Documentary filmmaker Danny Schechter found the inspiration for his latest project in his back pocket.

Credit cards, and the rampant explosion of consumer debt that they represent, are the building blocks of an economic house of cards that Schechter says is headed for a fall in, “In Debt We Trust: America Before the Bubble Bursts.”

Narrated by the director in easy-to-understand layman’s terms, “In Debt We Trust” launches a wide-ranging broadside at the “financialization” of American life, in which easy credit with onerous terms has led many Americans deeply into debt and down the primrose road to modern serfdom.

Schechter strategically explores the various detrimental facets of financialization, from real estate gentrification that guts neighborhoods of their identity to college campuses where easy credit preys on the young to payday lenders who victimize military families to the halls of Congress where banks spend millions on bankruptcy reform legislation.

The former Emmy Award-winning producer for ABC’s “20/20″ and CNN skillfully makes the political personal by featuring people in trouble, including fellow filmmaker Joe Sucher and “Sopranos” star Lorraine Bracco, who openly discuss their own bankruptcies.

Because Schechter’s film takes shots at the very financial conglomerates whose advertising dollars drive most media today, “In Debt We Trust” is still in search of a distribution deal. To obtain a DVD of the film, visit www.indebtwetrust.com.

Bankrate caught up with Schechter to discuss credit cards, housing bubbles and the worrisome scenarios behind the skyrocketing national debt.

Bankrate: How’s your mortgage?

Danny Schechter: (Laughs) This mortgage crunch is serious. I think it’s being played down here, I think they don’t want to alarm people, but the trade publications and foreign publications are focusing on it a lot more than the American ones are.

Bankrate: Can a humble documentary filmmaker afford to live in New York City today?

Schechter: I have an apartment, but I bought it in 1981. I couldn’t afford it today, that’s for sure. I had a house in Boston and I sold it, actually too soon, but what the hell. That house led to having enough money to put into this film.

Bankrate: Did you go into this project looking to focus on consumer credit cards?

Schechter: There have been a lot of stories about identity theft and how vulnerable people are because of credit cards and credit card companies and how dependent people have become because of it. I’ve always been an investigative reporter; I was one at ABC’s “20/20″ for a number of years, and before that in print, and I wanted to ask some deeper questions: How do we understand this? What is actually going on here? And then I realized this is a lot bigger than just the credit card component of it, although that is pretty big. The consumer debt is mirroring, although smaller than, the national debt. The other side effects of all this — student loans, student debt, credit cards, bankruptcy, foreclosures on people’s homes — makes this a much bigger problem. I tried to stay with people who were either in the industry or have direct personal knowledge.

Bankrate: It’s not surprising that the major financial institutions declined to meet with you.

Schechter: Well, yeah. There were other films done; “Frontline” and PBS did a history of credit cards — I didn’t want to repeat that — and they gave people somebody from the American Bankers Association who basically managed to say nothing. I’m not one who believes that journalism has to be mechanistic, that there are two sides to every story. You can report on these issues and there is enough compelling information in the public record. When you know that somebody is going to give you a line, do you necessarily report it? Look at our news organizations; they have stopped reporting political conventions. They have come to the conclusion that these conventions are just TV shows and promotional events, not really news events, and they made a determination. I believe they should do the same with presidential press conferences today. Nothing is ever said at them. These are choices that we make as journalists.

Bankrate: You mete out equal criticism to Republicans and Democrats for enacting bankruptcy reform.

Schechter: I made clear that this was bipartisan. This is something that Democrats are not happy with because they’re being exposed as being part of this problem, not simply the answer to it. They can’t blame it all on Bush. I’m trying to get at deeper truths here, and I think I do, based on the reaction of audiences who’ve seen it. One of the things about this issue is, people will say, “Well, you think that’s bad, let me tell you about X” and you realize that this resonates with so many people but it’s not perceived as a problem, it’s perceived as a personal failing.

Bankrate: Declaring bankruptcy or getting in too deep with payday lenders, as the soldiers in your film do, is one of the last dirty little secrets in American life.

