This 2017 Campaign is Closed

But there's still time to contribute to our 2019 Fundraiser:

Here's the link: https://igg.me/at/makingthebigjump

We Did It!

Wow! We hit our target of $5,000 for this pre-production fundraising campaign in record time... and our 1st stretch goal of $5,500 as well as our 2nd goal of $6,000! Thank you so much everyone!

Now what?

As of this morning (Sunday October 1, 2017) we kick off the next phase (production) which means John is on the road again to start filming. We invite you to follow along on our social media pages for Active Towns on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.

We invite you to keep the momentum rolling by continuing to spread the word bout the project and we look forward to having you along for the ride...

 John Simmerman, MS - Producer/Director

Hi! My name is John Simmerman and I’m the founder of the Active Towns Initiative. For nearly 30 years, I’ve been working to enhance public health and wellbeing by helping to transform communities into vibrant, active places. 

John Simmerman filming in Austin, TX ~ Photo Credit: Cody Antunez

A few years ago I took up filmmaking as a mechanism for effective and inspiring storytelling to help support positive cultural enhancements. Given my background in health behavior change, I am well prepared and positioned to bring this narrative of community transformations to life.

For a sample of my work please feel free to visit my Culture of Activity Channel on Vimeo
 

The Active Towns Initiative - Production Company

In 2012 I founded Advocates for Healthy Communities, Inc., a 501(c)3 non-profit organization, and soon after launched its primary, public facing project The Active Towns Initiative (Active Towns).  Our mission is to produce and distribute multi-media content which profiles the people, places and programs promoting a culture of activity. For more information please visit our website at activetowns.org 

Note: All donations to this project are tax deductible to the extent allowed by law.

PeopleForBikes Foundation - Executive Producers 

I’m delighted to be partnering on this project with PeopleForBikes. Originally launched in 1999 as Bikes Belong, PeopleForBikes includes both an industry coalition of bicycling suppliers and retailers, as well as a charitable foundation. The foundation is where they house their major programs and engage their individual members, affiliate organizations, and corporate sponsors.

Click on these links for more information on PeopleForBikes and the Big Jump Project

This film project is being produced by Active Towns in association with the PeopleForBikes Foundation. 

For decades, in cities across the United States, the number of people riding bicycles for any and all reasons has languished far behind most successful, cosmopolitan international cities.  

Strasbourg, FR ~ Photo Credit: Active Towns

Recently, however, many communities have been making a concerted effort to dramatically increase the number of people riding bikes. There are many reasons cities are attempting these bold moves, including desires to enhance their quality of life and public health measures, reduce traffic congestion and motor vehicle pollution, as well as stimulate economic vitality and resiliency.

Seattle ~ Photo Credit: Active Towns

The challenge is that most of our streets and public spaces are primarily designed to support and encourage motor vehicle travel over all other modes of mobility and thus tend to present an unappealing and potentially hostile environment for someone attempting to walk or bike. Resulting, quite logically, in a very small number of Americans riding bicycles on a regular basis. 

Victoria, BC ~ Photo Credit: Active Towns

For the vast majority of the people currently not riding bikes on a regular basis, but who would actually be interested in doing so, the message has been clear: it simply isn't going to happen until there are safer, more inviting places to ride.

The Green Lane Project 

First came the standard painted bike lanes and they were fine for a slightly larger percentage of the "not-riding yet" population, but the concerned majority were still not convinced by a couple of leftover feet and the 4 inches of paint that separated them from the fast moving motor vehicle traffic.

Vancouver, BC ~ Photo Credit: Active Towns

Then in 2011 the PeopleForBikes Foundation launched The Green Lane Project, a five-year mission to accelerate the spread of an innovative bicycling facility throughout the United States, specifically the concept of protected bike lanes like those commonly in use in cities in The Netherlands, Denmark and Sweden. It was a huge success with installations in multiple locations across the country and most importantly these facilities were received with enthusiasm by those interested yet concerned non-riders. It served as a proof of concept: if you provide a safe and inviting place for all ages and abilities, Americans will ride.

The Big Jump Project - The Next Phase

In 2017, PeopleForBikes announced the launch of the The Big Jump Project as follows:  

“Building on the momentum of our completed Green Lane Project, the Big Jump Project is helping 10 cities radically reimagine their bicycling infrastructure, while at the same time helping to propel communities nationwide into a better future for biking. 

Over the course of the next three years, the combination of quickly connected biking networks and the use of smart outreach encouraging people to ride more will illustrate the ways in which U.S. cities and towns can tap into bicycles to improve the health and vitality of their communities.

The initiative, which aims to double or triple bike ridership in specific neighborhoods, hopes to prove that when cities make smart changes, more people ride bikes, and communities become better places to live, work and play.” 

Big Jump Launch Event, Austin, TX ~ Photo Credit: Active Towns

Although these ten Big Jump Project cities are not alone in this quest, with many others attempting to significantly improve the number of people riding bikes on a regular basis, their efforts will undoubtedly be, thanks to the support of the PeopleForBike Foundation, some of the most structured and well measured efforts to boost ridership ever initiated in the United States.

The Film's Focus

I'll soon hit the road to begin profiling the early efforts of the ten Big Jump cities while also capturing the spirit and progress of the broader movement to boost bicycling in communities across the US.

The Big Jump Cities

Your tax deductible contribution at this time will enable the immediate launch of this film effort. First up on the agenda is to establish trusting relationships with key contacts, collect relevant b-roll content (the extra footage captured to enrich a story) and conduct baseline interviews.

My goal is to facilitate initial visits to the other 9 Big Jump participant cities (I’m based in Austin so that's super convenient) beginning in the 4th quarter of 2017. 

Projected 2017 Expenses 

General Liability Insurance                                   $2,225
Software                                                                         $648
Administration/Overhead                                     $2,160
Crew Costs                                                                  $1,575
Supplies/Misc                                                           $1,350
Travel (fuel, lodging*, airline tix, etc)                 $7,042
                                                                                     $15,000**

* Assumes that I’ll be able to minimize hotel nights through homestay opportunities whenever possible.

** The target of this campaign is to raise an additional $5,000 to supplement the $10,000+ raised thus far through direct charitable donations. And if we manage to raise more than $5,000 at this time, this money will serve to take a little pressure off of our production phase fundraising goals for 2018, which will launch in mid-November.

1. Share our Indiegogo page within your social networks. Let them know why you believe in and are passionate about this project. Feel free to tag us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
2. Become an ambassador of the project by forwarding this campaign to your friends and family members and specifically invite them to join you in making a contribution.
3. Consider becoming or help connect me with potential “homestay” hosts (I can provide a complete list of potential cities to be profiled and I definitely take recommendations).
4. Donate airline miles. Given the amount of travel I face, this would also be a huge help.
    

Thanks so very much! I look forward to having you join me on this exciting journey to safer and more inviting places to ride for all ages and abilities.