Filmmaker Looks to Nobel Laureates, Online Merchandising, and You To Make the World a Better Place
Documentary Film “Nobelity” and CafePress Team to Raise Money, Increase Awareness, and Make a Difference
Foster City, CA (PRWEB) June 5, 2006
Everyday we’re reminded of a cause, issue or event, which moves us to act, to confront, to remember. Traditionally, as concerned individuals in a socially responsible society we’re encouraged to write a check or donate time to make a difference. Documentary filmmaker and activist Turk Pipkin and CafePress. com, an online retailer that allows individuals and organizations to create unique merchandise and sell it for a profit, see another way to effect positive change – through online retail. The pair announced today the official launch of the Nobelity Project online retail store featuring t-shirts, framed photos and more, all inspired by the film “Nobelity.”
“Nobelity” is a feature documentary that looks at the world's most pressing problems through the eyes of Nobel laureates, including Desmond Tutu, Wangari Maathai, Ahmed Zewail, Sir Joseph Rotblat and others. Inspired by a question from his daughter about “what's really going on in the world,” director Turk Pipkin began a search for answers. The result was three years of research, fundraising, filming with Nobel laureates all over the world, and 170 hours of film footage that ultimately became the critically acclaimed film “Nobelity” and the Nobelity Project, a certified 501(c)3 non-profit working toward a better future for children everywhere.
“Global warming, global health crises, and a world where a billion people live on a dollar a day. What should we think about these, and what can we do about them?” asks Pipkin. “Being a father inspired me to learn more, and it was a conversation my daughter Katie had with Nobel Physics laureate Steve Weinberg that started my search. The Nobelity Project would use the laureate's insights to educate people around the world about these issues, but we had no funding other than what my family was able to provide, it was Katie who recommended CafePress.”
CafePress, an online marketplace consisting entirely of user created designs and merchandise, provides users complete online tools needed to create and sell a wide variety of products featuring their ideas, designs and art. “We had a stunning logo featuring an Indian bride's henna-dyed hands holding the world. When we realized just how beautiful it was, the first thing we thought was.... t-shirt! Luckily, my daughter Katie already had a CafePress shop of her own and within an hour we had created the first logo t-shirts and a Nobelity shop on CafePress. We were open for business.”
The Nobelity Project Shop, hosted by CafePress, can be seen at www. cafepress. com/nobelity (http://www. cafepress. com/nobelity). In addition to logo t-shirts and other clothing, the site features other products based on the film, including bumper stickers, calendars and a series of large framed prints of stunning photos taken during filming in India and Africa. All Nobelity Project profits from the sale of these items goes towards the non-profits educational web-site www. nobelity. org, and towards their program to provide fresh drinking water projects for Kenyan schools.
Utilizing unique print on demand technology, CafePress Shopkeepers are able to design merchandise without holding inventory, no products are printed until an order has been placed, and there is no minimum order quantity. CafePress charges a base price for each product it sells (which covers payment processing, production/printing of the product, shipping and customer service), the Shopkeeper determines the retail price, all markups above the base price is profit for that Shopkeeper.
“The Nobelity shop is a prime example of how non-profits can utilize the CafePress service to raise money,” explains CafePress co-founder and Vice President of Business Development Maheesh Jain. “Through a passion and drive to find answers Turk came up with an amazingly inspirational film, CafePress is proud to help the Nobelity Project, and other organizations like it, to raise money for their cause.”
For more information about the Nobelity Project or CafePress please contact Marc Cowlin at 650-655-3039 or Christy Pipkin at 512-263-7971.
For more information on the film Nobelity visit: www. nobelitythemovie. com
For more information on the 501c3 nonprofit The Nobelity Project visit: www. nobelity. org
About CafePress
CafePress. com is the leading online marketplace that offers sellers complete e-commerce services to independently create and sell a wide variety of products, and offers buyers unique merchandise across virtually every topic. Launched in 1999, CafePress. com has empowered individuals, organizations and businesses to create buy and sell customized merchandise online using the company's unique print-on-demand and e-commerce services. Today, CafePress. com is a growing network of over 2.9 million members who have unleashed their creativity to transform their artwork and ideas into unique gifts and new revenue streams.
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