Bailout The Movie - Official Film Trailer
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“Bailout” to Screen at Derby City Film Festival in February
Guest Post By Film Creator John Titus
Bailout: an unemployed Chicago lawyer (moi) stops paying his mortgage and enlists four friends (also unemployed) to join him on a trip in a Winnebago to Las Vegas, where we plan to tear a page out of Wall Street’s book and piss away other people’s money gambling, etc.
Along the way we interview Americans adversely affected by the financial crisis, principally through foreclosures. In between these interviews and the action in the Winnebago, a handful of bloggers and journalists walk viewers through several financial frauds that have robbed—and continue to rob—Americans from top to bottom.
The names in this latter group will be familiar even to casual readers of economics and financial blogs like Daily Bail. In addition to Megremis, we explore the crisis with Karl Denninger, Dylan Ratigan, Yves Smith, and Christopher Whalen. They do an absolutely dynamite job of explaining the causes of the crisis to mom and pop.
Viewers also hear from Tom Dart, the Cook County Illinois sheriff who’s stood up to the banks by thwarting various foreclosure efforts more than once, as well as from linguistics professor Noam Chomsky and journalist Chris Hedges.
So let it not be said that we cover only one side of the old guard political spectrum; indeed that absurdly false and misleading divide is depicted in the film for what it is—the butt of a bad joke that’s overdue for a richly deserved death. Thus viewers see a “leftist” like Chomsky bashing Barack Obama and while witnessing beat downs of George Bush and Hank Paulson by free market capitalists.
Bailout includes archival footage of the usual suspects on Wall Street and Washington, D.C. But personally, after months of watching reel upon reel of these cretins nearly perjure themselves (when not answering questions that were never put to them), Director Sean Fahey and I had to replace three of them with puppets. Yeah, puppets and Jose Cuervo were the only things that kept us sane.
The crazy layer cake that is Bailout is held together by the narration of stand-up comedian John Fox, who mans the Winnebago through the streets of Vegas, where he has a week-long gig at the Tropicana’s comedy club. Foxy’s wild man antics are legendary among funnymen.
“I tell fuck jokes for a living,” Fox growls in a baritone rasp. He’s got that voice.
Fox lived a half-block down my street for 10 years before moving to California to be closer to his family. He was actually a canary in the coalmine of the financial crisis, as comedy clubs closed and downsized throughout 2006-07 and Fox’s income dropped 75%.
That collapse was the first of many signs that our economy was dying of certain causes—never explored or even acknowledged in the media—that drove me to blogs, where the truth is important enough for actual discussion. It also meant Foxy stayed in our neighborhood a lot more often, and we became as close as brothers as a result. I’ll have more to say about Foxy in a later post.
What resulted from all of this is a documentary about the financial crisis like no other. Bailout has several angles that distinguish it from many outstanding predecessors. First, the TARP bailout is not only decried, but roundly debunked as a total sham. To this day, TARP remains Congress’s costliest outrage and is arguably its greatest slap ever to the face to middle America, which overwhelmingly—and correctly—opposed the legislation that transformed our political landscape forever.
Second, Bailout focuses on unchecked criminal fraud that lies at the root of the crisis. Not greed. Not deregulation. Not free markets. Not income inequality. Not threadbare left-right politics. No. Fraud—and the official refusal to punish fraud or indeed to uphold the rule of law at all—lies at the root of our ills. Bailout describes several frauds in granular detail that you just don’t see anywhere else.
Third, Bailout relies a lot less on its narrator for evidence and a lot more on its witnesses. By way of comparison, the narration in Bailout accounts for less than 14% (by word count) of the movie; Matt Damon’s narration of Inside Job more than doubles that figure. In Bailout, there are more and longer uninterrupted sequences of financial experts going back and forth on a given topic; our goal was to let viewers listen in on conversations among people who actually know what they’re talking about.
Finally, Bailout is a call to action. Too many documentaries to count have done a great job of royally pissing us off while at the same time leaving me shaking our heads: what in the Sam Hill should we do with our outrage? Not Bailout, amigos.
Sep 17, 2012 at 7:43 PM
Reader Comments (82)
http://dailybail.com/home/video-searching-for-loved-ones-after-the-brooklyn-bridge-arr.html
Here's another clip shot by cheyenne's film crew.
Here's the movie poster
Steve was nice enough to come to Chicago and appear on screen for an interview, and he rocked. Thanks, DB.
http://tinyurl.com/7a6cnbr
http://www.ikereilly.net/
He's actually in the film, in the Vegas bar, talking about how the fear mongering leading up to the bailout reminded him of the WMD campaign.
