Cole Haan searches for the American Dream in a new online film series

Cole Haan, which is proud to market its footwear, eyewear and accessories with a strong US heritage emphasis, collaborated with Happy Marshall Productions on a film series called The American Dream Project. It partnered with FilmBuff to première the series on April 15, with Amazon, Dailymotion, Google Play, Apple Itunes, Ora TV, Vessel, Vimeo and YouTube, examining whether the American Dream still exists across the US and what it looks like today.

British-born, New York-based filmmaker James Marshall and American photographer Todd Williams were armed with $250, travelling from New York to California through 15 states on Indian motorcycles, exchanging their work for food and shelter, and getting to know the people on the way. They stopped in eight towns and cities en route.
It’s not quite Easy Rider for the 21st century, and there is a comfortable, retro vibe to many of the episodes, giving an honest look at the decency of ordinary Americans. Future-oriented it isn’t, but it does show the people at its best.
‘The generosity and kindness of the complete strangers I met has stuck with me the most. We are constantly told how dangerous it is out there and how different we are from each other. My experience was that people are mostly generous, kind and we have more in common than not,’ said Marshall.
The trailer can be found at ColeHaan.com/americandream; the entire series can be found here and each episode also appears embedded below.

Episode 1: Braddock, Pa.

Braddock: Courage & Rebuilding from FilmBuff on Vimeo