Maxed Out
Encyclopedia
Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders (2006) is an independent feature-length documentary film
and (2007) book that chronicles abusive practices in the credit card
industry.
Written and directed by James Scurlock
, the film and book use interviews with creditors, debtors, academics, and others to illustrate its story. The film, premiered at the South by Southwest
Film Festival in Austin, Texas, USA, in 2006 where it claimed the Special Jury Prize, went on to several film fests including Seattle, Full Frame Documentary, Maui, New Zealand, Milwaukee International, Woodstock, Bergen, Leeds International, Oxford and IDFA (Amsterdam) film festivals. It was released in movie theaters in select cities in the United States
in March 2007 through Magnolia Pictures
.
The DVD was released nationally on June 7, 2007, in the joint effort of Magnolia Pictures and Red Envelope Entertainment (a division of Netflix). The book Maxed Out is published by Scribner, a division of Simon and Schuster. It was published in March 2007 in hardcover and in December 2007 in paperback.
Scurlock's purpose for the film and book was to raise awareness of how credit
and lending issues are affecting society. The main premises of the documentary and book are that banks and other creditors deliberately market to people who are more likely to have problems paying predatory lending
and that the creditors benefit from connections to government, the debt collection industry, and from lawmaker apathy.
The non-profit organization Americans for Fairness in Lending
(AFFIL) has organized screenings of Maxed Out around the country as part of its work. AFFIL sustains a formal collaboration with the film.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
and (2007) book that chronicles abusive practices in the credit card
Credit card
A credit card is a small plastic card issued to users as a system of payment. It allows its holder to buy goods and services based on the holder's promise to pay for these goods and services...
industry.
Written and directed by James Scurlock
James Scurlock
James Duncan Scurlock is an American director, producer, writer and financial adviser. He is probably best-known for his critically acclaimed documentary Maxed Out: Hard Times, Easy Credit and the Era of Predatory Lenders and his award winning book, Maxed Out: Hard Times in the Age of Easy...
, the film and book use interviews with creditors, debtors, academics, and others to illustrate its story. The film, premiered at the South by Southwest
South by Southwest
South by Southwest is an Austin, Texas based company dedicated to planning conferences, trade shows, festivals and other events. Their current roster of annual events include: SXSW Music, SXSW Film, SXSW Interactive, SXSWedu, and SXSWeco and take place every spring in Austin, Texas, United States...
Film Festival in Austin, Texas, USA, in 2006 where it claimed the Special Jury Prize, went on to several film fests including Seattle, Full Frame Documentary, Maui, New Zealand, Milwaukee International, Woodstock, Bergen, Leeds International, Oxford and IDFA (Amsterdam) film festivals. It was released in movie theaters in select cities in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in March 2007 through Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures
Magnolia Pictures is an American film distributor, and is a holding of 2929 Entertainment, owned by Todd Wagner and Mark Cuban. Magnolia was formed in 2001 by Bill Banowsky and Eamonn Bowles, and specializes in both foreign and independent films....
.
The DVD was released nationally on June 7, 2007, in the joint effort of Magnolia Pictures and Red Envelope Entertainment (a division of Netflix). The book Maxed Out is published by Scribner, a division of Simon and Schuster. It was published in March 2007 in hardcover and in December 2007 in paperback.
Scurlock's purpose for the film and book was to raise awareness of how credit
Credit (finance)
Credit is the trust which allows one party to provide resources to another party where that second party does not reimburse the first party immediately , but instead arranges either to repay or return those resources at a later date. The resources provided may be financial Credit is the trust...
and lending issues are affecting society. The main premises of the documentary and book are that banks and other creditors deliberately market to people who are more likely to have problems paying predatory lending
Predatory lending
Predatory lending describes unfair, deceptive, or fraudulent practices of some lenders during the loan origination process. While there are no legal definitions in the United States for predatory lending, an audit report on predatory lending from the office of inspector general of the FDIC broadly...
and that the creditors benefit from connections to government, the debt collection industry, and from lawmaker apathy.
The non-profit organization Americans for Fairness in Lending
Americans for Fairness in Lending
Americans for Fairness in Lending is a non-profit organization designed to draw attention to what it calls abuses by the lending industry in America...
(AFFIL) has organized screenings of Maxed Out around the country as part of its work. AFFIL sustains a formal collaboration with the film.