He's got a show called "Where's My Goddamn Medicine?"
http://www.rockridgemusic.com/ikereilly/podcast/
I think it's going to start airing on TV, maybe on AMC.
In other Bailout alumni news, Amina Waheed, who's credited as the director's assistant, has gone on to grad school in journalism at UC Berkeley. She recently appeared on MSNBC in Oakland at the height of the protest:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21134540/vp/45143463#45143463
It's a lot of work, a fucking movie. Today marks one year, and we're getting there. There's plenty of work to do, but we're getting there.
By the way, I wonder what the correct answer is to the following question: what movie openly condemns the TARP bailout as based on absurd lies?
I don't know the answer to that. Certainly Wall Street 2 (not to be confused or even compared with Wal$reetPro2) hinted at the absurdity of it all (did I not hear an elderly incantation of "ATM's won't work" from within the board room?), but not so crystal clear.
I'd like to know the answer to that so we can figure out how best to position the film.
We won't really know 'itl festival season kicks off in Jan. 2012. Theater deals are the holy grail, followed by a whole panoply of differing "distro" deals. The better-received your film at festivals, the better the deal. That's the theory anyway.
Get a load of this. The film's narrator, stand-up comic John Fox, calls me last night from LA to report that local protesters had set up tents INSIDE OF A BANK (he didn't know which one) as a people's form of reverse foreclosure. Apparently the police were trying to remove the protesters when we hung up.
I searched for a report of this online and can't really find the story, but I did come across this video of police beating students in Berkeley:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buovLQ9qyWQ&feature=youtu.be
Well good luck with it, if you do DVD's, I would like to buy a signed one. Setting up tents in the bank, that's funny... I bet the manager shit his spleen.
There is a voice for the people of OWS....................Man I miss that guy. He dose have a way with making a good point.
No. It was for real, the indoor campground at BofA:
http://www.thecorsaironline.com/news/2011/11/09/occupy-la-shuts-down-bank-of-america-main-headquarters/
Also, I'll send you a DVD gratis, not because we live in Russia and everything's free, but because you're on the DB Honor Roll, which, to paraphrase our Treasury Secretary, I'm sure the people at the front lines of this stuff have access to detailed information about. So too is Dar on the H.Roll, despite the string of D-minuses on spelling tests, which frankly I regard as intentional.
Dar--
That guy lit up the sky like no other banking tantrum thrower. A live Andrew Jackson, what a thing of beauty. But never forget:
"The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long--and you have burned so very very brightly, Roy."
--Dr. Eldon Tyrell
You like Billy Joe Shaver, Dar?
Hes a pretty good ol boy too that just neaver got that break............This is the one I like best....!
Then this may be the best song......... Drinkin' Back - Billy Joe Shaver .............................No this one maby..Georgia On A Fast Train - Shaver - Billy Joe
Billy Joe Shaver - Georgia on a Fast Train (with Eddy!) .................Billy Joe Shaver - I'll Be Here.wmv
Billy Joe Shaver - Serious Souls ............... Billy Joe Shaver- Rolling Stone ............ Billy Joe Shaver - Ragged Old Truck.wmv
OK, Crap, I guess I like them all. He did music very close to what I played on stage. If its got a steel guitar, fiddle, banjo, its my kinda music.........! Billy Joe plays the Outlaw Music. I miss Waylon Jennings, the father of Outlaw Music...
My Trip To Costco
Yesterday I was at my local COSTCO
buying a large bag of Purina dog chow
for my loyal pet, Molson, the Wonder Dog and was in the
checkout line when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog.
What did she think I had, an elephant? So since
I'm retired and have little to do, on impulse I told her that no, I
didn't have a dog, I was starting the Purina Diet again... I added that I
probably shouldn't, because I ended up in the hospital last time, but that
I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with
tubes coming out of most of my orifices and IV’s in both arms.
I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that
it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply
eat one or two every time you feel hungry. The food is nutritionally
complete so it works well and I was going to try it again. (I have to
mention here that practically everyone in line was now enthralled with
my story.)
Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because
the dog food poisoned me. I told her no, I stepped off a curb to sniff
an Irish Setter's ass and a car hit us both.
I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart
attack he was laughing so hard.
Costco won't let me shop there anymore..
Better watch what you ask retired people. They have all the time in the
world to think of crazy things to say. Forward this (especially) to all
your retired friends......it will be their Laugh for the day.
I dont need to be on stage to entertain folks...
I found a part two of your 11/09 Ockland footage and the news that followed. All of the following occurred on the same day. The locoal news report and innocent, as careful camera person being shot.
