What Would Happen If Tomorrow America's Trucking Industry Shut Down?

What Would Happen If Tomorrow America's Trucking Industry Shut Down?

Stirring Documentary Releases Just as America is On the Brink of a Potential Major Truckers Strike

Screen Media Films Releases BIG RIG

Doc Takes a Deep Look at America's Most Underrated Industry

Gas Prices on the Rise, Diesel Fuel at an All-Time High, Independent Truck Drivers in Trouble, America Pays the Price

Starting June 3rd, BIG RIG Tours the Country in a Non-Traditional Theatrical Release Stopping at TA & Petro Truck Stops Nationwide

DVD To Be Released Simultaneously

"BIG RIG is a morally immersive embrace of the life of the trucker - not some Hollywood celebration of good ol' boys on the road. Watch this movie, meet these very real people, and you'll never look at a passing 18-wheeler the same way again." - Desson Thomson, The Washington Post

NEW YORK, April 8, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Screen Media Films will release the enlightening new documentary BIG RIG with an innovative theatrical release plan that brings the film on the open road, visiting truck stops across the nation. The documentary offers an eye-opening look into the souls of American truck drivers and shows just how crucial this industry is to America.

From acclaimed director Doug Pray, BIG RIG is an award-winning portrait of modern America as seen through the eyes of long-haul truck drivers, the people who know this country in unimaginable ways. The film, which features a powerful musical score by acclaimed Canadian hip hop artist Buck 65, was financed by international sales company, Ocule Films, produced by Brad Blondheim and Executive Produced by Kirt Eftekhar and Randy Wooten. Richard Abramowitz repped the sale.

Though it is filled with gorgeous roadside vistas, the documentary is really about the people you meet along the way, the struggles they face, and what America would face if one day the trucking industry just shut down. BIG RIG is a powerful and insightful documentary that will give viewers a new appreciation for the industry which drives the country.

Now word comes that many of America's driving force are planning to strike. According to USA Today, there is no organized union effort, but that with "mounting diesel fuel costs and shrinking profits, some truckers nationwide are making plans to protest this week by parking their semis or clogging traffic by driving slowly."

On June 3rd, in addition to being available for purchase on DVD, Screen Media Films will bring the documentary to the trucking community and other mainstream venues in a radical and innovative, non-traditional theatrical release. Truckers will be able to see BIG RIG when the documentary hits the open road on the "BIG RIG Summer Tour 2008," stopping at over 25 TA/Petro truck stops across the nation through the end of August.

The "BIG RIG Summer Tour 2008" will be presented by SIRIUS Satellite Radio's Road Dog Trucking Radio, an exclusive 24/7 channel for Professional Drivers. Road Dog Trucking Radio features news, information and entertainment designed to lighten the load. The filmmakers have been frequent guests on Road Dog since completing BIG RIG, and have produced a short doc about the channel's show Freewheelin' with Meredith Ochs and Chris T. which is included as a bonus feature on the DVD.

"One thing we discovered while filming was that truckers rely heavily on SIRIUS Satellite Radio, Idleaire, and Truck Stops for their entertainment. It was always important for us to embrace these companies in our release strategy for BIG RIG," said the film's producer Brad Blondheim. "We are thrilled to be working with Screen Media Films on this release and experimenting with the possibilities of film distribution."

"It's hard for any film to survive in today's marketplace and it's especially hard for documentaries. You have to be creative," said Screen Media Films President Robert Baruc. "This film is so important for America to see. We didn't want it dying after a two-city run, so we are taking a radical approach to get it out to the masses."

"When we saw the opportunity to get out on the road with a film like this, bringing it to our exact demographic, we had to take it," said Suzanne Blech, Senior Vice President of Sales & Acquisitions for Screen Media Films.

Spanning 21,000 miles, 45 states, and dozens of truck stops, the film delves deeply into the lives and personal struggles of these working-class heroes, who are, literally, carrying the nation upon their backs. Rising gas prices and the unprecedented costs of diesel fuel have stunned businesses into trying to cut fuel consumption any way they can. Transport companies of all types are trimming staff and the few truckers left are packing their lunches and putting off maintenance.

This East-to-West odyssey is a true portrayal of people and their everyday struggles and triumphs. The cameras follow Jessie, a Mississippi driver who is battling Graves' disease while his son fights in Iraq; or Loretta, a mother from Ohio who carries a concealed weapon in her cab for fear of truck stop violence; or Ron, a Native American who uses his 18-wheeler to visit tribes throughout the country while delivering vinyl; or Bear, an Idaho steel-driver whose love of country has him wanting to overhaul our government, to name a few. All of them are fiercely independent souls who, as one young driver says, "represent the last of the spirit of the American cowboy ... it's a dying breed out there."

BIG RIG was shot during four two-week periods and was the result of random, documentary-style "casting" of everyday truckers at truck stops from coast to coast by Pray, whom Variety Magazine calls a "gifted documaker." Pray along with Producer Brad Blondheim traveled and lived in an RV, ate at truck stops, showered in truck stops and immersed themselves in the community they were capturing, to create a documentary with no barriers.

Director Doug Pray and Producer Brad Blondheim were also the creative minds behind the hit documentary SCRATCH, which examined cultural and historical perspectives on the birth and evolution of hip-hop DJs. Pray's other films include HYPE!, INFAMY and the soon-to-be released SURFWISE.

* BIG RIG WILL BE AVAILABLE EVERYWHERE DVDS ARE SOLD*

BIG RIG

Street Date: June 3, 2008
DVD Price: $24.98 S.R.P.
Total Running Time: +/- 95 minutes
U.S. Rating Not Rated

"BIG RIG SUMMER TOUR 2008" STOPS INCLUDE:

June 4 - Foristell, MO I-70, exit 203
June 5 - Effingham, IL I-70/I-57, exit 59
June 9 - Lake Station, IN I-80/I-94, exit 15B
June 10 - Monroe, MI I-75, exit 15
June 11 - Florence, KY I-75, exit 181
June 16 - Bordentown, NJ I-295, exit 57
June 18 - Mebane, NC I-40/I-85, exit 157
June 26 - Las Vegas, NV I-15, exit 54
June 27 - Barstow, CA I-15, exit 178
June 28 - Tonopah, AZ I-10, exit 103
July 8 - Rawlings, WY I-80, exit 214
July 9 - York, NE I-80, exit 353
July 17 - Lodi, OH I-71/I-76, exit 209
July 29 - Spokane, WA I-90, exit 272
July 30 - Troutdale, OR I-84, exit 17
July 31 - Corning, CA I-5, exit 630
August 1 - Sparks, NV I-80, exit 21
August 2 - Los Banos, CA I-5, exit 152
August 12 - Weatherford, TX I-20, exit 409
August 14 - El Paso, TX I-10, exit 37

For more details please visit www.bigrigmovie.com

Source: Screen Media Films

CONTACT: Kristen Foster or Erica Gerard, +1-212-373-6108,
Erica.Gerard@pmkhbh.com, for Screen Media Films

Web site:

http://www.bigrigmovie.com/

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