One Nation, United by Craft Beer

At ACB, we are all about how a small group of individuals can start-up on a shoestring budget and make a big difference in the way our culture is perceived. In our effort to seek out those who support and promote the craft beer community, we circle back to a project we profiled in March – a craft beer documentary in the making called “Crafting A Nation – One Craft Beer at a Time”.

The feature-length documentary and new media project Crafting A Nation tells the story of how American craft brewers are rebuilding the economy, one beer at a time. The film profiles brewers in nine different states with strong craft beer presences – Colorado, California, Oregon, Texas, Missouri, Minnesota, and North Carolina. According to Producer Courtney Cobb, however, the documentary is more than just a vehicle to showcase the passion and dedication behind America’s craft brewing industry and its ability to generate jobs and livelihoods.

“Where a lot of documentaries tell the viewers what to think, we are striving to be storytellers and not activists,” Courtney said via e-mail. “After viewing Crafting A Nation, we would like people to question what they buy, what businesses they support, what food they eat.”

, One Nation, United by Craft Beer

The idea for the project came to Denver, Colorado-based independent filmmaker Thomas Kolicko after his first successful documentary, Beer Culture the Movie, a film that profiles the struggles and successes of Colorado’s breweries and their impact on both the state and national economy. A man on a mission, Thomas wasn’t satisfied with just one story – he wanted to produce an even more elaborate piece that would involve a multistate view of the impact of craft beer. Thus, the idea for Crafting A Nation was born.

, One Nation, United by Craft Beer

Earlier this year, Thomas and his team turned to the popular crowdsourcing site Kickstarter.com in order to raise funds necessary to complete the project. In case you don’t know, Kickstarter is a site where artists and businesses can post their projects and fundraising goals in hopes that interested parties will become “backers” and pledge small donations toward the goal. The project not only reached but surpassed its fundraising goals in March after one month. The group is still fundraising to help cover post-production costs (hiring a composer and sound editor, color correction, and more) to ensure a top-notch product

Not only has the project received national attention and financial support from individual donations, but breweries that have been on board since the crew’s first film have also made valuable contributions to ensure the project’s success.

, One Nation, United by Craft Beer

“One of the main characters in Beer Culture the Movie was Upslope Brewing Company out of Boulder, CO,” Courtney explained. “Our crew became pretty good friends with the awesome Upslope guys over the past few years. Upon telling Luke (the Denver Upslope rep) that we were going to film in Ashville, NC, he said, ‘My friend (William Dissen) is a chef there!’ We ended up having the opportunity to host a beer dinner at The Market Place to raise some money for our film.”

, One Nation, United by Craft Beer

With preproduction, test shoots, character development, and photography out of the way, the film is half-way through its six-month post-production schedule, which should conclude in January 2013. According to Courtney, the team plans on submitting the documentary to a total of fifteen film festivals within the next year, and to continue to search for ways to promote the piece. In addition to the full-length film, the crew has put together several webisodes that go behind the scenes with some of the breweries profiled. Check out the available videos online here.

For breaking info on upcoming film screenings and releases, follow the crew on Facebook and Twitter (@craftinganation).

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