ABOUT THE FILM

ABOUT THE FILM: 

Can the fashion industry reverse climate change? 

Behind the glamour, runways, red carpets and champagne of the fashion industry, lies an industry that impacts each and every one of our lives. Being one of the top three polluters in contributing to climate change, fashion is uniquely positioned to be at the forefront of addressing this crisis.  

Employing 120 million people globally and generating $3 trillion annually, the fashion industry is enormous! The agricultural and industrial base supporting it are responsible for: 10% of global carbon emissions, 20% of fresh water pollution and 25% of agricultural chemicals used worldwide. Consumer demand for cheaply produced “fast fashion” has led to widespread environmental degradation that contributes impressively to climate change as well as directly affecting health in adjacent communities. 

The first documentary to examine this topic,"Thread" paints a holistic portrait to help viewers understand the consequential role of fashion, what it can do to address climate change, and how consumer choices play into the equation. 

Though the problems addressed are serious, and at times emotionally charged, "Thread" is a fast paced, upbeat exploration of SOLUTIONS, personal stories and a dedication to change the industry and inspire a new way of thinking about fashion. 

MISSION STATEMENT:

To effect a change to an entrenched and multifaceted fashion and textile industry will require effort on many fronts:

Strong government support for sustainable agriculture, rigorous enforcement of existing environmental laws, visionary entrepreneurs investing in green technology, consumer “dollar voting” to create a sustainable mass marketplace for organic and sustainable products and lower prices to increase the pool of potential customers.

We hope our film will help viewers understand the environmental and social component of their consumer choices, inform them of their options, inspire them to take a more active stance on environmental issues when dealing with elected officials and encourage them to participate in various community and volunteer initiatives.

Join the rising tide of fashionistas with a conscience. Together, we can make a positive difference to health, ecology, workers, and future generations.

CREW

MICHELLE VEY, CREATOR/DIRECTOR/PRODUCER

Michelle Vey, born in rural Massachusetts, grew up on the east coast where, through ample outdoor exposure, she became passionate about wild life and nature. She lived in England for a year at age ten and spent summers with relatives in Texas and New York gaining a broader view of the world.

Michelle attended Waldorf schools, Pine Hill and High Mowing, in Wilton, New Hampshire, an education system rich in history and the arts. She went on to the New England School of Art and Design in Boston before moving to San Francisco to attend The California School of Professional Fabric Design in Berkley.

Michelle’s love for the visual arts brought her into the arena of film and photography where she built a career as a prop stylist in San Francisco, Chicago and New York.

Over the years Michelle’s concerns for the deteriorating condition of our environment grew. Despite her efforts to recycle and shop consciously, she never felt she was doing enough. This feeling inspired the creation of her first self-funded documentary “From Elegance To Earthworms” a movie about New York’s growing eco-consciousness, screened at the Tribeca Cinemas in New York, May 2009. Michelle screened six of her short films at The Solar One Solar Powered Film Festival that same year.

During the making of her previous film, Michelle became aware that the toxicity of the fashion industry had not reached main stream consciousness, and it needed exposure. This idea inspired the creation of her current documentary project, “THREAD”.

LIZ VAP, PRODUCER

The well-known events bring together A-listers in fashion, music, art and film.has consulted & produced content for Turner Movie Classics, AMC, VH-1, Ovation, Redbull TV, etc. Liz also Executive Produced shorts for director Floria Sigismondi (The Runaways, American Gods, The Handmaid's Tale) and produced a music video for Norman Reedus (The Walking Dead). Recently. She Executive Produced the critically acclaimed documentary SHOT! “The Psycho-Spiritual Mantra of Rock” along with Vice Media & Straight Up Films.

After freelance consulting for a few years, Vap launched FeralCat Productions – a management and consultant agency that produces creative events, launches, exhibitions and aids in the execution of branding campaigns for artists and global brands.

FeralCat was founded the goal of creating customised entertainment-driven experimental marketing and PR programs for the fashion, music and entertainment industries.

