Tag: Holder

Honestly, I’m nervous.

I know how much this movie means to you. I see all the tweets. I get all the messages.

It’s been a long year. We arrived in Peru one year ago. Now we’re in New Zealand for our world premiere. It’s been a roller coaster of emotions. So many people counting on this movie to tell their story, convince their mother, fight the corruption.

Now it’s time.

I hope you’ll love it.

If you’d like to join the festivities, Chantal TV presented by AlfaLiquid will be the official LIVE coverage of the entire evening.

You can watch LIVE here

Here are just some of the amazing people joining us tonight for the festivities:

Dr. Murray Laugesen – First to carry out in-depth research on safety of vapor technology in 2009.

Mark Weiss – Won lawsuit against FDA, saving vapor technology industry in the US. Founder of NJOY.

Dr. Attila Danko – Advocate for Australian smokers seeking to use vapor technology.

Arnaud Dumas de Rauly – Vapor Technology Association board member

Chantal TV – Social media livestream broadcaster from Paris who has over 250,000 subscribers.

Dr. Marewa Glover – Health advocate and internationall recognized authority on vapor technology.

Kurt Loeblich – Revolutionized the way manufacturers implemented airflow design for atomizers.

In total, we have seven people from the film at the premiere, as well as many policy-makers, members of the media, health advocates, film critics, and others.

It’s going to be a great evening.

Thanks to those helping make this possible:

AlfaLiquid – Presenting sponsor of the after-party, live broadcasts, and PR

End Smoking NZ & VAPE2SAVE – Support of the film festival

We are ready.

Thanks for all your support throughout the year. A new journey begins tonight.

Talk soon,

When I prepared my speech to the White House OMB and FDA, I thought they’d listen. When I presented it, they didn’t seem to care.

Today I know they didn’t.

I used to be naive about how government works. I still think most people are.

We’ve known for almost a year now that that this would happen, that the FDA would basically ban 99% of life-saving vapor products out there…leaving only those sold by Big Tobacco.

It’s time to wake up smokers. It’s time to wake up vapers. It’s time to wake up the public.We’re being lied to, and people are going to die.

It will be a combination of relationship building at the government level and public relations. You should join or start an association and give them money so they can fight.

However, we must also change the public’s perception of vaping. Right now they are cheering on the FDA.

Our film will help, but we need to make major noise.Here’s how you can help:

A) If you see an article about vaping, please mention our film.

B) If you get interviewed about vapor technology, please mention our movie.

If you help us get on the air, we will carry the message. We’re not smokers. We’re not vapers. We’re not in the vapor tech business.

Here’s a recent radio interview I did. With your help, there will be many more.

Here’s the plan so far:

1) A proper World Premiere at Oscar-qualifying DocEdge International Film Festival to gain media attention. 

This is going well. Alfaliquid just offered to sponsor the after-party to assist with costs and pump it up. NZVapor is sponsoring the red carpet festivities. Hawke’s Bay Vapour and NVC are sponsoring the event photography. I am extremely grateful and this support has allowed us to attract people (media, politicians, etc.) to the movie from many countries, including those who have banned vapor technology.

Preparations are ongoing, but I’m very thankful for the help the Global Forum on Nicotine has provided. Not only did they help us land the Hon Lik interview last year, but they are also helping coordinate VIPs for the big event their hosting at the Palace of Culture in Warsaw.

Souvenir programs. Awards show. After-party.

It’s coming along nicely.

We’re excited to bring the movie home. Many have asked us why we didn’t premiere in the US. The answer is money.

We didn’t have the money to throw a proper premiere by ourselves and we needed the help of a world-class film festival. DocEdge invited us and we were very excited to accept.

In order to keep momentum rolling and get the attention of the public/media/politicians, we need to keep the level of these events to the highest quality.

Few things capture the public’s attention like a red carpet and the festivities surrounding a movie premiere. We only get one chance to premiere a movie in each region, and we’re going to make the most of it.

We’ll set a date in the US once we’ve figured out a way to pay for it. Jesse is working on it.

Same as above for the US. Jesse does have one person who’s offered to help sponsor an after-party to cover our costs to throw a special premiere that will make noise.

We’ll let you know once that’s been figured out. Jesse is working on it.

We’re working on renting a bus and planning premiere events around North America. So far, we’re planning events at the IMAX below the Seattle Space Needle (thanks John Conner for the help), Los Angeles, New York City, Chicago, Washington DC, Milwaukee, Miami, Philadelphia, Tampa, Phoenix, Orlando, Salt Lake City, St. Louis, Calgary, Nashville, Santa Fe, and others.

Basically, we need two things to make it happen in your city:

1) someone to help guarantee tickets sold (we don’t have a huge marketing budget)

2) someone to sponsor the after-party to cover our costs (gas, banners, theater rentals, projection costs, food, etc.)

If you know anyone with either a large following or a large bank account, please have them contact [email protected].

We are starting to get other film festivals contacting us now that the movie is done. If you have one in your area, please contact them.

It worked in Tampa and it worked for New Zealand. It took an organized group of people calling/emailing. It wasn’t easy.

We are getting closer to a plan for a proper Australian Premiere in July. We also have some discussions with distribution companies there.

We need New Zealand to go well first. Stay tuned.

Thanks to the work of Anja, Frank, Ira and a bunch of other really amazing Germans, we have interest in the movie from several theaters and distributors. Anja Jochem Skowronek is managing/translating the A Billion Lives German page and it’s up to almost 2000 people! It’s been mindblowing to see how organized and active they are in Germany.

If we keep at this, there will be a wide release throughout all of Germany, possibly Austria and Switzerland too. Our biggest hurdle now is preparing the movie for a German audience.

Our first date.

June 16thOn that day, A Billion Lives will play at the Palace of Culture during the Global Forum on Nicotine. Click here to see their announcement

Other exciting announcements & dates are pending. June 16th will not be the first time the film is shown.

Palace of Culture in Warsaw Poland

Click here to see what she said

We need your help.

We’re reaching out to the following film festivals all over the world to see if there is interest in premiering the film in their city/country.

They are going through thousands of films and are very busy, so I would encourage you to contact them.

Let them hear how important this topic is.

April

Tribeca Film Festival – New York, NY

Hot Docs Film Festival – Toronto, Canada

France in May

Cannes

UK in June

Edinburgh International Film Festival

Sheffield Doc/Fest

That’s all for now. Please support Molly and other intelligent journalists and we’ll have more big news soon.

Thanks!