MIAMI -- On the field, Marlins outfielder Bryan Petersen is living his dream.
The 25-year-old California native enjoyed a respectable rookie season, batting .265 with a .357 on-base percentage as a fourth outfielder.
Off the field, Petersen is branching out and taking on other interests. One of his passions has driven him to embark on a film project, where he is looking to find people who are still chasing the American Dream.
They are in the infant stages of completing a documentary that, for now, is being called "Project: American Dream."
"It seems people have given up on the American Dream," Petersen said. "We want to do a documentary on getting the American Dream back."
Petersen's role is as a producer, and he will work more on the business side, especially during the MLB season.
His friend, Joseph Coleman, is also part of the project, and in charge of camera work as well as being on screen.
Holiday's brother, Taylor, was Petersen's teammate at the University of California-Irvine.
Taylor spent some time in the Minor Leagues.
"Baseball is number one in my life," Petersen said. "The production will not come into conflict with that. But it could help you take your mind off of things."
The idea for "Project: American Dream" was inspired by the YouTube phenomena, "Life in a Day," a cinematic experiment where thousands of people sent in video clips of what they did on a specific day -- July 24, 2010.
Academy Award-winning director Kevin Macdonald filtered through 4,500 hours of footage to put together a 90-minute film.
Petersen plans on using YouTube as a vehicle to get Americans to offer submissions of their own lives. They have a YouTube clip -- Wake UP and Dream, American 2011 Dream's channel -- introducing the project, and asking for response videos.
"The project is a baby right now," Petersen said. "We want people to log into YouTube and look at the video, and make submissions. We will go from there.
"You have blue-collar workers, who are still grinding out jobs and living their dream in an economic time that obviously is a little tough right now."
The film may take a year to 16 months to complete.
"We want it to be about what Americans feel the state of America is," Petersen said. "If there is humor in it, it will be humorous. Obviously, it's going to deal with some serious topics, like unemployment, the housing crisis, jobs.
"We want it to be an honest look at where America is at. But we also want it to be a feel-good story, because we want to show people who are still working hard to make a living."
While the documentary is currently being referred to as "Project: American Dream," the title may change before the film is released.
"We've tossed around some titles," Petersen said. "We've found out in something like this, titles can take shape a little bit further down the road."
Searching for those pursuing the American Dream is one venture Legit Films is undertaking.
They're working on a music video, and they've done some short clips that they've submitted to various film festivals.
In mid-December, Petersen hopes to put together a video with other big league players on what they do in the offseason.
"It will be about training and stuff like that," he said. "It will be pretty cool. We want to be well versed in everything. But the documentary is in play right now."
Once Spring Training starts, Petersen's role with the company will be more limited, mainly on the production and business side.
"Obviously, there will be limited things I can do during the baseball season," he said. "As a baseball player, I'm at the field for eight hours or so a day.
"I feel I can take an hour out of my day, or maybe make some phone calls or send out some e-mails. It is good to take your mind off things. It's one of those things that will not take the place of baseball. The production will not come into conflict with that."
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