News Release

First film shows positive impact on USA consideration and visitation; New film opens to strong reviews and reception worldwide

Brand USA, the destination marketing organization for the United States, today released new details about the global reception and impact of its first two giant screen films – “National Parks Adventure” (2016) and “America’s Musical Journey,” (2018) produced in association with MacGillivray Freeman Films, Air Canada and Expedia as the presenting partners. A cornerstone of Brand USA's marketing strategy to promote the United States as a world-class travel destination, both films have been instrumental in helping Brand USA drive international interest and travel to the United States, leveraging two of the USA's greatest assets – the Great Outdoors and Music – to attract audiences across the globe.  In particular, Brand USA’s first film "National Parks Adventure" narrated by Robert Redford, has had a material impact on incremental visitation, per a March 2018 in-theatre study conducted by Brand USA. Capturing insights from audiences in Toronto, Mexico City, Paris, and Mumbai, cities that represent top inbound source markets. The study found 57 percent of film viewers expressed a strong positive impact on their opinion of the USA as a travel destination and 20 percent now plan to visit the USA as a result of watching the film.

Following in the footsteps of the first film, "America’s Musical Journey" starring Grammy-nominated singer-songwriter Aloe Blacc and narrated by Morgan Freeman, has received critical acclaim and positive reviews since its February 2018 global release. Strengthening marketing efforts, Brand USA has supported the film’s global rollout with a fully integrated program, including trade, consumer and industry touchpoints. Of note, major international market premieres feature an interactive digital media campaign in partnership with Shazam, which enables consumers to dive deep into "America’s Musical Journey" content via digital out of home (OOH) billboards and pop-up concerts. Since its release, "America’s Musical Journey" is playing in 19 major North American cities, with plans to reach 100 cities across 16 markets globally – on pace with "National Parks Adventure." The film was awarded "Best Audience Recommendation Film" at the 2018 Beijing International Film Festival and has been featured in more than 180 articles worldwide earning more than 556 million media impressions and 47 million in media value.

"The strong early showing of both "National Parks Adventure" and "America’s Musical Journey" proves that immersive films have a giant-sized impact on awakening international travelers' desires to discover new places and travel experiences," said Christopher L. Thompson, president and CEO of Brand USA. "Both films continue to be tremendous platforms to showcase the USA’s diverse offerings and connect with global audiences in an engaging, entertaining, and inspiring way. We are already excited to launch our next film."

Giant screen films represent a key pillar of the organization's "multi-screen strategy" to reach audiences from mobile to giant screen and everything in between. "National Parks Adventure" was a phenomenal success for Brand USA, becoming the highest grossing documentary film of 2016, entertaining seven million international viewers in 119 theaters in 16 countries, and winning 33 industry and media awards, including the Giant Screen Cinema Association's Best Film of 2016 in the Short Subject category. "National Parks Adventure," is also now available on Netflix’s global platform and Youku, one of the largest and most actively used video streaming sites in China. Across both platforms, the film has garnered more than 2 million views.

Brand USA will release its third film in 2020, once again in collaboration with the award-winning MacGillivray Freeman Films. Details have yet to be released.