In a country with a great history of manufacturing and exporting goods, many believe that the best way to support the American economy is to buy locally. Filmmakers Vincent Vittorio and Nathaniel Thomas McGill are on a 32-day tour with their documentary American Made Movie, in which they highlight companies that produce goods in the United States.
“We all have the ability, with our demand, with our purchasing power, to change our local community,” Vittorio insists, noting that the pair took a look at how purchasing trends evolve over time in order to gauge the best approach to the film.
McGill explains that American companies should import less and export more in order to bring enough revenue into the economy that will support local jobs and businesses. As globalization rises, many companies are seeing the benefits of being closer to the different elements of their production.
“We live in a global economy and that’s what we tried to paint in the picture of the film…the world has changed around us, but that doesn’t mean that Made in America is an old fashioned idea.”
The film comes to Pittsburgh Tuesday, just after visiting Detroit on the same day the city filed for bankruptcy. The co-directors point to Detroit as an unfortunate picture of what will come when the country ignores its manufacturing base. They want their film to change the way people approach consumption, have an understanding beyond price and to buy goods based on where the product is made.
