Phil Busardo is correct. The Vapor Industry needs A Billion Lives. We need it now. Not in three weeks. Not in three months. Not in three years. Now.
In a perfect world, this film would already be available on iTunes, Netflix, and Amazon Video. You would be able to walk into your local Wal-Mart or Target and find it in their DVD section. Unfortunately, as everyone is well aware, we do not live in a perfect world.
We have become accustomed to vaping products being available relatively quickly after teaser pictures are revealed on social media. We’ve all done the group buys and pre-orders. We all have anxiously awaited shipment information for that new box mod. However, even then, the longest delays we have faced are those from the manufacturing process. Typically speaking, the longest we have to wait is a month or two.
The film industry is incredibly different than the vaping industry. Their industry has deep-rooted practices and traditions that protect the work and livelihoods of the producers and distributors. Typically speaking, there is a lengthy process that film-makers have to partake in order to have wide-spread distribution of their work.
Normally, a film will make its initial debut at a film festival. If they are lucky (or well connected!) they may be picked up by film distributor after their first event. However, this is not the usual case. A producer may need to take his film to numerous film festivals before they are noticed. U.S. premieres may not be enough. They may need to travel to many international film festivals before they can strike a deal with a distributor. Assuming a distributor selects their film, it is typically another year before the film makes its way to theaters.
Aaron and his team have done an incredible job at expediting the release of their film. They were able to complete their film in one year from start to finish. That is very much unlike typical films. Aaron and his staff put in thousands of hours and traveled extensively to make sure that by the time this film was completed, it would not be too late. If they would have followed standard business practices, this film would not have premiered until 2017, and it would not have been available until at least 2018.
Why can’t they just release the film on Netflix?
Why can’t it be available for download?
Why can’t we just have it for FREE?!?!?
As an industry, we need this film to have a huge impact. We need every news media outlet discussing it. We need to have elected officials watching it.
If this film was released for free (or via an online streaming service) the only people who would realistically be watching it would be us, the vapers. Sure, we’d try to get our elected officials to watch it, but without there being any “hype” behind it, there would be no true motivation for them to take the time out of their day.
The importance of various premieres across the United States is actually quite easy to understand. Aaron and his team plan on having Red Carpet events similar to that held in New Zealand on May 11th. With proper advertisement, the media will already be talking about it and elected officials may decide to view it for themselves. Not only that, but NON-VAPERS will get an opportunity to be introduced to the film, which is what we truly need. We have been fighting on the legislative and legal fronts for so long that we have all but forgotten about the general public. We need to remember them. Once we have their support, we stand a much better chance of changing the odds in our favor. An article by Mit Brickman discusses this topic quite well, which can be read at https://mitbrickman.com/2016/05/17/saving-a-billion-lives.
Why isn’t this in my local theater yet?
As previously discussed, there is a lengthy process to bringing a film to theaters. Unless the film maker has fifteen million dollars laying around, the only viable option with the lack of a distributor is launching the film at key locations for one time showings (the Red Carpet Premieres I brought up earlier). Unfortunately, those premieres are extremely expensive if they are to be done right. There needs to be advertising done via billboards, radio, newspaper, television… the list goes on and on. It doesn’t take long for these costs to exceed thousands upon thousands of dollars. Attention Era Media funded the production of this film by themselves. They could have asked for money from the vaping industry early on, but, in order to remain unbiased, they elected not to. However, now that the film is complete, and ready for premieres, they do need our help.
How can we help?
If Aaron wanted to take the conventional approach, it would be at least two years before this film makes it to theaters and DVDs. He could continue to show this film at film festivals until a distributor purchased the rights to the film. We all know, however, that we need this film to be available sooner rather than later. We need this film to be watched by politicians, doctors, and, more importantly, non-vapers. The only way to make this happen is to fund the premieres necessary to attract potential distributors. Unfortunately, at this time, a GoFundMe or Kickstart may not a viable option at this point. A crowdfunded film may have a negative impact on the likelihood of distribution. That being said, this is where our industry has to step in. If we want the film to make an impact now, before it is too late, we need to do whatever it takes to get this film into theaters. Incredibly, some companies have already stepped up to the plate and have pledged to fund some of these premieres. We need more companies to follow suit. For anyone interested in assisting in this matter, please send an e-mail to Jesse Hieb at Jesse@AttentionEra.com. With your help, we can make this happen.
Some Final Notes
For those of you who may be questioning my validity, I was fortunate enough to attend the New Zealand World Premiere, and I know the impact that it can and will have if we embrace it. I have been following the progress of this film since early on, and have been a supporter of not just this film, but of Aaron and his staff as well. I was granted the opportunity to spend a week with them in New Zealand, and I feel confident when I say that they are some of the most genuine people I have ever met. They have dedicated countless hours to bring this film to reality. It would be an injustice to not just them, but to A Billion Lives to not show them our support.
Kurt Loeblich
Owner
Cloud Chasers Inc.
Kurt@CloudChasersInc.com
Thanks very much for this Kurt. Hopefully vapers, shops, companies, and manufacturers will do what they can to help out. I’ll donate a bit to the cause as well. With our support, perhaps we can have this shown sooner rather than later. The time is now. It’s kinda important at this point.
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