Select clients have included: Legendary photographer Mick Rock, Ray Ban, W Hotels, Gucci, Milk Studios, Hermes, Casio, NARS cosmetics, Dom Perigon, Veuve clicquot, Tachen Books,Dr Martens and more...

She also brings emerging talent made-up of actors, musicians, DJ’s and socials to peoples attention by booking and/or casting them in various editorials and advertising campaigns, such as an interactive online re-launch for K-Swiss.

Feralcat Productions’ events range from launches, celebrity birthday parties to charity fundraisers for organizations like The End of Game, Art of Elysium, Music Cares, Tck Tck Tck: Time for Climate Change, The Humane Society and The Food, Bank of New York.

Her ability to create customized entertainment and PR programs in all mediums, allows her to branch off and bring that experience into producing films.

MANDY WARD, PRODUCER

After graduating from Savannah College of Art and Design in 2002, with degrees in FILM/VIDEO PRODUCTION and MEDIA AND PERFORMING ARTS, Ward moved to NYC to dive head first into the production resurgence triggered by the New York City and State Film / Video tax incentive legislation. From 2003 to 2010 Mandy worked at Radioaktivefilm, producing independent documentaries addressing social and political issues in modern society. Notable titles from her time managing Radioaktivefilm's New York City arm include We Will Not Die Like Dogs, Palestine Blues and Pennhurst.  While navigating New York City's independent film waters, Mandy saw a need for a centralized and intimate event catering to up and coming feature film and documentary talent to gain more exposure in the worldwide marketplace. In 2012, she conceived and launched First Time Fest, a 5-day showcase of original inspiring works by First Time Directors, Producers, Cinematographers, Editors, Screenwriters and Film Composers. The film festival located in New York’s Gramercy Park features 9 Competition Films, a First Exposure series of already prominent directors' first works and a "How They Did It" Series in an intimate setting. Most notable, First Time Fest is a “contest” disguised as a film festival offering the winning competition film a prize of Theatrical Distribution and International Sales Representation. In the first year alone the festival hosted names such as Martin Scorsese, Sofia Coppola, Darren Aronofsky, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Harry Belafonte, Todd Solondz, Christine Vachon, and many more. Mandy continues to oversee festival operations with her business partner Johanna Bennett.  When she isn't navigating the demands of First Time Fest, Mandy works in various capacities on the physical production of feature films, scripted television series, reality and recreational tv series as well as documentaries, commercials and corporate promos. In between the festival and her production gigs she works tirelessly finding and developing intellectual materials in the feature film, documentary and TV spaces. Mandy lives in New York City and, after a long run on the Emmy Award winning recreational crime show A CRIME TO REMEMBER, she is producing two feature narratives THE MAN IN THE WOODS and SELL BY set to be released later this year.  

GIADA LUBOMIRSKI, PRODUCER

Born in Manhattan, NY to a Cuban mother and an Italian father, Giada Lubomirski (nee Torri) spent her childhood years in Rome, Italy before moving to the States at the age of 13.

After acquiring her Bachelors in Textile Design and Fabric Styling, Giada pursued her passion through jobs in fashion design in New York City.  She then worked as a stylist for several years, before deciding to change career paths and move more towards the art & photography industry. She quickly landed the role of Director of Milk Gallery in New York City.   

At Milk Studios, she was able to produce, curate & oversee all details involving music concerts, events, fashion shows, art & photography exhibitions, film screenings & charity events with major clients and brands worldwide. 

In 2008, she met her husband, fashion photographer, Alexi Lubomirski, whilst producing and curating his photography show at Milk Studios, entitled "Transit".

After Milk Studios, and giving birth to two sons, Giada’s social conscience was further awakened and she started to see the world through different eyes, realizing that she wanted to become part of the environmental solution rather than the problem.  She started to educate herself about many different industries and their impact on the environment (which included the fashion industry amongst others), and soon began to get involved in environmental, humanitarian and creative projects that would define her life mission.

