $2,750
Kickstarter.com fee (5%): $2,750
PLEASE BACK THIS PROJECT NOW!
SPREAD THE WORD!
FORWARD THIS TO YOUR ENTIRE SOCIAL NETWORK!
YOU CAN MAKE A DIFFERENCE.
THANK YOU!!!
NEWSFLASH! The filmmakers are presenting a Foreclosure Crisis Symposium/Fundraising event in Aspen, Colorado on February 2, 2011. The event will present perspectives from some major players in the foreclosure defense and conscious business arenas, and will be viewable online on GrassRootsTV.org as of February 4th. Stay tuned! Go to: http://bit.ly/hcymKH
FAQ
Have a question? If the info above doesn't help, you can ask the project creator directly.
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Funding Unsuccessful
This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on February 14, 2011.
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A COPS 'n ROBBERS vs THE PEOPLE THANK YOU! postcard from the producers.
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The COPS 'n ROBBERS vs THE PEOPLE THANK YOU! postcard from the producers, and the film poster.
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The COPS 'n ROBBERS vs THE PEOPLE THANK YOU! postcard from the producers, the poster, the T-shirt, and a copy of the film on DVD when it is released.
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The COPS 'n ROBBERS vs THE PEOPLE THANK YOU! postcard from the producers, the poster signed by the producers, the T-shirt and two copies of the film on DVD when it is released.
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The COPS 'n ROBBERS vs THE PEOPLE THANK YOU postcard from the producers, the poster signed by the producers, the T-shirt, two signed copies of the film on DVD when it is released, and the opportunity to put your inspiring foreclosure story on our dedicated YouTube.com channel. (Just send us the video clip.)
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The COPS 'n ROBBERS vs THE PEOPLE THANK YOU! postcard from the producers, the poster signed by the producers, the T-shirt, two signed copies of the film on DVD when it is released, the opportunity to put your inspiring foreclosure story on our dedicated YouTube.com channel (Just send us the video clip) and your name in the Special Thanks listing in the final credit scroll plus two VIP tickets to the premiere screening festivities.
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All of the above plus Associate Producer credit and three complimentary copies of the DVD plus four VIP tickets to the premiere screening festivities.
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All of the above plus Co-Executive Producer credit and five complimentary copies of the DVD plus six VIP tickets to the premiere screening festivities. And here's the kicker! You also get two nights' FREE accommodation in beautiful Sedona, Arizona, home of the filmmakers.
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All of the above plus Co-Executive Producer credit and IMDb listing and ten complimentary copies of the DVD plus eight VIP tickets to the premiere screening festivities. And here's the kicker! You also get three nights' FREE accommodation in beautiful Sedona, Arizona and dinner with the filmmakers.
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All of the above plus exclusive Executive Producer credit in the title sequence and IMDb listing plus twenty-five complimentary copies of the DVD plus ten VIP tickets to the premiere screening festivities. And here's the kicker! You also get five nights' FREE accommodation in beautiful Sedona, Arizona, dinner with the filmmakers, PLUS a sunrise balloon ride for two over the famous Red Rocks.
Project By
Connected as Andrew Cameron Bailey (1095 friends)
ANDREW CAMERON BAILEY grew up in South Africa where he lectured in chemistry and mathematics before setting sail for America in 1969. He got here a little too late for the Summer of Love. He lived the artistic life in California, Hawaii and New York, and raised five kids while pursuing multiple passions: music, photography, filmmaking, writing, and surfing. His latest challenge involves being a "pro se" litigant in the US Justice system. He is getting a reputation for driving the banks crazy. This is his second full-length film. See 2007's "IN SEARCH OF THE FUTURE" (www.InSearchOfTheFutureMovie.com)
CONNIE BAXTER MARLOW, mother of three, is passionate about inspiring America to actualize the promise it made to humanity in its Freedom Documents. A visionary Mayflower descendant whose ancestors were philanthropic mayors and governors of Maine, she is the creator of the DVD series "THE AMERICAN EVOLUTION: Voices Of America", and producer of the film "IN SEARCH OF THE FUTURE: What Do The Wise Ones Know?" Connie has hundreds of short films on her six YouTube channels. She says: "It will be through the inspiration of individuals on a large-scale basis that world change will be effected."
