Crowd Funding “Bike City, Great City” – Ottawa City Councillor Makes Documentary Movie

What does it take to create a great bike city?

Better planning, better building and better education. Money and a willingness to invest it in cycling. Most of all, it requires politicians, planners, engineers and voters to believe it is both possible and worth the effort.

If you think it’s worth the effort, please consider a donation to help produce Bike City, Great City, an informative, crowd-funded film that promotes the values of urban cycling. This independent documentary will show how any city that encourages cycling by making it easier and safer becomes a more vibrant, attractive and healthier city for everyone.

David Chernushenko, Ottawa city councillor and cyclist, has already assembled considerable research, interviews and film footage to demonstrate the benefits of cycling as a way to improve our quality of life, encourage better health, reduce congestion and save tax dollars. Now, we are calling on people who consider cycling an important aspect of a sustainable future to help them complete this 30-minute film in time for a world première in late May 2013.

How to support

Visit www.bikecitythemovie.ca to make a donation in any amount on line. Canadian residents are eligible to receive a tax receipt from our partner organization, Tucker House, which is collecting the funds on the producer’s behalf. Obviously, councillor Chernushenko doesn’t make a dime of it (see below), but someone will need to professionally produce  it. Therefore, I was approached by Terry Kimmel, Producer, Bike City, Great City: 613-295-7283 terry@bikecitythemovie.ca

About David’s role

David Chernushenko has directed two previous films on sustainability and energy issues: Be the Change (2008) explores the challenges and rewards of trying to live more lightly. Powerful: Energy for Everyone (2010) examines alternatives to conventional energy systems. He is directing Bike City, Great City in his capacity as city councillor in order to promote the universal benefits of active transportation and better city building, and is doing so in consultation with the City of Ottawa’s Integrity Commissioner. He will receive no fee for his work on the film, and is not personally soliciting funding either in his capacity as councillor or as a private citizen, given the difficulty of distinguishing between the two.