Occupy Cal 11/9/11 PART 1 & 2.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buovLQ9qyWQ&feature=youtube_gdata_player
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P8qP0hMF9nY&feature=youtube_gdata_player
The news coverage into the evening.
11-9-2011 KTVU NEWS - Occupy Showdown UC Berkeley N Oakland
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQELzpLZz8s&feature=youtube_gdata_player
A video that shows the inaccurate number of people reported. The message is also very good.
OCCUPY YOUR MIND.
Your Ignorance = Your loss.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ekf-g7WVQ4&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Occupy Oakland Protester Shot With Rubber Bullet for no valid reason after gaining permission from the OCP to do what he was shot for.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5ZK0d_fMD8&feature=youtube_gdata_player
Yup. I think MF Global may represent a kind of social tipping point.
I have dinner about once a week with some business guys, conservative types. For weeks they've been down on #OWS, even as I catalog crime after crime after crime that goes unpunished on Wall Street. "Just make an example of one major Wall Street banker, just put one of them in prison, and the bullshit stops," I tell them. They agree with that conceptually, but didn't really feel it, I thought.
Last night was different. I led off with MF Global's massive theft from its own clients. Each one of these dudes had seen first-hand someone they know--a multi-millionaire one case--getting the shaft from JP Morgan, er, MF Global. They are more than just shocked; their faces reflect genuine alarm.
"Now you know who's NOT in the 1%," I told them.
They may not have gotten religion quite yet, but you can sure as shit see Jesus breathing down their necks.
http://dailybail.com/home/brooksley-born-questions-lloyd-blankfein-over-aig-and-deriva.html
@ Cheyenne ..........................
Thats your Best Line Yeat...!
Since when did the American Dream become home ownership?
And here I thought the American Dream was to live in freedom.
http://georgesblogforum.wordpress.com/2011/11/02/the-daily-climb-2/
It's a bit more complicated than you see it. And I think the you're missing the bigger picture. Cheyenne gave up his life for a year and spent a considerable amount of dough to create a feature film that will hopefully reach millions of people and help spread the truth about the bailouts of Wall Street and the fraud perpetuated by the big banks.
Happy New Year to you and all the regulars. Without the input that all of you provide, this site wouldn't be the same. Not even close.
DB--you're right on the facts as always. But Forfa's observations are keenly accurate.
What I was after was an entertaining film about the financial crisis. What easier way to do that than have a bevy ot truth tellers telling the truth? The truth is the punchlines you get on blogs. The only use for MSM lies in its pratfall-guaranteed set-up lines, which are released at the same time every day. On plane rides I watch people devour WSJ and I just feel pity.
It's a crazy fucking time in U.S. History. Why not bust out a camera? And I did that.
I've been worrying about this family getting kicked to the curb in a bogus foreclosure eviction. Martin Andelman rallied the troops and put a halt to Wells Fargo's madness! For now at least. What a wonderful way to start the New Year! Be a DOER in 2012!
MY DOERS DID IT AGAIN! But it’s not over yet. (And Holly Says Thank You!)
http://mandelman.ml-implode.com/2011/12/my-doers-did-it-again-but-its-not-over-yet-and-holly-says-thank-you/
May the New Year find everyone at Daily Bail well. Thanks for all you do.
(@George - Up yours jerkey)
Weeeeeeell, Not Quite.........He did put his life on hold for a year,True, to go have some Fun, showing the People whats realy going on, and a few Beers. "OK" maby a few more Beers.
You guy's have "No Clue" how hard it is on the Road........? It takes a Few Beers every night to Convince Yr Self, this is real work out here when yr having so much fun. Not that Entertainers, and Film Crews dont have a bad day from time to time.
Not sure how Cheyenne is going to ajust to a real life again when he gets back home.....? But the first few nights in your own bed are like your Weadding Night..!
........( You Can Shut the Door and turn "Off Yr Cell Phone" )...................Job Well Done Cheyenne !
Lord knows I've said more than one prayer wile we wondered "Whats Goin On with DB".........But best of all, when the shit starts to fall a part I know what friends will have my back..........I've evan Lerent to spell a few new words on the DB......
I may only get a "D" in spellin, and only a "A" in MissSpellin........ ( Happy'er New Year Everyone ! )
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKCVS57j284
http://maxkeiser.com/tag/john-titus/
Go to 13:00 into program.
Cheyenne on Ratigan...
http://video.msnbc.msn.com/dylan-ratigan-show/47388015
be a part of it evan if we have our homes, our jobs, our health care. I like most are just 2-3 pay checks away from living in Tent City.........After Oct. 2008, I thank God every day for having the roof over our head...Our "Kitties" have No Clue how bad things are around here, and they dont need too...!
