Thinking Out of the Box for Africa: An 8-year, 80-country Cycling Expedition Inspires the World's First Philanthropic TV Series

Thinking Out of the Box for Africa: An 8-year, 80-country Cycling Expedition Inspires the World's First Philanthropic TV Series

SANTA CRUZ, Calif., Oct. 28, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Adventure cyclist Jamie Bianchini recently returned home to California from an epic 8-year, 80-country cycling expedition called Peace Pedalers. He piloted a tandem bike, leaving the rear seat open, inviting total strangers to become friends. Over 1,000 people accepted his invitation. Now he's sharing these stories, starting with an independently produced 12-part documentary series on his 2-year, 22-country expedition through the African continent.

"When I arrived in South Africa I was scared. I expected the worst because of all the negative media hype about Africa." After a few months on the road Jamie's experiences were totally contrary to what he had heard. He calls it The Warm Heart of Africa - rich culture, hospitable people, relatively safe traveling and enriching cycling adventures with local riders.

"I was hit with the biggest inspiration of my life - to use TV and film to dispel the myths about Africa and give Africans a voice they deserve. I flew home and pitched Panasonic executives on my dream for a progressive, educational documentary series, Peace Pedalers Africa. Eight months later, I returned to Africa with HD cameras, a laptop, mics, tripods, lights, batteries, hard drives and tapes. It was hard work, but at the same time it was somehow effortless."

As Jamie rode north through Mozambique and Zimbabwe, the relationships with locals inspired him to start several charity projects, including delivering life-saving malaria medication to remote villages and starting a school for AIDS orphans. "When I was pedaling in Zimbabwe, I came up with the idea of using the documentary series itself for philanthropy." Over the next 2 years Jamie filmed over 350 hours of content - enough for a full 12-episode docu-series.

There was no shortage of adversity on the trip, including robberies, a bike theft, being hit by a car, terrible sicknesses, heat stroke, and heartaches. "The journey was incredibly challenging," Jamie reflects. "My passion to share these stories and use the series as a catalyst for positive change drove me to keep the pedals turning."

Several distributors have shown interest in taking the series worldwide, although they can only distribute a finished TV series. The hardest part of Jamie's dream is ahead - finding the money to edit the series. Sponsorship dollars evaporated with the crisis, so Jamie's taking his dream to the people.

Jamie launched a grassroots campaign using Kickstarter.com's crowd-funding platform. "If everyone tosses a few bucks in the hat, we'll see the series air worldwide, taking viewers into the heart of Africa, while helping save lives and educate children." Twenty-five percent of each sale will be donated to health and education causes in Africa.

Jamie only has until November 5th to fund his $85,500 post-production budget. To become a backer of the project and pre-order the series, learn more at http://bit.ly/peace-africa or http://www.peacepedalers.org.

Contact: Jamie Bianchini, 831.295.4668, jb@peacepedalers.org

Photos: http://bit.ly/peace-pics

Video Trailer: http://bit.ly/demo-5

This press release was issued through eReleases(R). For more information, visit eReleases Press Release Distribution at http://www.ereleases.com.

SOURCE Peace Pedalers

Peace Pedalers

Web Site: http://www.peacepedalers.org

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