One Horizon Foundation - 2007 Annual Report

OMAHA, NB

The Holland Center for the Performing Arts hosted a sold out crowd of 2,000 gathered to watch the live August 21, 2008 national premiere of Agora Entertainment’s documentary film I.O.U.S.A. Directed by Patrick Creadon (director of the critically acclaimed documentary Wordplay), the film examines the topic of America’s national debt and its implications for the current and future generations of Americans. The film was simultaneously broadcast by satellite to 400 theatres across the country and followed by a live panel discussion hosted by CNBC’s Squawk Box co-anchor Rebecca Quick. The five person panel included Omaha’s own Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway; Pete Peterson, senior chairman of Blackstone Group; David Walker, chairman of The Peter G. Peterson Foundation and former Comptroller General of the United States; Bill Niskanen, Cato Institute Chairman; and Bill Novelli, AARP CEO.

In attendance at the live premiere in Omaha were One Horizon vice-president Bill Kenney and OHF investment director Jon Carnes. One Horizon was involved in the initial stages of production for I.O.U.S.A., brokering the initial dialogue between Agora Entertainment, Open Sky Entertainment, and I.O.U.S.A. producer Sarah Gibson that led to the production of the film. One Horizon also provided initial funding for the film and assisted in the search that culminated in the selection of Patrick Creadon as director. The film, which debuted at the Sundance Film Festival, was ultimately bought by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation who sponsored the live premiere and will be overseeing circulation of the film in a limited general theatrical release along with separate TV and DVD releases.

“We are really excited to see how this film has developed and honored to be a part of it,” said Bill Kenney. “I think that it has really exceeded everyone’s expectations and accomplished exactly what we had hoped. For us, this is a consciousness raising endeavor about a very vital issue for our country. It is something that affects us all, and has the potential to really harm the quality of life and creation of a just society. And it is something that is not getting much play in the current presidential campaign. We want to thank Patrick, Sarah, Agora, and the Peterson Foundation as well as the production crew. They did an excellent job!”

You can learn a lot more about I.O.U.S.A. at the following official sites:

http://www.iousathemovie.com

http://www.agorafinancial.com/iousa.html

From the I.O.U.S.A. Offical Website . . .

Wake up, America! We're on the brink of a financial meltdown. I.O.U.S.A. boldly examines the rapidly growing national debt and its consequences for the United States and its citizens. Burdened with an ever-expanding government and military, increased international competition, overextended entitlement programs, and debts to foreign countries that are becoming impossible to honor, America must mend its spendthrift ways or face an economic disaster of epic proportions.

Throughout history, the American government has found it nearly impossible to spend only what has been raised through taxes. Wielding candid interviews with both average American taxpayers and government officials, Sundance veteran Patrick Creadon (Wordplay) helps demystify the nation's financial practices and policies. The film follows former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker as he crisscrosses the country explaining America's unsustainable fiscal policies to its citizens.

With surgical precision, Creadon interweaves archival footage and economic data to paint a vivid and alarming profile of America's current economic situation. The ultimate power of I.O.U.S.A. is that the film moves beyond doomsday rhetoric to proffer potential financial scenarios and propose solutions about how we can recreate a fiscally sound nation for future generations.

Creadon uses candid interviews and his featured subjects include Warren Buffett, Alan Greenspan, Paul O'Neill, Robert Rubin, and Paul Volcker, along with the Peter G. Peterson Foundation's own David Walker and Bob Bixby of the Concord Coalition, a Foundation grantee.

Pointedly topical and consummately nonpartisan, I.O.U.S.A. drives home the message that the only time for America's financial future is now.

“I.O.U.S.A. may not be the sexiest film at the Sundance Film Festival, but it could be the most timely.”

— Mary Milliken / Reuters.com

“an INCONVENIENT TRUTH for the debt crisis . . . “

— Michelle Orange / The Village Voice

See more: www.iousathemovie.com

DEBT: The Movie

What do liberals and conservatives, libertarians and communitarians, secular people and people of faith have in common? “One Nation. Under Stress. In Debt.”

Premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and released in a nationwide simulcast along with an “economic town hall meeting” featuring Warren Buffett and former U.S. Comptroller General David Walker, I.O.U.S.A. takes aim at the unfolding crisis of debt threatening generations of Americans.