ABOUT THE FILM

Originally released in 2011 and re-released in 2025, HEIST: Who Stole the American Dream? examined forces reshaping America that have not disappeared. More than a decade later, the questions it raised about concentrated wealth, corporate influence, and the future of the middle class remain strikingly relevant.

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HEIST is a feature documentary that examines how decades of economic and political decisions reshaped the American economy, weakened the middle class, and concentrated wealth and power in fewer hands.

Beginning with the legacy of the New Deal, HEIST traces a transformation that accelerated in the 1970s, when corporate leaders and lobbying organizations began mobilizing to exert greater influence over American politics and public policy. At the center of the story is the 1971 Powell Memo, a call for American business to become far more active in shaping the nation’s political, legal, educational, and economic institutions.

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Through archival footage, expert interviews, and investigative storytelling, the film connects that history to decades of deregulation, job outsourcing, tax policy changes, the weakening of organized labor, and the growing influence of corporate money in government. It follows those forces through the 2008 financial crisis and examines their impact on working- and middle-class Americans.

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But HEIST is not only about what happened. It asks what can be done about it.

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The film explores alternatives built around economic fairness, accountability, stronger communities, and citizen participation, challenging viewers to understand how the American economy changed and consider how ordinary people can help shape what comes next.

. More than a decade later, the questions it raised about concentrated wealth, corporate influence, and the future of the middle class remain strikingly relevant.

​

HEIST is a feature documentary that examines how decades of economic and political decisions reshaped the American economy, weakened the middle class, and concentrated wealth and power in fewer hands.

​

Beginning with the legacy of the New Deal, HEIST traces a transformation that accelerated in the 1970s, when corporate leaders and lobbying organizations began mobilizing to exert greater influence over American politics and public policy. At the center of the story is the 1971 Powell Memo, a call for American business to become far more active in shaping the nation’s political, legal, educational, and economic institutions.

​

Through archival footage, expert interviews, and investigative storytelling, the film connects that history to decades of deregulation, job outsourcing, changes in tax policy, the weakening of organized labor, and the growing influence of corporate money in government. It follows those forces through the financial crisis of 2008 and examines their impact on working and middle-class Americans.

​

But HEIST is not only about what happened. It asks what can be done about it.

​

The film explores alternatives built around economic fairness, accountability, stronger communities, and citizen participation, challenging viewers to understand how the American economy changed and consider how ordinary people can help shape what comes next.