TOB_Magazine

[ 92 ] TOBACCO BUSINESS [ MAY / JUNE | 18 ] J Jesse Mariut and Steve Gherebean are storytellers. They are also cigar enthusiasts, and the more they got into the hobby, the more they realized there was a story about cigars that had yet to be told. That’s where the idea for Hand Rolled: A Film About Cigars was born. These commercial filmmakers wanted to do more than just make a film about cigars—they wanted to show the faces behind some of the industry’s top brands, to create something that showed the audience the craftsmanship and heart behind the brands, and, ultimately, to challenge the status quo cigars have with- in society. While they had a goal and an idea they knew would resonate with an audience, there was just one problem: They had never produced a documentary before. Some might have been intimidated by the prospect of taking on a project with so many unknown variables, but Mariut, Gherebean and the team at Render Social didn’t back down from the challenge. They wanted to do right by the cigar industry and other filmmakers, so they spent a year in pre-production doing research and interviewing local tobacconists. They held focus groups to hone their idea, which helped them settle on a name. They reached out to the International Premium Cigar and Pipe Retailers Association (IPCPR), which introduced them to various manufactur- ers during its 2016 trade show. ➤ SOUND ADVICE STORYTELLERS A team of cigar-smoking commercial filmmakers set out to make their first documentary about the cigar industry. Learn how they took on a new genre in hopes of telling a story that hadn’t been told before—and what they discovered along the way. ❘ BY ANTOINE REID Filmmakers Jesse Mariut and Steve Gherebean Photos courtesy of Jesse Mariut and Steve Gherebean Mariut