In 2013, I tested a new
time-lapse camera rig outside my house in Bergen County, New Jersey. The
camera snapped pictures throughout the day, noon to sunset. Nothing unusual, until I accidentally processed the film backward — and saw that the overcast afternoon sky was in fact, created
exclusively by jets.
The
footage revealed how cloud cover was actually created by aircraft flying
in a grid pattern over the area of my house and my kids’ school, spraying
something from behind that left a long white trail that expanded over time, leaving a thin, cloudy haze across the sky.
I had my
news producer do some research, without knowing exactly what we were looking
for. Two days later, she returned with a binder
of information about geoengineering and chemtrails. Neither of us had
heard these terms, but learned that geoengineering is the intentional creation
of a false cloud cover being used to reverse global warming by blocking the sun
from hitting the earth, and chemtrails are what the sprayed chemicals leave
behind.
I subsequently learned that geoengineering is unregulated, with health and
environmental risks unknown. I had to do something… and making films is thing that I
know how to do. And so the “Look Up!” documentary journey began.
Initially, I made the first version of “Look Up!” a 17-minute environmental documentary to
raise awareness about what I believe is the most dangerous environmental threat
the planet faces today, GeoEngineering, SRM (aka Chemtrails). But what good is another documentary
that informs the public unless it prompts them to action?
Then I came up
with an idea: Integrate the film with a mobile app so they can easily use their smartphone to petition lawmakers and spread the message via social media.
By using the patented mobile app, viewers have the ability to capture visual evidence of this potentially catastrophic activity, petition against it, and send it directly to the appropriate government officials– all in one click, with no need to know who or where those officials are, since it’s geolocated.
A confirmation email is automatically sent back to the
user’s registered email address and the user can see the petition
on the politician’s Twitter feed in real time.
Soon after its launch last spring, the app had rocketed to the top five
social media apps on iTunes and top 10 on Twitter. More importantly, it facilitated the
delivery of tens of thousands of mobile legislative petitions by its users by
people who watched “Look Up!” The film has gone on to win film festival awards. After seeing the film at a festival, actor William Baldwin subsequently provided the narration.
As breaking news has unfolded, the film has expanded to more than 60 minutes and I have been able to sell it directly to thousands of people who have signed up on the site.
With our self-distribution model, we are
able to keep the film current. Our existing user base is so committed to
the cause that they continue to buy each new version of the film at full price. It is a truly unique model, and was, at the end of the day,
pretty cheap to make and distribute.
For all of you documentary filmmakers, how many of you have
actually gotten money back from any distribution deal? With this model, the
first DVD sold, you get all of the money, and if the topic of your film is
important enough to go viral– people will find you and buy your movie.
George Barnes is a multiple award-winning Producer/Director/DP with over 20 years of
experience. He has served on the Executive Office of the Governor
(Florida) and Association of Independent Commercial Producers and shot
thousands of campaigns commercials, and films for clients including Lamborghini
Aventador, Hard Rock Hotel and Casino,, HBO, and Viacom. George is
currently the Senior Producer and Head of Production East Coast for UVAmericas,
Managing Director of Skyder, Inc., a 501c4 not-for-profit corporation, creator
of the award-winning mobile app SkyderALERT, and director of the award-winning
environmental social action documentary “Look Up!”
Susan
Jacobs has spent more than 20 years in the entertainment business as a
marketing, communications and branding strategist; event producer; project
manager; writer; and connector. She has worked on projects in the U.S., Africa, Europe and
Haiti. Her new company BlueZan
Consulting creates marketing, branding, and communications strategies,
campaigns, and events, focusing primarily on socially responsible, cause-driven
projects. Previously, she co-founded and ran Thought Bubble Concepts, and Kahn
& Jacobs Public Relations. She is associate producer of “Look Up!”
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