Presently, she works on several environmental awareness fronts, ranging from working with local NY politicians, to generating educational programs at schools and producing international ocean awareness weeks, as well as working on constantly evolving projects to do with vintage and sustainability in fashion.

Giada’s social and environmental platform is @ecoshaker.

She lives In Manhattan with her husband, 2 sons and a dog, Santino.

SERGEI KRASIKOV, PRODUCER/CINEMATOGRAPHER

Born in Belarus, Sergei began his career in storytelling as a journalist for his nation's largest independent newspaper, since crushed by the regime. Upon moving to US in 2000, Sergei apprenticed to a German filmmaker Karola Ritter, regular contributor to Maysles and Pennebecker films, and worked extensively with civil rights legend Bob Zellner. Setting shop in Brooklyn in 2004, Sergei became full time independent filmmaker concentrating on producing challenging documentary and narrative films, non-fiction cinematography and regular collaborations with dance & theater groups, conceptual video artists and performers. Most of Sergei's creative interest lay with topics that concern Environment, Social Justice and Art.

Recent projects include "Saturday Night" for director James Franco and "Bigger Than The Beatles" by Charles Krezell. Sergei is currently working on the release of "Cultures of Resistance", a travelogue documentary directed by Iara Lee about the power of art to address violence and social injustice shot in 26 countries around the world, finishing a feature doc Bloom City and developing a narrative script with Ukranian born director Bohdana Smyrnova, a recent winner of exclusive Cannes Film Festival script writing residency program.

Avid hiker and skiier, Sergei hits the slopes and trails when not making films.

http://www.kinoserge.com

MARCI ZAROFF, PRODUCER

Marci Zaroff coined the term “ECOfashion" in 1995 and is an internationally recognized ECOlifestyle expert, educator, innovator, author and serial ecopreneur. Founder/CEO of ECOfashion Corp—a "Greenhouse of Brands”—including B2B turnkey sustainable fashion manufacturer MetaWear, regenerative in-conversion-to-organic cotton farm project RESET, QVC organic lifestyle brands Farm to Home and Seed to Style (launching Jan 2021), and new D2C ECOfashion brand YES AND. 

Also Founder of Under the Canopy, Executive Producer of "THREAD Documentary I Driving Fashion Forward,"and Co-Founder of Good Catch, BeyondBrands and The Institute for Integrative Nutrition, Marci has been instrumental in driving authenticity, environmental leadership & social justice worldwide for three decades. Marci's first book, "ECOrenaissance: Co-Creating A Stylish, Sexy and Sustainable World," launched August 2018 (Simon & Schuster).

Board Member or Advisor of the Organic Center/Organic Trade Association, Textile Exchange, Fashion Revolution and Cradle to Cradle's "Fashion Positive,” Marci was a key figure in the development of the Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) and first Fair Trade Textile Certification with Fair Trade USA. In addition to receiving countless recognitions—including Retail Touchpoint's "Retail Innovator Award," New York Moves "Power Women Award," Fashion Group International's "Rising Star Award," and the Natural Product Industry’s "Socially Responsible Business Award," Marci is featured in the book ECO AMAZONS: 20 Women Who Are Transforming the World, and is a Henry Crown Fellow of The Aspen Institute. @marcizaroff
www.marcizaroff.com

ELHAM ATAEIAZAR, Illustration and Animation

Elham is an award-winning illustrator, cartoonist, and animation director, originally from Iran currently based in New York.  She received her MFA degree in "Communication Design" from Kutztown University Pennsylvania.  Before moving to US,  she was working with established Iranian publications and magazines as an Illustrator, Cartoonist and Character Designer.  Elham has over 25 published children's book in Iran, Dubai, and Lebanon. She has taken part in various solo and group cartoon and illustration exhibitions in Iran, Turkey, Dubai, Belgium, Ukraine, Russia and US. 

https://www.elhamazar.com