Letters of Support and Congratulations

We’ve received letters of support from the U.S. Wheat Associates, the North American Wheat Growers Association, and a letter of congratulations from the State of Maryland for the work we’re doing with the Great American Wheat Harvest documentary.  Thank you for your support!

Press Release: Maryland Meets Montana

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Maryland Meets Montana: East Coast Filmmaker Collaborates with Big Sky Country PR, Marketing Consultants to Promote National Wheat Harvest Movie

Frederick, MD – April 23, 2012 – A Maryland-based independent filmmaker, Conrad Weaver of ConjoStudios, LLC, names two independent public relations and marketing consultants of Billings, Mont., to serve as its national executive co-coordinators for the Wheat Harvest Movie, an American Documentary film project to tell the story of where our food comes from and how its produced.

Melody Dobson

Jody Lamp

Melody Dobson of Baseline Communications and Jody Lamp of Lamp Public Relations & Marketing will provide strategic planning, public relations and marketing services to bring a collaborated group of partners together for support of the project that will encompass a 10-state

region and showcase the lives of hard-working American families, who spend as many as 100 days each year traveling from state to state harvesting the wheat that feeds the world.

Weaver says the new partnership with Dobson and Lamp will help build momentum, promotion and plans to secure national, regional and state sponsorship opportunities, as the 2012 wheat harvest commences across the country.

“I’m thrilled to have Melody and Jody on board with this national project,” he says. “Their ability to negotiate community cooperative partnerships and to build networks of organizations, businesses and agricultural advocates will help cultivate and foster awareness as we shoot for a film release date of Spring 2014.”
Its working title, the Wheat Harvest Movie recently was featured in Grand Island, Neb., at the 2012 annual convention of the  U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc (USCHI). The film will feature USCHI members, including custom harvesters, supporting vendors and equipment manufacturers.

“This story needs to be told as it’s an important part of our American agriculture few people know about,” Weaver says. “The farmers and harvesters take incredible financial risks to get this vital crop from the field to the table.”

The new movie title will be announced soon. A promotional trailer for the film can be seen at http://www.wheatharvestmovie.com. A digital file of the promo trailer is also available upon request.  For more information about sponsorship packages, media interviews and questions, contact Jody L. Lamp, Lamp Public Relations & Marketing, call (406) 698-9675 or by email at jody@lampprandmarketing.com.

# # #
For More Information:                    Media Contact:

Conrad Weaver                                  Jody L. Lamp
44 North Market St.                         Lamp Public Relations & Marketing
Frederick, MD 21701                         jody@lampprandmarketing.com
(301) 606-7794                                 www.lampprandmarketing.com
info@conjostudios.com                    (406) 698-9675
www.wheatharvestmovie.com
Twitter: @wheat_harvest

About ConjoStudios, LLC
ConjoStudios, LLC is owned and operated by award-winning videographer and producer, Conrad Weaver. Conrad has provided video services for government agencies, media agencies, large and small companies, non-profits and individuals.

Resource Links
Website& Blog:
http://www.conjostudios.com

Twitter:
https://twitter.com/#!/conjostudios

Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Conjostudios

LinkedIn:
http://www.linkedin.com/in/conjostudios

YouTube:
http://www.youtube.com/user/conjostudios

US Custom Harvester’s Convention

The USCHI Convention Exhibit Hall

This past week I spent several days at the US Custom Harvester’s convention in Grand Island, NE. Over 900 people involved in harvesting attended this event which is held annually. Attendees can take advantage of meeting other harvest crews, equipment manufacturers, and support industries. The sharing of ideas and experiences helps harvest crews stay current with the latest technologies and tools to make the harvest more efficient and cost effective.

It was great to meet supporters!

We had a booth in the trade show to make people aware of the Wheat Harvest Movie. I was able to meet with quite a number of our supporters and hopefully gained some new supporters along the way. The convention is hosted by our Platinum sponsor for the Wheat Harvest Movie the U.S. Custom Harvesters, Inc. I want to thank the board of the USCHI for letting me come and be a part of the convention, and I want to thank them for letting me speak the the entire group during the lunch meeting on Thursday.

The feedback I got from the harvesters and quite a number of supporting industries was very positive. People are excited that we’re telling the story of the harvest and not just trying to make a drama-filled TV show. They especially liked the beauty shots in the movie trailer; those are my favorite scenes too, of course.

While at the convention, one of my goals was to meet and talk with as many potential sponsors as possible. I was able to do that, meeting with representatives from MacDon, New Holland, Case IH, John Deere, Gleaner Combines, and others. Although I didn’t get anyone signed on board to sponsor during the convention, they were all very receptive, and a number of the larger companies ready for more discussions about this.

We’ll keep you posted, of course!  If you’re interested in supporting this project, please go to the web site and click on the “DONATE” button. We’re looking for a few $500 club  and $1000 club members. Would you consider joining us?

Thank you for reading, and we’ll keep you posted on our progress!

Conrad

Preparations for USCHI Convention

USCHI CONVENTION
I’m making my final plans for the US Custom Harvesters convention March 1-3 in Grand Island, NE.  I will be there representing the Wheat Harvest Movie and talking with people about the project and what we’re planning on doing with the film.  I’ve printed my Wheat Harvest Business cards, and am working on a banner and other items for the booth.

My goal at convention is to raise awareness about the movie, and raise additional funds so we can begin production in May. My plan is to be in Texas in mid-late May to meet several crews who will begin harvest there. We’ll then be catching up with harvest crews off and on all Summer long, and probably even into the Fall of 2012. Be sure to check back to this blog for updates all throughout the convention, and perhaps even a LIVE video stream from the exhibit hall floor. More about that later.

