25,000 Marines Learn From Semper Ride Premiere Events New youthful approach captivates Marines attention to motorcycling the right way as America’s top professional motorcycle riders team up with action sports filmmakers in efforts to save Marines’ lives. Camp Lejeune, North Carolina – On June 25th The United States Marine Corps’ motorcycle safety orientation film, Semper Ride, premiered to 22,500 Marines stationed at MCB Camp Lejeune, MCAS Cherry Point, and MCAS New River. On May 19th, the film also premiered to 3,000 Marines at MCAS Miramar near San Diego, California. Along with the film premiere, Marines were provided the opportunity to interactively learn more about motorcycles, safety gear and educational programs with more than 30 on-site exhibitor booths, supervised test rides and live professional demonstrations by X-Games medalists. Semper Ride and its premiere events are part of a broader effort to save the lives of Marines when riding motorcycles. The events have proven very successful to date with large attendance and great reviews. The Marine Corps’ strong support for the events has been a key element in impacting each Marine with the intended safety oriented message. “The Semper Ride Movie Premiere and Event was a huge success. The movie is nothing short of first class and the demos and displays were equally impressive. Every Marine I spoke to thoroughly enjoyed today’s event, describing Semper Ride as the best safety film ever produced by the Marine Corps,” says Stan Dutko, Director of Safety, MCIEAST and Safety Manager, MCB Camp Lejeune. “This film and event have clearly made a significant impact on the attendees, and will likely resonate for some time.” Unfortunately, 25 U.S. Marines died in motorcycle accidents last year, by comparison fewer (22) lost their lives in Operation Iraqi Freedom. In an effort to save lives at home, the Assistant Commandant of the Marine Corps, the Executive Safety Board and the Marine Safety Office has begun focusing on motorcycle safety with a new approach in an effort to grab the attention of young Marines. Semper Ride is one of the new initiatives started in attempt to curb the loss of Marine’s lives on motorcycles. To accomplish this, the Marine Corps took a new direction, looking to the professional action sports world for the solution. In doing so they called upon One Eyed Bird Entertainment, who created FUEL TV’s Great Ride Open series to produce Semper Ride. One Eyed Bird’s production team of Dirk Collins, Jeff Tilton and Jim Conway pulled together world-renowned motorcycle athletes and the action sports industries top cinematographers, such as Curt Morgan (Dir. of Photography), to make the film. Semper Ride was produced to deliver high definition big screen action combined with a responsible riding theme. The film’s content strategically combines instructional materials with rider-to-rider style messaging from the pro athletes. Riders included James Stewart, Ben Bostrom, Ronnie Renner, Myles Richmond, Tommy Clowers, Jeremy McGrath, Keith Code, Chris “Teach” McNeil, Jason Britton, Sara Price, Josh Herrin and many more to offer Marines straight forward advice for staying safe, while enjoying motorcycling. The film and the events supplement existing Marine Corps motorcycle educational materials; but even more, Semper Ride is meant to inspire Marines to make the right choices allowing them to enjoy their motorcycles in a more responsible manner. The film’s Executive Producer and creator Jim Conway says, “Semper Ride has been very well received by the 25,000 plus Marines who have seen the film at the east and west coast premiers. The Marine riders are taking away the important and targeted messages about riding responsibly no matter what their experience level”. Conway continued, “The production team is honored to be a part of this effort and have worked tirelessly to create a new and different type of film. The result is an engaging educational piece that holds the audiences interest throughout the film, and most importantly delivers the intended safety messages”. Thanks to the support of the motorcycle industry, the festival style premieres are the optimal place for Marines to meet and interact with some of the sport’s top professional riders, see a variety of bikes and learn more about the personal protective equipment featured in the movie. Semper Ride movie trailer: ~http://www.semperride.com~ MCA Station Miramar Event on ESPN.com: ~http://espn.go.com/action/fmx/blog?post=4209212~