SUPPORT OR SPONSOR A DOCUMENTARY?
According to a recent study from Thinkbox, "Brands need to become part of the emotional relationship between viewer and program for TV sponsorship to have increased impact. According to the study, "... sponsorship has a greater impact on the emotional/implicit mind than the rational/conscious mind and makes brands ‘famous’ while increasing purchasing intent, favorability and ‘for-me-ness’". http://www.utalkmarketing.com/pages/Article.aspx?ArticleID=10800
What Virtues Do You Want Identified With Your Brand? Trust? Quality? Innovation? Leadership? Excitement? Patriotism? Service?
These are the virtues implicit in stories by and about people who fly. From military pilots to stunt pilots; from the sky-heroes of history, to those of tomorrow, Sleeping Dog Productions has developed aviation programming that speaks across demographic borders. The sky is the canvas; the airplanes are the brushes ... but the paintings are the true stories of compelling people. They have timeless appeal, regardless of the viewer’s level of interest in airplanes.
Current Properties in Production:
"Welcome Home" – “Welcome Home” is a new HD series being prepared for release in 2015. The working title is taken from a custom developed by Viet Nam veterans here in the United States. To this day, when a Vietnam veteran meets a fellow veteran of that war, their common greeting is “Welcome Home”. Many viewers will understand, perhaps for the first time, just how heroically and successfully the United States military and its allies performed in Southeast Asia. “Welcome Home” is intended to be a personal – as opposed to a political – series. However, it is a simple matter of historical fact that the decision of the United States to withdraw from South Vietnam and allow North Vietnam to complete its objective was a political – not a military – one. The straightforward presentation of the missions accomplished by these veterans will make it abundantly clear that they should be sincerely thanked for a job well done - as all other veterans of America’s wars have been.“Welcome Home” will give Americans a much better understanding of the people who fought the Viet Nam War, how they did their jobs and how gallantly they performed. With that understanding, perhaps the troops will finally receive (albeit 40 years after the fact) the welcome home that has so far only been provided one Vietnam Veteran to another.
Because “Welcome Home” is intended to be character-centric, the stories will be presented, for the most part, as two veterans biopics per episode, for seven episodes (14 veterans). An eighth one-hour episode will be dedicated to traveling with some number of the veterans back to South Vietnam, to the areas that would be most meaningful to them, and a visit to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.
"To Fly and Fight"- C.E. "Bud" Anderson – “To Fly and Fight, An American Life”, a new biopic documenting the life and career of WWII Triple Ace and Viet Nam War Wing Commander Col. C.E. “Bud” Anderson.
This film is a co-production of Sleeping Dog Productions, Inc., the multi-award winning producers of aviation television documentaries for Military Channel, Outdoor Channel and others, and the Fagen Fighters WW II Museum of Granite Falls, MN.
Fagen Fighters WWII Museum is home to a pristine collection of fully operational, active aircraft and vehicles from World War II. Also featured are fine art, bronze sculptures, interactive multimedia displays, and an ever-growing library. The facility is designed as a self guided experience, and gives a rare look into the lives and legacy of the Greatest Generation.
Piloting P-51 Mustangs in WWII, Anderson, of Auburn, CA, flew 116 combat missions, scoring 16.25 kills. Fighter pilots called Anderson “The best fighter pilot they have ever seen.” As an Air Force test pilot, he became Chief of Flight Test Operations at Edwards Air Force Base and Deputy Director of Flight Test. He served two tours at the Pentagon and commanded three fighter organizations. In 1970, he volunteered to return to aerial combat as commander of the 355th Tactical Fighter Wing, flying F-105 Thunderchiefs in Viet Nam. Bud Anderson has been decorated 25 times for his service to the United States of America. Anderson has been honored by the Fagen Fighters World War II Museum, with a life- size bronze, that stands outside a replica of the Ready Room used by Anderson’s 357th Fighter Group – the celebrated Yoxford Boys – at its base, RAF Leiston, England. “ The mission of the Fagen Fighters World War II Museum is to ‘preserve history, promote patriotism, and inspire the future’”, said Diane Fagen, executive producer of the Anderson biography. “Few stories do more to advance those ideals than Bud Anderson’s. We are very proud to have honored Bud in our museum. And being able to make his story available in a television-quality documentary makes it possible for hundreds of thousands of people to see and hear first hand, what Bud and others of his generation did to preserve liberty. And that is one of our primary objectives: to connect the Latest Generation to the Greatest Generation”.
"The Gift" R.A. "Bob" Hoover – "The Gift" R.A. "Bob" Hoover – Bob is considered by his peers as the "pilot's pilot”, a man who has served his country in war and peace as a fighter pilot, prisoner of war, test pilot, master of aerobatics and aviation executive. “The Gift” is the true story of Bob Hoover’s flight into history. Hoover is a true American hero. He tells his amazing story in his own words sharing all the historic moments, spectacular flights and death-defying recoveries that made him a living aviation legend. Climb into the cockpit with America’s original top gun for an astonishing inside look at a life lived on the edge - a life that began just 19 years after the Wright Brothers first powered flight and lasted well into the Space Age. Hear and see his first person accounts of his friendships with giants from Eddie Rickenbacker to Charles Lindbergh, Jimmy Doolittle, Chuck Yeager, Yuri Gagarin, Neil Armstrong and others. Jimmy Doolittle called Bob Hoover the ‘Greatest stick and rudder man who ever lived’. But Hoover had a gift that superseded that - a gift that made him get back in the cockpit repeatedly when inherent motion sickness threatened to keep him from learning to fly at all, a gift that sustained him through 16 months in a NAZI prison camp, waiting to steal an enemy airplane and fly himself to freedom, a gift that caused him to stand firm against the engineers of his own company until they did everything humanely possible to make their products as safe as possible. “R.A. Bob Hoover - The Gift” is all knew biopic of the “pilot’s pilot”, produced by Sleeping Dog Productions.”
Will Foard "Swamp Fox" - Robert T. Dickson Jr. flies his newly acquired Mustang, Serial No. 44-74202, named Swamp Fox, on a special flight near his hometown, Concord. NC. The pilot of the original Swamp Fox, William W. Foard, enjoys a ride from the back seat. As they commenced the flight Dickson asked Foard if anything looked familiar, with the response, "it feels like home." After having a little fun, Dickson jokingly asked his WWII veteran fighter pilot if he had any advice on how to land the plane. Foard quipped, "Close your eyes and cross your fingers."
To discuss sponsorship of aviation television programming, please contact jon@sleepingdogtv.com.