One Dream too Many is a documentary that tells the story of my circus-performing family that started with my great-grandfather, Captain David Latlip. His journey of perseverance inspired me to make this film, and I hope it inspires others to return to pursuing any childhood dream they’ve ever had. Today, people don’t feel they are ‘good enough’ to pursue their art. So many people get stuck in a routine. I think it’s at least important to try to reach your goals. It’s important to remember your own interests when you can for your own enjoyment, rather than trying to make it a competition with others or to be ‘good enough’ to make a living at it.

There’s a lot to learn from my circus family, they weren’t trying to be the best, they just wanted to bring joy to other people. People communicate joy, pain, and other life experiences through art, but we’ve gotten away from the joy of creating and communicating through art. It’s an emotional film about real life, but the audience is also going to smile.

Through this film, I try to point out that success is more about the journey, enjoying the journey and not letting go of that dream. I learned that it’s okay to have a different job that supports your dream. At the end of the day, the most important thing is that other people feel inspired to return to their childhood dream. I hope the film inspires people, if they ever had a dream, to pursue it – to do art when they can, and keep doing it!

I filmed this circus documentary over the course of 13 years, so as you can imagine the film takes a lot of unexpected twists and turns, because well that’s life! The film was selected in 21 Film festivals, it has been a finalist in 16 festivals. Of those 16, the film won 8 awards including the Audience Award for Best Documentary.

My film is about my circus family, but it’s also about pursuing your dreams outside the grind, not just showing up as a parent, a partner, an employee, but having something outside the grind. Not just surviving till Friday, but having that passion you pursue. Passions are not a luxury. They are essential to our life, they are what makes us feel alive. Once you start pursuing your passions you become filled with joy and you carry that into other parts of your life, and it lights you up and it makes you resilient in this life that’s very difficult & messy. Art is what we put our joy & pain in and helps us connect and communicate with each other.

I am so thrilled to finally be able to share my art with the world. After watching my film, I hope the audience is inspired to return to any childhood dreams they may have left in the past and take that first step in the direction of their dreams!

One Dream Too Many is a documentary that tells the history, struggles, and success of the Latlip Family Circus in the early 1900s, and also follows five of the surviving Latlip family members over the course of 13 years as they pursue their dreams in singing, screenwriting, poetry, and filmmaking.