written and directed by james scurlock, the film and book use interviews with creditors, debtors, academics, and others to illustrate its story. the film, premiered at the south by southwest film festival in austin, texas, usa, in 2006 where it claimed the special jury prize, went on to several film fests including seattle, full frame documentary, maui, new zealand, milwaukee international, woodstock, bergen, leeds international, oxford and idfa (amsterdam) film festivals. henry rollins selected "maxed out" when invited to host a favorite film within maryland film festival 2007. the film was released in movie theaters in select cities in the united states in march 2007 through magnolia pictures.