Here’s an update on A BILLION LIVES from Aaron Biebert…
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It’s been a busy couple months preparing for the final release of A Billion Lives around the world on various broadcast, streaming, and Blu-Ray platforms.
Our new broadcast distribution partner, Principal Media, has been discussing TV broadcasts of A Billion Lives with HBO, AMC, MBC (Middle East), YLC (Finland), MediaLaan, RTL, ProSieben (Germany), Telefilms (Argentina), Bell Media, and Turner. The international interest in our movie from large networks is largely due to your work in helping spread the word via social media, as well as our spectacular international premieres over the past six months.
Momentum, while slow, is building and we are gaining the public’s attention. Thanks for being patient.
The Plan
This has definitely been a learning experience for us. Rarely has a film with this level of support and vital message been so ignored by the media and Hollywood establishment. Sadly, that means we’ve had to do a lot of unexpected work with distribution.
We’ve been pushing as hard as we can to get the word out using mainstream channels and it is working. It’s also taking a bit more time than expected. The ability to put it on TV was a pleasant surprise.
Here’s the plan going forward. Theaters
We’re wrapping up the theatrical release in English-speaking countries. However, I still believe that bringing people from other countries together to see the movie in a public forum is vital to getting new people to hear the message.
Last week in Copenhagen, I got to visit with officials from the Health Ministry and Safety Ministry after they watched the movie. There were tons of other members of the public there as well. It was powerful for them to witness the groans, laughs, and standing ovation. We are getting close to launching the movie in theaters in Germany, Austria, France, and maybe other countries. We’ve gotten commitments to show the movie in Germany & Austria at least 10 times to allow local groups to invite media and politicians. All countries that currently have the movie in theaters (US, Canada, Australia, UK, Ireland, New Zealand) will continue to have the opportunity to use Demand.Film (International) or Tugg (US) to host theater screenings for years.
TV
Our new broadcast distribution partner is working to get the movie on TV, where it will be seen by people not currently introduced to the #ABillionLives debate.
We just finished preparing an international version of the movie (no English) and it is ready for one network that has already signed a deal to show the movie 15 times! As mentioned above, more deals are potentially in the works.
The downside of this, is that we will delay the digital release in countries/languages where it is on TV. We think it’s worth it. Digital Streaming
In countries where the movie will not air on TV (most of them), we plan one last publicity stunt to get attention by becoming the #1 movie on iTunes on our release day.
This is very possible with the level of support behind us.
After a succesfull iTunes launch, we’ll also have it available on other platforms (Amazon, Google Play, etc.).
Digital streaming is our best chance to make money and fund a follow-up film, so we are eager to begin as soon as possible. The only reason we’ve held off is to build more public awareness of the message and honor our commitments to theaters. Reaching the public is job #1.
Blu-Ray
In addition to a digital release, we plan on selling a limited edition Blu-Ray disk with special content (potentially a deleted chapter featuring Stanton Glantz).
We’ve been working on it and we’re ready to start taking bulk pre-orders. We don’t have the manpower to sell individual copies initially, so we’ll rely on authorized groups or companies to buy the movie at bulk prices and help distribute it on their own websites or stores.
In order to reward our strongest supporters and help us get better pricing on disk creation, we’ll be prioritizing the largest orders first. Please reply to this email if you are interested.
Any company or group that cares about our message is welcome. Final Notes
In addition to all the distribution work (and my job at Attention Era Media), I continue to be active in working with groups to meet with and educate government leaders and the media.
We are fully aware of the battles going on right now and we are helping as much as possible with our limited resources and small staff. We think a follow up film using our new network, expertise, and supportive community would be able to put away these liars for good. But to do this (without taking money from outside organizations to make the movie), we need to be smart. Thanks for sticking with us. I appreciate you. Talk soon,
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– Aaron Biebert
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