Schechter: Yeah, you don’t trade notes with other people. It’s like, you fouled-up, basically. Like my filmmaker friend who went into bankruptcy. It could never happen to him. This guy had all the angles played. He was cocky, he was sure, he was certain, and then he got nailed big-time basically because of a confluence of things including a divorce where he had to disclose all his finances. Suddenly what seemed like a very secure lifestyle became a very insecure lifestyle.

Bankrate: It’s chilling to see how close to the bone most Americans are playing it today.

Schechter: I just saw a report from England that said that 30 percent of the people are 30 days away from financial crisis. People are living on the edge, and they’re aware of it. You add to this unemployment. For instance, General Motors workers just got a big buyout. Well, you’re going to run through that in three years. Then what? You have a lot of people going for short-run gain, you have a lack of social safety net and no real health care compared to other countries.

Bankrate: Has financialization become so endemic in America that there’s no going back?

Schechter: Yeah, we’re all trapped in this, in part because it doesn’t have a reality to discharge it. It’s only later that it all catches up with you. You know, if you’re a kid, you want to look good in school, you want to have what everybody else has. You’ll notice there has been a steady increase … as brand names and consolidation affects a lot of different industries, the price of things has gone up dramatically. You go to the Gap, suddenly you’re paying $19.99 for something you could get for $9.99 before, whatever. The hidden costs of marketing and advertising are not really obvious to many consumers. The credit card companies have it down to a science, while we have it down to a bunch of hunches and guesses. We have become prey because they’re really aware of people’s vulnerabilities and needs. This is why this film is so important.

Bankrate: And also why it likely won’t be presented by your friendly financial institution.

Schechter: Now the struggle begins. You find that a lot of the distribution companies are tied into a lot of the big media companies, who are in turn dependent on a lot of advertising from a lot of credit card companies that bring you the Super Bowl and all these other events. You don’t want to alienate the people who are paying the bills, so there is a lack of courage to really question this, and this takes on the whole financial services and financial industry which is so irresponsible, so unaccountable. We’re up against a big target. Fortunately I have an executive producer who was able to pay for the film and has some money to help us market it.

Bankrate: You are even so bold as to question whether financial education can solve this problem.

Schechter: You need that. You want to have people more conscious of all of this, obviously. But it in itself is not a panacea, not a solution, because a lot of people use their credit cards for necessities. Normal people are using charge cards to buy food, to buy basic necessities. But if you get into an adjustable-rate mortgage and suddenly it all starts going up, it’s not your fault, but nevertheless you are exposed. Everybody is in a crunch figuring out how to pay their bills, and it’s becoming harder and harder.

Bankrate: You also show how the war in Iraq is contributing to the erosion of financial security at home.

Schechter: We’re paying for it in billions of dollars a day and people are not aware of it because it’s not coming out of their pockets, or so they think. But if you look at the cutbacks in various social expenditures, it’s having a very telling impact, on education and so many other aspects of American life. This is where financialization, the idea that the bottom line is the only law, is something that is a central belief in America but it also has consequences. Of course, television reporting on all of this would much rather stay with identity theft than the fines that were assessed on credit card companies. I really hope that we can break through the dense fog and get this issue out there.

Bankrate: How has making this film changed your life?

Schechter: I’m certainly a lot more conscious and trying to use my card a lot less. I’m certainly more aware of it, but I’m also aware of how seductive it is and how needed it is. You go to an airport for instance, how are you going to buy something? Or on the Internet? It’s very insidious and it’s very difficult to keep it (credit spending) down.

Bankrate: Why not just stop worrying and love the debt?

Schechter: No, there’s a lot that can be done. I mean, when you have 29 percent interest rate that is almost immediate (on a credit card), that’s worrisome. It’s usury. This is a function of a bought government. Politicians are in the pay of these companies and we need to do something about that. I worked at ABC News and CNN. In broadcasting, there is a shorthand called KISS - keep it simple stupid. The real world, though, is complicated, and there are a lot of interest groups and factors. Making a film about information is unfashionable. People would rather have a good story about one person rather than financialization and institutions. Oprah, to her credit, has helped mainstream this issue. I’m trying to get her to see this film.