Forward 13: Waking Up The American Dream was recently screened at the Sundance Film Festival by a Standing Room Only crowd. Beth Portello, over at Cinema Libre Studios, asked us to take a look at the film and see what we thought. The reality is that what began as a simple cinematic review has changed my entire view of the Industry I work within; it is fair to say that it has changed my life. More on that in a moment.
Forward 13 is a docudrama for want of better words. Following the traditions of Oliver Stone; the utilization of a first person protagonist as both the centerpiece and for narration, we find Patrick S. Lovell. Lovell walks us through his experience with the financial institutions and their outright theft of his home.
If this was the entirety of the film, I would normally have said, “Catch it on YouTube.” It isn’t and not by a long shot. The opening monologue is from a person discussing the fact that their loan modification is contingent upon a valuation of a $225,000 dollar home requiring nearly half a million dollars for ownership. Mea culpa, I forgot to mention that at the end of the 30 years a balloon payment of well over $200,ooo is required, as well.
Without going deep into the film, Lovell questioned the situational elements around his foreclosure. He embarks upon a Coast-to-Coast road trip documenting not only the intricacies of his unique circumstances, but also incorporates the totality of the Ninety Nine Percent to coin an Occupy Wall Street phrase. Through the eyes of the Occupy Movement in multiple states, Lovell introduces we the audience to the first signs of democracy this Nation has seen in decades.
Lovell takes us further, though. With an all star cast of Industry professionals ranging the gambit from Banking and Energy to Politics and Philanthropy, Lovell poignantly presents the case that the foreclosure crisis is not simply tycoons desiring to engorge themselves upon both the largess of the taxpayer and the pensions of the elderly.
We see through the Lovell’s novel lens the intricate relationships which have culminated in the sub prime mortgage crisis. The visceral realities which flow through the Interviews are best summed up by Dr. Jeremy Rifkin — vision, narrative and game plan.
I consider myself pretty talented with respect to the Smell Test. Forward 13 not only passes the proverbial Smell Test, it is a testament to Social Activism. So moved was I by the film that I am now making a fundamental change in Foreclosurepedia. That change will be to include the ongoing plight of homeowner’s whom are impacted both as consumers and by the miscreants within the Mortgage Field Services Industry.
Do yourself a favor; do yourself and those around you a favor today, get a copy of Forward 13: Waking Up The American Dream. Look, folks. You read what I write because you appreciate my candid opinions. You know I do not take money for my opinions. Lovell awakens a part of Americana inside each of us which we look at as a new discovery. In actually, America has always been there. She is not out along I-40 or the Pacific Coast Highway. She is lying supine upon US 50 whose moniker is the Loneliest Highway in America. She is sitting on the bus stop bench in Minneapolis alongside a single mother going to her second job.
The realization of a new paradigm requires both introspection on our parts and the reevaluation of that which our Forefathers laid down their lives to give us. With antiquated technologies such as the combustion engine and oligarchy alive and well within the Beltway, it is upon our shoulders to effect change. By thinking globally, but acting locally, our microcosm directly impacts the macrocosm which is dependent upon the Ninety Nine Percent. Lovell’s message resonates throughout the caste system which we have allowed to be created under our watch.
Ladies and gentlemen, to emphasize precisely how committed I am to the importance of Forward 13: Waking Up The American Dream, I am going to begin to expose those within the Mortgage Field Services Industry; Contractor and Vendor, whom are laying waste to the innocent victims of the Foreclosure Crisis.
We are hopeful that Lovell will sit down with us for a candid, one-on-one Foreclosurepedia Podcast Interview. If you are a homeowner whom has been injured either by the financial institutions or those whom are hired by them, why not reach out today! Patrick S. Lovell knew something was wrong. As opposed to lying down and taking it he confronted it. He went a step further with Forward 13: Waking Up The American Dream and presented a compelling film to help you and I both understand the problem and potentially identify solutions!
LOS ANGELES, CA (January 6, 2014) For most Americans, owning a home is the pinnacle of the American Dream. For Patrick Lovell—who worked as a Senior Producer on the nationally syndicated television program, ‘Home Team’, which lent a hand to aspiring first-time homeowners—home ownership became his nightmare when the global financial market crashed in 2008, leaving him jobless and with a mortgage he could no longer afford. Armed with a camera, Lovell set out to discover why the American Dream failed him and millions of others in FORWARD 13: WAKING UP THE AMERICAN DREAM, which will be released by Cinema Libre Studio on DVD and Video On Demand platforms starting January 21, 2014.
Caught in the wake of the 2008 global financial crisis, Lovell, one of 10 million people who lost their homes, finds himself asking why he and so many Americans were blindsided by the economy’s implosion. How could his pursuit of the American Dream—starting a business, providing for his new family, and owning a home— drive him to financial ruin?
Coinciding with the exponential growth of the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) movement, Lovell embarks on a cross-country journey to discover what happened to the America originally founded to be free from tyranny. Conversations with a broad spectrum of energy and political academics, OWS protestors, professional developers, real estate agents, and attorneys all lead to the same conclusion: the system is broken.
FORWARD 13: WAKING UP THE AMERICAN DREAM provides a fresh, personal perspective on the mortgage crisis and its ties to big business. And while the road to recovery is a long and difficult one, there are clear, sustainable methods to revive the American Dream.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1IeHz7vpFBk
Featuring: Patrick Lovell, Senator Bernie Sanders (Vt.), Jeremy Rifkin of president of the Foundation on Economic Trends, author of The End of Poverty, Jeffrey D. Sachs, Professor of Energy Management, Bill Arnold (Jones Graduate School of Business, Rice University), Common Cause‘s Mary Boyle and Jeff Siegel, managing editor of Green Chip Stocks.
The 97 minute documentary will become available in North America on January 21st on DVD (at traditional DVD outlets) and via streaming platforms including Amazon Instant and Hulu.
