Director's Note
"I've known Morgan Spurlock for several years now and I greatly respect the work he's done to create real social change through his art. So when the call came to join him on the WE THE ECONOMY project, I leapt at the opportunity. However, as soon as I jumped in, I realized that, through the years, I had never really paid attention in my econ classes. Oops. So this would not only be an education for the audience, but even more so, for myself. I immediately got on the phone with our economic advisors, Greg Ip and Dean Baker. (Talk about intimidating.) But they were so kind and clear with their explanations of how the supply and demand curve were the foundation of almost all economic principles. After that call, I knew we had a duty to help explain it in the most fun, and informative way we could. One of the things that stood out in our conversations was how the economy was always in constant motion whether an ebb, a flow, a dip or a rise. Everything is connected. It reminded me of a duet between our wants and our needs. So I thought that since I have experience in making dance movies, it seemed appropriate to show a little bit about the fundamental economic concept of supply and demand through movement. I gathered some of the best dancers in the world including Emmy-award nominated choreographer Christopher Scott, Jillian Meyers, Phillip Chbeeb and Brandon Shaw to take it head on and help create the most fun and energetic lesson on an economic concept we ever could. Our biggest inspiration was the old Disney Goofy cartoons that taught you how to ski or golf. I thought the interplay of the narrator with our live-action actors could be hilarious and give us a lot of freedom to dive into more complicated economic ideas when we needed to. The goal is to get people moving their feet and their minds, driving them towards wanting to learn more at the amazing WeTheEconomy.com website so that they don't end up like me!”
