AtomFilms Mavericks "Journey" Across America With Volkswagen
25 September 2000
AtomFilms Mavericks "Journey" Across America With Volkswagen
SEATTLE--(ENTERTAINMENT WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2000--Atom Announces Volkswagen as Major Corporate Sponsor of The Journey Tour with filmmaker Eric Saperston and singer/songwriter Edwin
McCain
AtomFilms today announced global brand, Volkswagen, as the major sponsor of the The Journey Tour -- a live performance that entertains and enlightens the audience by interweaving stories by emerging filmmaker Eric Saperston with the soulful acoustic performance of Atlantic Recording artist Edwin McCain.
This follows an announcement by Volkswagen today that details other facets of its major, company-wide sponsorship and content syndication deal with AtomFilms. AtomFilms is simultaneously debuting the Atom Mavericks Program -- a grassroots marketing program that allows Atom enthusiasts to host short film screenings and promotions like The Journey Tour.
This tour is the evolution of "The Journey," a short film based on the experiences of Eric Saperston, a man who jumped in a Volkswagen bus after college graduation and hit the road to capture the collective wisdom of our country's most thoughtful elders. After almost eight years on the road meeting people ranging from notables like President Jimmy Carter, actors Billy Crystal and Henry Winkler, and the CEOs of Coca-Cola and Home Depot to everyday people with meaningful experiences, Eric decided to edit his almost 450 hours of footage into a 13-minute short film. "The Journey" was signed and licensed exclusively by AtomFilms and is now available to audiences around the world at www.thejourney.atomfilms.com.
After licensing Saperston's "The Journey" at last year's Sundance Film Festival, AtomFilms is further promoting the short as the official presenting sponsor for The Journey Tour. Eric, along with Atlantic Recording Artist, Edwin McCain, are traveling to colleges throughout the U.S. on this unique tour to share lessons learned from Eric's interactions with some of the most well known leaders of our time. The experience is accentuated by the musical performance of Edwin McCain ("I'll Be", "I Could Not Ask For More") and concluded by the screening of "The Journey" short film. A list of upcoming tour dates is available at www.thejourney.atomfilms.com.
"Being able to take my amazing experiences from the road and translate them to masses of college students about to enter the world is truly gratifying," says Atom filmmaker, Eric Saperston. "AtomFilms and Volkswagen are two companies that recognize the value of reaching out to this generation with some inspirational messages."
To extend Atom's community-focused entertainment approach to encompass this project, Atom created the Mavericks program. Over 250 volunteers across the U.S. are excitedly hosting AtomFilms screenings of "The Journey" short film and several other shorts to eager audiences in their areas. Four Atom Mavericks were recently selected to become Journey Mavericks dedicated solely to The Journey Tour. Their travels are designed to replicate Eric Saperston's own journey. These Journey Mavericks will travel in a VW bus a few days ahead of each college destination to host screenings of Atom shorts, promote interest in the tour and tape footage of the actual performance. The Mavericks are documenting all of their experiences on the road with The Journey Tour, from accidentally rolling in poison ivy to living out of a van with three other people they've never met before. Their frequent video diaries that humorously capture all of the highs and lows of life on the road are available for viewing at www.thejourney.atomfilms.com.
"The Mavericks program is an innovative step in grassroots marketing, allowing the Atom community of over 1.5 million Insiders to spread Atom brand awareness to its peers," says Matt Hulett, Chief Marketing and Online Officer for AtomFilms. "The evolution of this unique program to raise awareness of The Journey Tour reinforces the importance that Atom places on its filmmakers and community -- a key aspect that makes AtomFilms stand alone in the next generation entertainment field."
Global brand Volkswagen is also a co-sponsor of The Journey Tour. Long touted for their cutting-edge advertisements, Volkswagen has extended its creative outreach to the vw.com community by furthering its commitment to the film medium. Through The Journey Tour sponsorship and its participation in several film festivals like the Telluride Film Festival and the New Yorker Film Festival, Volkswagen truly celebrates the art of film.
"Volkswagen is proud to be a presenting sponsor of The Journey College Tour bringing a unique entertainment experience to college campuses," said Steve Keyes, Director of Corporate Communications for Volkswagen of America. "New media opportunities make it possible for Volkswagen to bring diverse entertainment to our online community, vw.com."
About AtomFilms:
AtomFilms is a leading next generation entertainment company focused on redefining the way entertainment is created, distributed, marketed and consumed. AtomFilms has the largest catalog of award-winning animation and live-action entertainment available. A loyal supporter of independent filmmakers and animators, AtomFilms has built a platform for artists seeking worldwide distribution. AtomFilms markets and distributes high-quality short form entertainment to more than 80 partners and to audience's worldwide, with significant presence on major Internet sites, broadband services, television, airlines, home entertainment companies and more recently, handheld and wireless devices. A popular Web destination that is ranked among Media Metrix's top twenty entertainment sites, the two time Webby Award winner in Film and Broadband, AtomFilms was recently selected as the "Forbes Magazine Favorite" short film Web site. AtomFilms was also sited as one of the top ten most trafficked movie-related sites by Entertainment Weekly, and was rated "Best of the Web" for online entertainment by U.S. News & World Report. An independent company founded in 1998, AtomFilms has offices in Seattle, Los Angeles, New York and London. More information about AtomFilms can be found on the Internet at http:/www.atomfilms.com.
About Journey Productions:
Journey Productions, Inc. (JPI) is an Atlanta, GA based emerging digital entertainment company. JPI endeavors to build a community of kindred minds and hearts through the creation, production and distribution of digital content that captures the human spirit and inspires everyone to live extraordinary lives. Besides the unprecedented content and tour partnership with Atom Films, JPI is currently in production of a feature film titled "The Journey" and is planning a web based broadcast network called "Journey.TV" founded on wisdom, humor and inspiration. For more information on JPI, please go to thejourneyfilm.com.
About Volkswagen:
Founded in 1955, Volkswagen of America, Inc., is headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mich., and is a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG. Volkswagen is among the largest automakers in the world and Europe's number one seller. In the United States, Volkswagen has sold more than 10.6 million cars and is the top-selling European importer.