Brand USA’s Creating It’s Second Giant Screen Film: America’s Treasures
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Brand USA Again Targets Global Travel Markets
WASHINGTON, DC – Brand USA, the nation’s destination marketing organization, and MacGillivray Freeman Films have joined forces once again with global presenting sponsor, Expedia, Inc. to produce America’s Treasures (working title), the second giant-screen film promoting the United States as a premier travel destination.
Filming is already underway for America’s Treasures (working title), which comes on the heels of Brand USA’s award-winning documentary film of 2016, National Parks Adventure – another MacGillivray Freeman 3D film for IMAX®and giant-screen theatres that featured the national parks, one of the country’s most treasured assets, and celebrated the centennial anniversary of the National Parks Service. Academy Award and Golden Globe Winning Actor Robert Redford narrated National Parks Adventure.
“National Parks Adventure was part of an overarching marketing effort focusing on the great outdoors as an effort to drive international visitation to the USA,” said Christopher L. Thompson, president and CEO of Brand USA. “The results have exceeded our expectations. In fact, 81 percent of international viewers of the film said they are much more likely or somewhat more likely to visit the USA as a result of watching the film and 62 percent said they are more likely to visit the USA instead of another destination as a result of watching the film. It’s based on that success that we are launching our next giant-screen film initiative.”
“After taking global audiences to our treasured wild places in National Parks Adventure last year, we are thrilled to bring America’s cultural and musical treasures to the giant screen,” said Shaun MacGillivray, President of MacGillivray Freeman Films. “America’s Treasures uses the immersive visual experience of the giant-screen format to explore our nation’s rich musical heritage and tell the story of America’s diverse cultural innovations in a new and powerful way.”
America’s Treasures (working title) celebrates the unique diversity of American culture and the risk-taking spirit that characterize the USA, as experienced through the lens of music. The film follows singer/songwriter Aloe Blacc as he explores some of America’s iconic cultural cities and traces jazz legend Louis Armstrong’s footsteps through the colorful locales where America’s music was born. Audiences will be immersed in the sights and sounds of New Orleans, Chicago, Detroit, New York City, Nashville, Miami Beach and more as we meet the visionaries, artists, music makers and innovators who are shaping America’s culture today.
The new film hopes to repeat the tremendous success of National Parks Adventure, an action-packed adventure that became the highest-grossing documentary film in the world in 2016. The film took viewers on a spectacular journey to some of America’s most legendary outdoor experiences, including Yellowstone National Park, Glacier National Park and Yosemite. The film’s release was the industry’s fastest giant-screen roll-out in five years, with 48 exhibitions in six countries in February 2016 and 119 exhibitions in 16 countries within the first 12 months.
The PR campaign for the National Parks Adventure garnered more than 4,000 pieces of earned media, with over 7 billion global media impressions. The film is expected to reach well over 4 million people internationally (10 million including the USA) in the first 24 months and to exceed $44 million in media reach outside of the USA. In addition, the film garnered multiple awards, including the Giant Screen Cinema Association’s Best Film of 2016 in the Short Subject category as well as achievement awards for best cinematography, sound design, original score, best marketing campaign by a distributor and best film launch by a theater.
The giant screen platform remains the perfect venue to help reach a wide global audience. An estimated 70 million people see a film in IMAX® theatres each year in 744 theatres located in 52 countries worldwide. Over 50 percent of attendance is international, with the number of theaters rapidly expanding in emerging markets such as China, Brazil and Mexico
America’s Treasures (working title) currently is in production, with a world premiere scheduled for February 2018.
