Los Angeles, CA -- (ReleaseWire) -- 07/18/2016 --UNZIPPED, an all new feature documentary taking a provocative look at the growing income divide in America, is currently live on Indiegogo and raising funds for the project.
With income inequality at its highest since the 1920s, and a powder keg of economic & racial anger surging across the country, UNZIPPED is a film driven by a simple question – is the "American Dream" still achievable for regular citizens today? In the ground breaking documentary, the filmmakers will embed in the wealthiest and poorest zip codes in four cornerstone states during the Presidential Elections. They'll profile one family, from each of the zip code extremes in California, Michigan, Texas, and New York, while performing an autopsy on America's shrinking middle class. The goal is to visually & viscerally humanize the growing income divide, while searching for surprising truths and new solutions to this polarizing issue.
An award winning team is producing UNZIPPED including writer, director, producer, Colin K. Gray (Being Canadian, Atari: Game Over, Freedom's Fury); Oscar nominated and Emmy award winning editor, Mohamed El Manasterly (The Square); Emmy award winning interactive & VR director, Ben Tricklebank (Clouds Over Cuba); and producers Amaechi Uzoigwe (Run The Jewels), Megan Raney Aarons (Being Canadian, Meena), and Avery Kotzur (Virtual Art Sessions, Being Canadian).
Gray calls the film his love letter to the promise of equality, fairness and opportunity in America: "I was born in Michigan, grew up in Ottawa (Canada), lived in New York, and currently reside in California. My family, on both sides, a long proud line of farmers, military service members, and academics. I was the beneficiary of a classic middle class upbringing - great public schools, great public sports and arts programs, and I received a political science degree from the University of Michigan, a great public university," says Gray, "Now, 26 years post graduation, I'm about to be a Dad. But I'm pretty sure my daughter won't have the same opportunities that were afforded me as a typical middle class kid. I think this matters. I think social mobility matters. Good public education and healthcare matter, whatever the circumstances of your birth. So, I want to know how exactly we got here. I'll provide the personalized tour of what income inequality looks in 4 key states, and around the country, while optimistically searching for possible solutions. "
The statistics are sobering. A recent PEW report found that middle class families are no longer the majority in America. Or as the Guardian reported, in terms of household net worth, the top 0.1 percent of Americans now own as much as the bottom 90 percent. Put another way, as Forbes cited, the 400 wealthiest Americans now own about as much wealth as the bottom 61% of U.S. households combined.
"What's undeniable is that Americans, both left and right, are coming to the conclusion that the middle class is getting squeezed out of existence and something needs to be done about it. We decided it's time for a blunt, non-partisan take. Is the U.S. hardening into a class system that imprisons people in the circumstances of their birth?," asks Gray, "On the other hand, why are some hard working families still able to rise up out of their environments and create a better life for themselves? We intend to find out."
UNZIPPED will also be a cutting-edge experiment in crowd-sourced storytelling and social entrepreneurship. The team is actively encouraging people to re-engage in the political process through storytelling while providing support to those who need it most. UNZIPPED plans to donate 20% of the film's profits to leading grass roots organizations and NGOs that are actively engaged in income inequality issues in communities across America. In addition, the company will be producing a VR short film as a prologue to the movie.
UNZIPPED is currently live and available to support on Indiegogo: https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/unzipped-a-feature-documentary#/
About GRAiNEY PICTURES
UNZIPPED will be run through GRAiNEY PICTURES, an award-winning content creation company that specializes in unscripted story-telling across all platforms. Documentary credits include the 2016 WGA nominated comedic feature doc Being Canadian (eOne/ Candy Factory Films); the feature doc Atari: Game Over (Netflix/ Showtime); the branded feature doc Kaz: Bridging the Virtual Divide (Sony Playstation/ Gran Turismo); the unscripted TV series Godfather of Pittsburgh (A&E); the recent VR/3D painting experience Virtual Art Sessions (Google Creative Labs); the TV doc Redlight about child sex trafficking in Cambodia (Showtime); and the award-winning feature doc Freedom's Fury (Fortissimo/HBO).
GRAiNEY PICTURES is producing UNZIPPED in association with EVO Films USA, a cutting edge branded content, 360/VR and post production company.
For more information on GRAiNEY PICTURES please visit http://www.gpixer.com
