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TRANSCRIPT
About the Film: Blood, Sweat, and Beer is a feature documentary about the explosive growth of the craft beer industry and the dramatic journeys of two start-‐up breweries.
The film follows a trio of 23-‐year-‐olds as they struggle to start The Brew Gentlemen Beer Co. in Braddock, PA. Matt, Asa, and Brandon hope their brewery will help this once-‐prosperous steel town bounce back from decades of neglect, violence, and population loss. The film also tells the emotional story of Danny Robinson a boardwalk brewery owner and restaurateur whose empire is threatened by an aggressive trademark lawsuit that could leave him bankrupt.
Four entrepreneurs, two brand new breweries, and one ultimate goal: to quench the thirst of the craft-‐craving masses. Watch the trailer: https://vimeo.com/104234702
Production Stills:
Brandon from Brew Gentlemen Beer Co. Hi-‐Res: http://tinyurl.com/BSBStill1
Danny from Backshore Brewing Co. Hi-‐Res: http://tinyurl.com/BSBStill2
Matt & Asa from Brew Gentlemen Beer Co. Hi-‐Res: http://tinyurl.com/BSBStills3
Brandon pours hops in the kettle. Hi-‐Res: http://tinyurl.com/BSBStills4
About the Directors: Chip Hiden & Alexis Irvin Chip Hiden and Alexis Irvin are filmmakers, authors, and speakers. At age 22, the duo quit their desk jobs to make their first film, The Dream Share Project, a documentary about successful people who have pursued their dream careers. Chip and Alexis’ first book, Build Your Dreams, was published by Running Press in 2013. The pair has spoken at over 200 colleges and universities about discovering your passion. On their many cross-country adventures, the couple became inspired by the craft beer revolution brewing across the U.S. One night, after an IPA or two, an idea for a new documentary was born. Blood, Sweat, and Beer would take viewers on a journey beyond the pint, to explore the struggles and successes of the booming craft beer industry. Who We Filmed With: Over the last two years, Blood, Sweat, and Beer filmed with many amazing breweries and beer experts, writers, and personalities around the U.S., including:
….and many more! (see http://kck.st/1mjlFRV for a complete list)
Directors Statement: Craft beer is currently the second fastest growing industry in the United States, creating over 130,000 jobs and over $2 billion in tax revenue each year. The U.S. is often criticized for outsourcing manufacturing jobs, and craft beer represents one of the few products that is still being made with pride in the U.S. Fascinated by the explosive growth of this industry, we decided to follow two start-‐up breweries to capture their stories. We met Danny Robinson of Backshore Brewing Co. right before his new brewery opened up on the iconic boardwalk of Ocean City, Maryland. We were immediately struck by Danny's enthusiasm, love for entrepreneurship, and refreshing lack of pretense. At that time, we had no idea how dramatic Danny's story would get. A few months into business, Danny was hit with a massive trademark infringement lawsuit and was eventually forced to change his brewery's name. Despite the name change, the plaintiff's law firm continued the lawsuit, seeking to recover over $500,000 in legal fees from Danny. Faced with overwhelming legal bills, Danny could be forced to sell his brewery, his house, his car, and empty his savings account. In addition to Danny, we met Matt and Asa, a pair of 23-‐year-‐olds opening The Brew Gentlemen Beer Company in Braddock, Pennsylvania. When we first drove through Braddock, it was like driving onto a post-‐apocalyptic film set. Homes and historic building were boarded up or falling apart. Ivy crawled over front doors. Trees grew through front porches and roofs. The streets were empty, and most of the businesses shut down. Braddock was the ghost of a once-‐prosperous steel town. Matt and Asa told us it was their mission to build their brewery and help revitalize Braddock. We knew we had out second story. The craft beer culture is often depicted as weird, wacky, and fun, however, many of us fail to appreciate the hardships, struggles, and sacrifices that go on within the brewery walls. We hope that Blood Sweat, and Beer takes viewers beyond the pint – and into the struggles and successes involved in being a small business owner in the U.S. CONTACT INFO: Alexis Irvin Dream Share Project LLC [email protected] 240-‐593-‐6866
Blood, Sweat, and Beer A Craft Beer Documentary http://bloodsweatbeermovie.vhx.tv 70 min.
Press & Reviews:
“…captivated by the built-‐in drama of the Shorebilly lawsuit.”
Read more: http://usat.ly/1
EJXmkQ
“…The Brew Gentlemen provide a
compelling story…” Read more: http://bit.ly/1MKJfSd
“…putting faces to an era that many claim is the golden age of American
craft beer.”
