Experiencing Interruptions?

American Meltdown

CHATTANOOGA FILM FESTIVAL "BEST FEATURE" WINNER 2023. A 'Millennial Coming-of-Rage' story about a young woman who loses her job and struggles to pay rent… Until she befriends a pickpocket named Mari who convinces her that the only way to make it in America is by committing petty crime.

  • Andrew Adams
    Director
  • Andrew Adams
    Writer
  • Andrew Adams
    Producer
  • Andrew Crabtree
    Producer
    Inherit The Viper
  • Stewart Castleberry Cory
    Producer
  • Jacki Von Preysing
    Key Cast
    "Olivia Walker"
    Banish'd
  • Nicolette Sweeney
    Key Cast
    "Mari Navarro"
    Skyman, Everwinter Night
  • Clayton Farris
    Key Cast
    "Lou"
    9-1-1, Bosch: Legacy, Gordita Chronicles
  • DeMorge Brown
    Key Cast
    "Detective Sampson"
    The Civil Dead, The Dress Up Gang, Murderville
  • Shaun Boylan
    Key Cast
    "Officer Bronson"
  • Project Type:
    Feature
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 21 minutes 51 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    March 5, 2023
  • Production Budget:
    65,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United States
  • Country of Filming:
    United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital (ARRI Alexa)
  • Aspect Ratio:
    2.39
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    Yes
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Chattanooga Film Festival

    Best Feature Film
  • San Antonio Film Festival
    San Antonio
    United States
    August 1, 2023
    Jury Prize for Best Performance
  • Haunted Garage Horror Festival
    St. Louis
    Best Feature, Best Director, Best Actress, Best Screenwriting
  • Topanga Film Festival
    Topanga
    Luna Spirit Award
  • FilmQuest
    Provo, Utah
    United States
    Best Screenplay
  • Breckenridge Film Festival
    Breckenridge, Colorado
    United States
    September 23, 2023
    Colorado Premiere
  • Raleigh Film & Art Festival
    Raleigh, North Carolina
    United States
    October 7, 2023
  • Louisville International Film Festival
    Louisville, Kentucky
    United States
    October 7, 2023
    Kentucky Premiere
  • Anchorage International Film Festival
    Anchorage, Alaska
    United States
    December 7, 2023
    Alaska Premiere
  • Clapham International Film Festival
    London
    United Kingdom
    November 9, 2023
    International Premiere
  • Cinema On The Bayou
    Lafayette, Lousiana
    United States
    Louisiana Premiere
  • Sherman Oaks Film Festival
    Los Angeles, CA
    United States
    November 29, 2023
    Best Feature Film (Drama), Best Actress (Feature), Best Supporting Actress (Feature)
Distribution Information
  • MPX
    Sales Agent
    Country: United States
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Andrew Adams

Andrew Adams is an adventure videographer and narrative filmmaker who has worked in over 25 countries across six continents. Though he hails from the East Coast originally, he currently resides in Los Angeles.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

THE CAVALRY ISN'T COMING. Those are the words that set me down this journey, several years back. Before the pandemic. I was driving through the Utah desert, working as a travel videographer and killing time with podcasts, when I stumbled onto Mark Duplass' famous speech and immediately began to brim with inspiration. I relistened. Again. And again. And again. All on one drive.

I had just landed in Argentina when COVID hit, about to start my biggest and most ambitious travel job ever, only to find myself cancelling everything and boarding a plane back home just a few days later. All my work dried up and I was unemployed for months. And watching everything fall apart reminded me of the day I left film school, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, to enter the working world. It was 2009, and the Great Recession didn't have a name yet.

I struggled. I internalized those failures as personal flaws. But COVID helped me see the repeating patterns -- helped me understand the economic realities that my generation has encountered. I got angry. And I began to write. I poured my frustration into a script I knew I could produce. Something to capture the way it felt to get knocked off my feet time and again.

This is what birthed "AMERICAN MELTDOWN" -- the most personal thing I'd ever written. I knew it was angry (it's about wanting to burn down the system) so I filled it with jokes and big characters and fun plot twists to make sure that it stayed fun and entertaining despite its weight. It became a strange fusion of comedy, character drama, politics, crime, and tension. It defied categorization. But I loved it. So I made it.

We filmed in December 2021 on a microbudget cobbled together from loans and savings and credit cards. We had a crew size of seven. We did everything we could to embrace DIY filmmaking -- limited locations, small cast, lots of dialogue -- while also pushing back in creative ways. Interweaving timelines to keep the movie mysterious and dynamic, rotating through recurring characters, shooting on beautiful anamorphic lenses, trying to make everything cinematic. And I'm very proud of what we achieved.

I hope it speaks to you, but I'm also sorry if it does.