Page 48 - #45 English

People
Article by: CTI Team Brandon Loper
Photos by: CTI Team, Brandon
on A Film About

Coffee

Great passion for something can come from many
sources; however, for Brandon Loper, the director of A Film
About Coffee, his genuine passion for coffee comes from his
loved one.
“I am originally a southern boy from Alabama and I
did not grow up drinking coffee. My parents drank coffee in
a pot, but it was pretty bad coffee. I started dating a girl and
she drank a lot of coffee, so I had to keep up with her because
I wanted to impress her,” said Brandon.
Brandon first drank coffee with loads of sugar, creamer and
all the chemicals. One day, his friend challenged him to drink
black coffee, so he did and has drunk it black ever since.
“Once started I drinking specialty coffee, I also started to
understand what is in it and its specific flavor. I moved to San
Francisco not too long after that and I discovered Blue Bottle
Coffee. That really opened my eyes and I wanted to watch a
movie about coffee because I wanted to learn more about it,
but there was not one available. So I decided I had to make it
myself. And that is the genesis of the story,” Brandon said.
Brandon spent about 3 years making A Film About
Coffee. The first year was dedicated to research and another
two years were put into filming.
“I started following people on Twitter, reading books,
checking out every book from the library, following influ-
encers and pioneers in the coffee industry. Then we started
filming in January 2012 and finished in April 2014,” he
explained.
“Coffee is a very broad subject. People all over the world
drink coffee and everyone has a different opinion about it.
Most people drink coffee because they need the caffeine to
make them feel invigorated. However, what is happening in
specialty coffee is that people are approaching it with arts and
craftsmanship and really focusing on the producers. They are
thinking full circle about the agricultural product that is not
just something they consume, but something they can learn
about. In addition, they can use the knowledge to increase
the quality of their coffee and, at the same time, they can
create the life of someone else who is farming coffee,” added
Brandon.
The movie was fully financially supported by Avocados
& Coconuts, a production company in San Francisco, Califor-
nia. After Brandon pitched in the idea of a coffee documen-
tary, it turned out to be an easy sell.
“Then I started laying out what I thought would be a
good story for everyone and a fun project to work on. My
team was wrapped up in coffee and everyone gave everything
to this project, so we were able to complete the film as a true
passion project. In addition, as it was truly funded by Avocado
& Coconuts, we were able to keep it a true honest story,” said
Brandon.
The movie, A Film About Coffee, follows the planta-
tion and production of coffee from farmers in Honduras and
Rwanda until it grows and continues to follow the coffee all
the way to Portland, Oregon, and other countries where the
coffee is consumed.
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