Director's Statement

It has always astonished me to see what lengths we will go to acquire the things we desire. This drive is often admirable when it allows us to achieve great deeds. Yet all too often it quickly runs awry, mushrooming into an appetite that is shockingly destructive.

Like many Americans (and most of the world) I found myself caught up in pursuing the “American Dream”. As a young man, I worked hard to earn the things I wanted and soon found myself owning a successful business that was able to provide some of these things. But working twelve hours a day, six or seven days a week, just to earn the right to go home to more stuff, quickly lost its appeal. And when I looked around, I discovered that almost everybody was caught up in the same exhausting game - to devastating worldwide effect. It was a major epiphany for me that would change my life forever.

What we need now are messages that show us how we are all connected, not separated... How what we do and how we live our lives, affect not only ourselves but so many we will never meet. AMERICAN DREAM is such a message.

Within this life and comfort we enjoy as Americans comes a great responsibility. As we have the power to destroy all other countries and ourselves, so we have the power to bring ourselves together.

Thank you.

Joel Christian McEwen

Director, American Dream