NAWG OPEN HOUSE
Several weeks ago I had the privilege of attending the National Association of Wheat Growers open house event. I met a ton of wheat growers and leaders of wheat organizations from all over the USA. It was a great event and it was awesome to meet so many people who are heavily involved in the wheat industry. Senator Baucus from Montana joined the group there and gave a short talk. (See photo).

NAME THAT MOVIE
As you may know the title: Wheat Harvest Movie is our current working title. It’s not the final name of this documentary. I’d love to hear your ideas for a name for our movie. Send me an email or message though this blog or through Facebook.

That’s all for this week… More updates coming next week.

Conrad
Producer/Director
The Wheat Harvest Movie
www.WheatHarvestMovie.com

Follow us on twitter!

Update of our Supporter List

I wanted to bring everyone up to date on who is supporting the Wheat Harvest Movie. We are so grateful for everyone who has made a financial contribution toward the completion of the Wheat Harvest Movie. The US Custom Harvesters are our Platinum Level Sponsor at $35,000.00; we’re so grateful for their partnership in this project. The supporters listed below have made contributions ranging from $25.00 to $500.00, their generosity is an indication of the importance that wheat harvest plays in American agriculture. If you haven’t already made a contribution, please consider what you can do to support this important film. Without the generosity of our sponsors and supporters this story will not get told.

Click here to make a contribution.

Our Supporters
Misener Family Harvesting, Inc.
JKD Harvesting, Inc.
Herberg Harvesting
Shane Johnson
Jim Zeorian Harvesting & Trucking
Adams Harvesting
Kuntz Harvesting
David Studer
Kathy Afzali
Adam Schwartz
Clifford Preston
Darrell, Jason, & Josh Wagner
Judith Hayhurst
Timothy and Katie Crowley
Moriah Wagner
Lynn Prevost
Ernst Lutz
Anthony Gettig

Make a contribution.

Productive Meetings in Kansas

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On November 16 and 17, several of us met in Manhattan, KS to talk with potential supporters and sponsors about the Wheat Harvest Movie. Attending the two-day meetings were Conrad Weaver, Director/Producer, Tracy Zeorian, Sponsor & President of USCHI and her daughter Jenna, and Moriah Wagner who helps with PR and Marketing for the Wheat Harvest Movie. We were privileged to attend a meeting with the reigning Miss America, Teresa Scanlan.

Along with meeting with Miss America, we met with Kerry Boydston Wefald from the Kansas FFA Foundation; Elaine H. Edwards, Coordinator at News Media and Marketing for K-State Research and Extension; Bill Spiegel with the Kansas Wheat Commission &
Kansas Assn. of Wheat Growers; Mark Fowler: International Grains Program and Grain Science Industry at Kansas State University; and Brian Strouts at AIB International.

We also stopped by the Kansas Farm Bureau and Tall Grass Brewing Company where we sampled a great wheat beer!

It was a very educational two days, and we hope that a number of these organizations will come on board with us as sponsors. Thanks to Moriah Wagner who did a great job of coordinating these meetings!

The Wheat Harvest Movie (trailer)

Update on the Wheat Harvest Movie

Jim Zeorian checks condition of wheat

If you’re wondering whether the Wheat Harvest Movie project is still on…the answer is a huge YES!!   We’ve shot our initial footage this summer (read about our harvest adventures on the blog site:
http://wheatharvestmovie.wordpress.com/
) and are now working on raising the rest of the funds we need to make this movie happen.

Our plan moving forward is as follows:

1. Finish working on an updated movie trailer that we can use for promotions and fund-raising.

2. Raise the funds we need from companies that support the harvest: John Deere, New Holland, AGCO, Kansas Farm Bureau, and others. We’re also working on writing for grants from foundations and other organizations. We’re so glad the US Custom Harvesters organization has come on board as our primary sponsor! Without them, we couldn’t have even begun working on this!!

3. Next spring (2012) we begin full production on the film, following the harvest start to finish. We’ll begin by attending the USCHI convention in Grand Island, NE in March.  We’ll then connect with our harvest crews at their home bases to film harvest preparations and  follow them on their harvest run.

4. We’ll wrap up production in the Fall of 2012, begin editing, and have a finished product ready for national broadcast and distribution early in 2013. We hope to be able to have a premier at the same time as the 2013 USCHI convention; we’ll keep you posted on this.

Thanks for your interest, and please pass this information on to everyone who may be interested!

Conrad Weaver
Producer/Director, The Wheat Harvest Movie

PS: follow the Wheat Harvest Movie on Twitter: @wheat_harvest

With the Zeorian Crew in Limon, CO

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We’ve spent the past few days in Limon, CO with Jim Zeorian Harvesting. They have been more than gracious to us, and we’ve been able to shoot some really spectacular video: cutting wheat at sunset, unloading at the grain elevator and on the farm, riding in the combine and truck! Jim and Tracy and their two daughters run the operation here. Jim drives the truck, Tracy drives the combine, and the girls provide support from the trailer house at the campground. They have another day or two of cutting wheat here in Limon, then they will load up their equipment and head north to Jordan, MT.

We, on the other hand, will be wrapping up production for this trip and taking a break before connecting with harvest crews a little later this year as they finish up the wheat harvest for this year.  We’ll continue to provide updates and document our progress as the Wheat Harvest Movie begins to take shape.

If you would like to support this project, please visit our web site: www.wheatharvestmovie.com  You can make a donation and you can also order a Wheat Harvest Movie T-shirt.

Thanks for your support and continued interest in our project.

Conrad W.

Limon, CO

After a couple of days sightseeing and some much needed R & R we packed up the RV and headed south to Limon, CO where the Zeorian Harvesting crew has been for the past week. We arrived at the farm where they were cutting wheat just in time for a spectacular sunset and some great “beauty shots”. I’ll upload a few more pictures in a little while.

Conrad W.