Loose Change (film) - History

History

In May 2003, when researching for a fictional screenplay based on the 9/11 attacks, writer Dylan Avery felt there was enough evidence to support the 9/11 conspiracy theories that the attacks were orchestrated by members of the United States government, and started working on a non-fiction version.

In April 2005, the first edition of Loose Change was made available for free on the Internet and was given a limited DVD release with 50,000 sold and 100,000 given away. It cost around $8,000 to make and was made primarily on Avery's laptop computer, featuring a distinctive soundtrack produced by DJ Skooly. Avery's childhood friend, Korey Rowe, left the service of the United States Army in June 2005 to assist with the marketing of the movie. Soon after Avery decided that "there was new information that needed to be added and improvements made", and so began creating Loose Change: 2nd Edition. Korey Rowe assumed the role of producer, and Jason Bermas, a graphic designer, worked as production assistant. This edition cost around $6,000. It was originally released in December 2005, but was re-released in June 2006 as Loose Change: 2nd Edition Recut. Before the release of this edition, Avery, Rowe and Bermas set up an independent movie production company called Louder than Words, an organization that identifies with the 9/11 Truth Movement. In April 2009 the rights to Loose Change were bought by Microcinema International DVD.

In August 2006, Korey Rowe was featured in an article admitting to the inaccuracy found in Loose Change, such as inaccurately stating a B-52 flew into the Empire State Building (it was actually a B-25 in the 1940s). "We don't ever come out and say that everything we say is 100 percent. We know there are errors in the documentary, and we've actually left them in there so that people discredit us and do the research for themselves." In 2007, media entrepreneur Mark Cuban was going to distribute Loose Change, and that Charlie Sheen was going narrate. However, this did not happen; Fox News political talk show host Bill O'Reilly interviewed Cuban on his radio show and said Sheen's career would be over if he narrated it.

The third edition of the movie, Loose Change Final Cut, was released in November 2007. According to the Loose Change website, this edition "is substantially different from Loose Change and Loose Change 2nd Edition Recut in the way it presents the information surrounding 9/11/2001. However, it remains true to the spirit that has made Loose Change what it is today." Professor David Ray Griffin was brought on as script consultant, and radio host Alex Jones and Tim Sparke of Mercury Media served as executive producers. Due to an estimated cost of $200,000, this version is the first not to be available for free online, although it is in fact available for free on Google Video and YouTube in a lower quality version. This edition is also substantially longer than previous versions, at over 2 hours in length.

Director Dylan Avery and producers Korey Rowe and Matthew Brown released a new film through their production company, Collective Minds Media Company, entitled Loose Change 9/11: An American Coup on September 22, 2009. The film is distributed by Microcinema International. It is narrated by Daniel Sunjata, and explores historical events leading to 9/11 and its aftermath. It was financed by Joel Bachar and Patrick Kwiatkowski of Microcinema International, and its world premiere was on September 9, 2009 at the 9/11 Film Festival at the Grand Lake Theater.