A Billion Lives

Press Kit Photos

Photo folder download link: https://we.tl/BIqvxOkh4a

Brussels is the epicenter of the battle for millions of lives in Europe. 2016 is the year corruption-plagued legislation
protecting cigarette sales goes into effect despite the protests of hundreds of thousands of people. Both the Big
Tobacco and big pharmaceutical industries had a significant part in crafting this at the European Parliament.
New York City is a crossroads for the world. This city was also one of the first major cities in the US to penalize
people using vapor technology to quit smoking after sales began declining. The city gets more than 25% of the $5.85
per pack tax. While filming there, the result of the penalty and propaganda was evident. People were frequently
spotted smoking, while we rarely saw anyone utilizing vapor technology. The former health commission of NYC is
now the head of the CDC, which is a leading voice in public health around the world.
Lima - The numbers of smokers in Latin America is rising each year. Instead of allowing their citizens to use
successful new vapor technology, some countries like Brazil, Mexico, Panama have made it completely illegal.
Smoking remains legal and readily available.
Ollantaytambo - Aaron Biebert and the crew shot in Peru for 10 days for the opening title sequence, first chapter, and
a variety of B-roll. The mountains and rolling clouds provided the perfect subjects for dramatic time-lapses that
symbolized the spread of smoking around the planet. This picture was taken during filming for the rolling fog shot
used for the title near the beginning of the movie.
Machu Pichu - A Billion Lives begins in the jungles of the Andes Mountains, where tobacco was first discovered
nearly 6000 years ago. Millions of lives were lost prematurely from smoking after tobacco became heavily processed
and easily accessible during the Industrial Revolution.