For filmmaker Paul Weitz, the genesis of this project began with a vexing idea: unfulfilled dreams. He reflects, “I was interested in making a film about a core aspect of the American identity—the idea that we are all supposed to have a dream. We’re supposed to want something better than what we actually have.”
He pondered if having and securing the perfect American dream was enough for an individual or even a country as a whole. “We’re the only superpower,” Weitz states. “I found myself asking, ‘Is achieving a dominant status in the world the final step before moral and political decline for a society?’ And, of course, the next thing that leaps to my mind is comedy…”
So, the writer put pen to paper and wrote “an utterly insane comedy about the idea that everybody in America has a dream—and how that ‘great thing’ can actually drive our culture crazy.”
Long curious about the roots of quirky human behavior and its comic potential, Weitz and his team at Depth of Field Productions found the concept for a satirical film familiar territory. They had previously tackled social issues in the comedy of the American Pie franchise, About a Boy and In Good Company. But the often-bizarre political and social climate of the past few years had left the filmmakers pondering an even greater challenge: reality politics.
“Part of the inspiration for the film was my fascination with pop culture and ‘American Idol’—the juxtaposition of being interested and obsessed with the show while world events become more crazy,” notes Weitz.
Reassembling much of the crew who had brought life to his previous films, Weitz turned to trusted producers Andrew Miano and Rodney Liber to bring American Dreamz from his page to the screen.
Producer Miano—who originally partnered with the Weitz brothers in 1999 and subsequently joined them under the shingle of Depth of Field—surmises that Weitz “wanted to make a film that looked at our cultural obsessions. He wanted to write a story with both a political and a pop-culture slant.”
From inspiration to completion, Weitz didn’t waste any time. Producer Liber recalls his early conversations with Weitz in discussing American Dreamz as, “Paul wanted to get going on it right away so that it would be out when it was still timely. From the time he first told me about this movie to the time we were greenlit and in preproduction was two months.”
Miano echoes how Weitz’s clear vision is emblematic of how he works. “He comes up with the idea, he puts pen to paper and the next thing you know, there’s a script.”
“With Paul, it’s like one-stop shopping,” concludes Liber. “Because he’s the writer, producer and director, I can come to him with any potential problem, and he’ll be able to solve it just by going to his computer, retyping or rethinking a scene and coming up with solutions that are sometimes even better than what they were originally.”
With working script in hand, Weitz and his team were ready to cast the film. All they needed to find was a band of actors willing to deliver sarcastic lines with the best of poker faces.
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