TOB_Magazine

[ 94 ] TOBACCO BUSINESS [ MAY / JUNE | 18 ] Sound Advice Continued As the film now enters post-production, Mariut and Gherebean offer their tips on how Hand Rolled breaks new ground while taking on a very traditional and established industry. Whether you’re a startup or you have an idea for a new business but have no clue where to start, the making of Hand Rolled provides a playbook for turning your ideas into a product with a built-in audience waiting to consume it. Tobacco Business: What is your overall goal or intent with the creation of your documentary, Hand Rolled ? steve gherebean : We want to put a face to the cigar industry. The industry does a good job educating its consumers, and other organizations are doing their part in dealing with legislation, but nobody is out there reaching the hearts and minds of those outside of the premium cigar industry. When we were in grade school, I recall being taught that smoking one cigar was like smoking three packs of cigarettes. This cannot be further from the truth, and yet this is the information that’s out there. If someone watches our film and never associates cigars with cigarettes again, we won. This documentary involves many different well-known people and companies within the cigar industry. How did you get them to support your film and your efforts? jesse mariut : It was a bit of work at the beginning because we were introducing this new concept to an entire industry. We were and still are “nobodies” in the industry, so we had to gain the trust of people before we started filming. Pete Johnson [owner of Tatuaje Cigars] was the first to really believe in our efforts and began vouching for us from day one. After that, it was a snowball effect, with many other manufacturers letting us into their homes and agreeing to be on camera. Some have even contributed to the film, so without all of this combined effort from everyone, we wouldn’t have a film. Out of everyone you interviewed for this project, was there a particular interview and lesson that stood out? gherebean : For me, each story has been meaningful in one way or another. Every interview we do answers one set of questions and brings about another. I think the overarching lesson—and one I was initially skeptical of—is that most of these companies really are just small family businesses. It’s hard to really settle on just one interview for a short answer, so I’ll offer an example of what I mean. We interviewed Don Pepin [Garcia] in Nicaragua at his factory. He was our first major interview, and we really were nobodies, like Jesse said. He was extremely gracious and inviting, and his whole family hung out for the interview. They just set aside time and joined us like it was no big deal, even in the midst of the Puro Sabor festival. mariut : Carlito Fuente was an interview that stood out for me, aside from the countless other amazing interviews. Before shooting the interview, we spent an entire day with him. We ate with him, smoked cigars with him, had coffee with him. He took us on a tour of his factory and Chateau Fuente, and explained every little detail and thought behind his design of the factory and farm. After a full day of hanging out, we finally started our interview at about 9 p.m. It was an incredible day that we didn’t want to end! ➤ It doesn’t matter where you come from or who you are—just enjoy the cigar and the conversation that comes with it.