Director’s Vision Statement

GRASSROOTS: You could say it’s about Seattle in 2001, a unique city at a unique crossroads, caught between the sea and the mountains, grunge music and software, the past and the future. You could say it’s about social justice, or political gridlock, or a pair of strange bedfellows who almost manage to do the impossible. You could say it’s about the Monorail, that concrete ribbon that still divides the Seattle downtown sky. You could say all those things, and all those things would be true. But in the end it’s a love story.

It’s a love story about an impossible, socially inept music critic named Grant Cogswell. Just smart enough, just arrogant enough, just idealistic enough — and just unemployed enough — to think he can change the world. Grant loves Seattle. His passion is the monorail; he’s a loud, obnoxious, true believer in a Jetsonian Seattle future of beautiful silent public transportation and unclogged streets.

To make his vision a reality, he needs to get on the Seattle City Council. It’s a preposterous, unworkable idea, but somehow the power of Grant’s passion develops its own gravitational pull. When he draws in his friend Phil Campbell to run his campaign, what seemed like a crazy joke becomes very real.

Recently fired, Phil comes on board because he really doesn’t have anything better to do. But Grant’s infectious enthusiasm wakes up something new inside him. Phil’s shrewdness and his emerging political savvy, coupled with Grant’s burning mono-mania, soon attract a ragtag army of young volunteers. Together they wage an exhilarating, hilarious campaign that brings Grant – a candidate who’s not afraid to dress as a polar bear – to the very brink of victory.

Alone, none of them could have accomplished much. Together, they are a powerful force. Along the way, Grant and Phil both learn that one person really can make a difference, and that standing up for what you believe in is a victory in itself. It turns out, in the end, that you can fight City Hall. But you have to check your cynicism at the door to do it.

It’s crazy. It’s true. It could only happen in Seattle. And I can hardly wait to bring this story to the screen.