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/m2yo2s
b
“...filled with salivating factoids that will enervate the dreams of wannabe
brewers everywhere”
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/q5pjwgr
“Whether you’re a beer connoisseur or not, this documentary speaks to
everyone on some level.”
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/qdtgw2x
“Buzzing DCIFF films include … Blood, Sweat and Beer, exploring the growth
of the craft beer industry”
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/pe5y8y
w
““Trace the … continuing rise of the
microbrew movement”
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/peoyzw4
“About more than just cold gold…about the enterprising
American spirit.”
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/p5po25x
“…a behind the scenes look at
opening a brewery…” Read more: http://bit.ly/1hZ6ZXe
“A craft beer film with heart”
Read more: http://tinyurl.com/ovllagr
Cast & Crew Bios: Danny Robinson -‐ Shorebilly / Backshore Brewing Co. Danny Robinson is a career entrepreneur who lives in Ocean City, MD. In his early twenties, Danny fell in love with the beach and decided to move there full time. He worked his way up from a bartender to a bar owner and he now owns two popular beach bars, Hammerheads and Pickles Pub.
In 2013, Danny sought to fill Ocean City’s craft beer void and launched Shorebilly Brewing Company, a beachfront nanobrewery located on OC’s iconic boardwalk. However, three months into business, Danny was hit with an aggressive trademark lawsuit over the use of the name Shorebilly. The legal bills piled up and threatened to bankrupt the small brewery. We chronicled Danny’s fight to preserve his business. Read more about Danny: http://bit.ly/1Icqelk Matt Katase, Asa Foster, and Brandon Capps – The Brew Gentlemen Beer Co.
Matt and Asa met at Carnegie Mellon University and hatched a plan to launch a brewery after graduation. During school, the two attended a lecture given John Fetterman, the revolutionary mayor of Braddock, PA. After the talk, Matt and Asa were inspired to start their brewery in Braddock, a once-‐prosperous steel town. They hoped that their brewery could help Braddock bounce back from decades of neglect, violence, and population loss. They soon hired brewer Brandon Capps, a former intern at Annheuser Busch, to help create delicious beer for The Brew Gentlemen Beer Co. We chronicled the final 4 months of construction as the trio risked everything to chase their dream. Executive Producer – Paul Sankovich Paul began his TV & film career when, at the age of 15, he starred in his first automotive commercial. Being avid drinker (since age 21), Blood, Sweat, & Beer piqued Paul's interest as the perfect intersection of his two main leisure activities:
alcohol and film. A financial services executive by day and movie financier by night, Paul looks for unique independent film projects that capture the imagination, warm the heart, provoke the mind, and convey the human spirit. Blood, Sweat, & Beer is such a project. Executive Producer: Michele Wilt Michele M. Wilt was born and raised in Pittsburgh, PA. She attended Brentwood High School, graduated from Boston University School of Nursing, and worked both in the medical and business fields. Michele adopted and raised three beautiful children from Erie, PA and now resides in Clarksville, MD. Michele interest in Blood, Sweat and Beer was piqued when she learned about the filming in Braddock, PA, near her hometown...she understood the daily trials and tribulations people there faced. Michele decided to contribute to this venture because she truly believes that youth is our future. Production Story:
Filming took two years, starting in April 2013, when we snuck a camera into a brewery tour. From there, we set up over 80 interviews with breweries and industry experts all over the country. We self-‐funded the entire filming process, living out of our car as we traveled from our home in Washington DC to places like Florida, Colorado, California, and Oregon. After filming dozens of interviews, we decided to focus on the stories of start-‐up
breweries. We wanted to follow entrepreneurs on the journey from blueprint to brewery to capture their struggles and triumphs. This led us to follow Shorebilly Brewing Co. (now called Backshore) and The Brew Gentlemen Beer Co. Once filming was complete, we spent seven challenging months editing hundreds of hours of footage into a 70-‐minute feature film. We ultimately decided to interweave the start-‐up stories with commentary from industry experts. The film was set to premiere on March 1, 2015 at the DC Independent Film Festival, however, we did not have an ending. The Shorebilly trademark lawsuit verdict was not announced until one week before the premiere. We stayed up all night cutting the ending and sent off our exhibition copy just in the nick of time. The premiere was sold out, we got a standing ovation, and won the “Best DC Filmmaker” award. The film was shot entirely by us on the Canon Rebel T5i. We edited the film on a 13-‐inch Macbook Pro running Final Cut Pro X, and later Adobe Premiere. We estimate that we tasted over 1,000 beers during the two years of production… for “research” purposes.