About
On September 8, 2001 Air Force One, tail number 27000, took its last historic flight. This historic plane flew seven U.S. Presidents, and it's walls talk. We would like to create, or I should say “complete” a one hour DVD documenting the journey of Air Force One from its last flight, to its surgical disassembly, to the transportation over California highways, to its bolt-by-bolt reassembly at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library, where it is now maintained in pristine, Presidential condition, for the people of the United States and visitors from all over the world to enjoy.
Prior to the last flight, we were granted sole and exclusive rights to this historic project. At our own expense, we had the responsibility of filming and photographing the amazing journey of Air Force One from Andrews Air Force base near Washington DC, to its new home in southern California.
With cameras rolling, on the ground and aboard SAM 27000, we took off from Andrews Air Force Base. Once we landed in San Bernardino California, Air Force One was completely dismantled, bolt-by-bolt, then transported by truck 125 miles away, where it was reassembled by hand and nestled into a pavilion on a hill 500 feet above Simi Valley California. None of this had been done before and some believed it could not be done. People from around the world would be able to board her and allow the spirit of this plane to reveal it's epic historical adventures.
We shot over 2000 photographs, 100 hours of exclusive, never-before-seen video tape, and miles of time lapse film. We used two cameramen, an assistant cameraman, and a crew of five men to record every nut, bolt, wing, stabilizer and engine being removed by hand from the plane; something that had never been done before.
We captured many dramatic and fascinating elements including frightening mishaps that almost ended the project, arguments, bloopers, and pratfalls; which happen when a project of this magnitude is undertaken. Our cameras were rolling throughout the entire 5-year long process!
We have it all, from the final flight to the dedication of the reassembled aircraft at the Air Force One Pavilion. Of the 2000+ photographs we shot, about 400 are featured in our book, 'Air Force One: The Final Mission', which was published and is available in most Presidential Libraries, our website: www.AirForceOneTheFinalMission.com and online retailers such as Amazon. Of course, It's also included in many of our Kickstarter rewards.
We were told by many broadcasters that they loved this project and want to broadcast it. But we were very surprised when they told us that they would only do so if the show was 100% completed. We would have to deliver them a completely edited program at our expense.
We came in on budget, but after discovering that we would have to cover the costs of editing the documentary (not in the budget) we simply did not have any money left to go into a studio to edit the program. We spent all of our money, including the advance we received from the book. People that worked for us had to be paid. The cost of camera rentals, tape, cables, sound equipment, lighting, crew transport, lodging all add up.
We have produced other projects in the past and the broadcasters always participated in the cost of editing, but it apparently doesn't work that way with documentaries. It was a hard and expensive lesson to learn. That's where you, our backers, will play a key role in preserving this piece of history.
This project deserves to be completed. It is a piece of history. People around the world need to know it exists. They need to know of the ingenuity our skilled American crew had, and how they successfully took apart a Boeing 707 by hand, (a National treasure, that was clearly made to hold together against all odds), then transported the parts and fuselage over public highways, to reassemble it, by hand, with not one bolt out of place. When you see this plane now, it is incomprehensible how it got into the pavilion. It’s the ultimate “air"-ship-in-a-bottle! Let us tell this story.
If everyone chips in, we can finish this HISTORICAL NON-PARTISAN AMERICAN PROJECT. Not only will you help to make our own personal dream a reality, but the viewers of this finished project will be truly grateful.
Here's where the funds will go to complete this project:
- Post Production Supervisor
- Post Production Studio time
- Sound Recordist
- Transferring time-lapse film to digital format for editing
- Color correction
- Editor
- Engineer
- Engineer's assistant
- Writing narration (Script)
- Narrator
- Studio time to record narration
- Music Licenses
- Graphics and Titles
- Duplication/copies of finished product
- Packaging and shipping
- Promotion, including costs of rewards
- Transportation to meet broadcasters
- We expect all the Presidential Libraries will carry the DVDs as well as retail outlets, aviation and history museums, schools, libraries, and on line sales.
If we don't reach our goal we will get zero funds so, no money changes hands, and the awesome rewards will not be distributed! We must fully reach or surpass our goal or we will lose not only the funds, but our time, energy, and our own huge initial financial investment as well.
Most of all, the history of this incredible adventure will be lost forever, this exclusive footage will rot on a shelf and will never be seen... and everyone will be very sad.
We have comprised a wonderful selection of rewards in exchange for your generosity. We have tried to create rewards for every budget so everyone can back this project and get to see it before the general public. If you can't contribute financially we would be so grateful if you would support this epic documentary by spreading the word about our project with your network of friends and contacts. Together we can make this dream a reality!
Thank you all for taking the time to consider our project. We are truly grateful for your consideration and your backing. Join our team at any level and let this documentary take flight!
*** WE WANT TO EXCEED OUR GOAL*** Our goal will let us complete this project, however we have always had bigger plans. We have enough footage to edit this project into a 2 DVD set. In addition we plan to do the following:
- Use a celebrity voice over announcer.
- Use popular music in the background and titles. Money is needed for the music license.
- Add bonus features: Time lapse video of the entire project, additional interviews of many who flew aboard Air Force One (we have already shot these and they need to be edited), Screen Saver downloads, Bloopers, etc.
Risks and challenges
We need your help and we want your trust. We have tried to come up with any risks there might be in backing our project. As the entire documentary has been shot, everyone involved has already been paid, we have releases on file for everyone that was even close to the filming, frankly, we have found very little risk. The project simply needs to be edited and the DVDs produced.
The biggest risk we can imagine is if we well exceed our funding goal, we may have to manufacture some of the rewards. We should have plenty of inventory of our books, posters and other Air Force One products (which can be seen here and on our website: AirForceOneTheFinalMission.com) to fulfil all backers up to our funding goal. If we have the happiest day of our lives and the project goes way over our goal, we can reproduce the reward items, it will simply take a bit longer (about 90 days more) to deliver them. To be sure its fair, we will deliver rewards based on the order the pledges were received, so pledge early. Again, we don't foresee any issues unless we go way over our goal, or if the pledges are skewed in some odd way that it affects inventory. We will be sure every backer receives what we promised. We are grateful for your backing.
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Funding period
- (40 days)