Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead

Joe Cross had filmed Fat, Sick & Nearly Dead on a $2.5 million production and post-production budget, but needed funding to finish. The film followed his journey and the people he met, including Phil Staples.

At Breville, the opportunity was to connect a compelling story with a product people could use. My work in North America joined brand strategy, content and partnerships with the marketing needed to turn interest into demand.

Breville formed a joint venture with Cross in late 2009, provided finishing funds and took on marketing and new content creation. The brand held a share of the property and its extensions.

Gravitas Ventures took domestic distribution rights in 2010, followed by Fremantle for international distribution. This was a business relationship around the film and the audience it could build.

A festival run was followed by a theatrical release in April 2011, Netflix distribution that July, and DVD and transactional releases in October. Community screenings continued through the early years of the release.

Retail partners including Whole Foods hosted screenings with juicing demonstrations and Q&A sessions. In-store merchandising and practical content helped connect the film with a product decision. More than 500,000 copies of the film were also given away with juicer purchases.

Breville estimated that six million Americans had watched the film by 2013. Annual juicer sales grew fourfold by the end of that year. The case-study results report a 70 percent category share and $75 million in incremental revenue attributed to the film.

Those results belong to the original release and its commercial extensions. The film continued to work through events, communities, books, digital content and a second film.

The story gave people a reason to care, and the product gave them a way to act on that interest. Distribution, retail and useful content carried the connection beyond the initial release. The brand’s position in the property allowed the relationship to keep developing.