Soros-funded magazine calls on movement to step up its game
http://www.wnd.com/2012/05/nato-summit-tactical-turning-point-for-occupy/
....Well,we shall now see what they have been warnning us about, and just how bad it will turn out.
Here's a link to a Bailout article you might like:
http://www.screenmag.com/story/2012/may/16/9475/
The story mentions a Chicago screening, which went down last night. 250 people showed up and cheered like hell when the credits rolled. The movie explains in simple terms how Wall Street continues to scam and defraud Main Street without all the horseshit jargon like "mispriced risk" that you hear on NPR, etc.
A lot of people came up to me last night and said, "now I get the financial crisis." And. They. Were. PISSED.
Pretty gratifying.
"Jesus, man, those chicks were hot. What's your name?"
"Sergio el Segundo Surf Numero Uno," he said.
"You got any more tequila, Senor Uno?"
He stared at me before putting the gun back in his overalls. It was 2:30 am.
"Everyone's always bitching about guns," he said, flling 2 rocks glasses to the rim. "No one ever talks about how many times you come home drunk with a loaded gun and nothing happens because it's safe. They never tell you that shit on the news."
Anyhow, I'm going to see Sergio play in Grant Park tomorrow. His dynamite guitar and vocals should really light up the protesters. It might get weird, Dar, as you suggest. Apparently a female cop bopped her head on the Michigan Avenue bridge. It'll be interesting to see if protesters are blamed.
Stay tuned and alert.
Great job on Ratigan and Keiser. I've been reading everything I can find about BAILOUT -- reactions so far seem to be positive, especially about the basic message of the film.
So, what's next? And where can I get my hands on a copy of BAILOUT?
Kudos and congrats and all that.
--Pitch
http://www.buzznews.net/component/k2/item/3309-%E2%80%9Cbailout%E2%80%9D-world-premiere-at-music-box-theater-courageous-and-eye-opening
"The film also touches on the fact that no one was convicted for the largest financial fraud ($11 billion [sic: trillion]) in our country’s history. Why? Because banks have successfully infiltrated the government and routinely pass the laws that protect themselves from offense. The atrocities don’t stop there as the film delves into the misguided bailouts that the banks – the perpetrators – have issued, keeping the machine alive and well. The film also provides a detailed look at the process in which banks handed out home loans knowing, and benefiting, on the fact that these loans could never be repaid. Breaking it down to a science, it is explained how and why this process made these banks profited hand over fist while Americans suffered one of the biggest recessions to date."
http://www.buzznews.net/component/k2/item/3309-“bailout”-world-premiere-at-music-box-theater-courageous-and-eye-opening
[snip]
“Bailout” should make viewers angry. If it doesn’t, there’s a pretty good chance those unaffected are probably a part of the collective problem, as complacency and ignorance is what the big money-center banks depend on in order to feed their pockets. Following the successful premiere of “Bailout” at the Music Box Theater in Chicago, director, Sean Fahey, and lead, John Titus, spent a good deal of time fielding questions from the audience. Both Fahey and Titus explained the importance of shutting out biased media, educating ourselves and standing together. The two also stressed, as in the film, that this is not a Right/Left issue, this is people versus banks issue – all are affected.
Glad to see you back Pitchfork!
Pitch--We're talking with distributors, but it's frustrating since they're wholly unaccustomed to truthful information about the crisis. Moreover, they can't see how audiences are reacting. "Bailout" has gotten either an ovation or a standing O every single time we've screened it.
For now, we're gonna hit up independent theaters one by one and put up a storefront online for DVD sales. DIY Power to the People.
.Ya Me Too, been flowing them thAre clips and yr lookin good.....Great job in the "Make Up Chair", you look soo Hot.....? "LoL" ok, its the lighting.....
Sound & Light Man, can make you or break you on stage.....!
OK, Glass is empty, ashtreay full.........Tommrow we gona wake up these people. Everyone knows something is wrong, the movie will bring it front n center, "They Will Wake Up'......
Just think of the "Trouble" you could of got onto if Dar drove the Bus, Motor Home. .......I know the truck stops whAre the Hott'est "Lot Lizzerds" work the parking lots.......??????
OK, Yr doin a bang up job. The DB family is tootin our horns for ya.
Some of "US" have to break the trail for the rest of the troops. This IS our Last Hope....DB would be sooooo Proud of you & all you have done for us, beer included......!
Dam, I could use a Pickel from the 8th Street Delly, about now. On my 5th, and got the Munchey's.. Time to shut er down. Going to take the airplane up and fly tommrow, if we dont get rained out again.......
Cheyannnee, you just keep on, keepin on, we got yr back......Tex....."Out" !