GANJALAND press kit
Everything you need to cover the book and the film campaign. For interviews with James Gerardi, email hello@ganjalandmovie.com. He records on WhatsApp and phone; in-person in South Florida.
Logline
A Long Island boat kid runs boats and planes between Jamaica, the Bahamas and South Florida for sixteen years without getting caught. When his crew is busted, he vanishes to Jamaica for twenty more, while America slowly changes its mind about what he’d been doing. In 2016 he flies home and surrenders. Every federal agent on the jet bridge shakes his hand.
Short bio (60 words)
James J. Gerardi was born in New York City and raised on a canal in Island Park, Long Island. A boat captain and marine surveyor, he spent forty years in the smuggling business and twenty as a fugitive in Jamaica. He wrote GANJALAND by hand in a federal prison library and was released in 2018. He lives in South Florida and owns Metallic Marine.
Facts
| Title | GANJALAND: An American Fugitive’s True Story |
| Author | James J. Gerardi |
| Format | Paperback, 398 pages (ISBN 978-0-578-52993-6); Kindle edition |
| First published | June 2019 |
| Illustrations | Troy Parker and James Gerardi |
| Campaign | Indiegogo, January 26 to February 25, 2027. Funds a new edition, signed paperbacks, and a film treatment and pitch deck. Stretch goals: audiobook, proof-of-concept short, screenwriter rewrite, live-action teaser. |
| Reviews | “A captivating adventure into the land of Bob Marley, this one never fails to entertain.” Chicago Free Press |
| Website | ganjalandmovie.com (free first chapter) |
Suggested questions
- What made you get on the plane on July 5, 1996?The morning the book opens with.
- What was it like watching legalization happen from Jamaica?Twenty years of news from home.
- Why come back in 2016, and what happened on the jet bridge?The surrender and the handshakes.
- Why write it by hand in a prison library?An hour a day from April 2017.
- Why a film campaign, and why AI for the dramatizations?Honest about what can and can’t be promised.
Images
Download-ready images are added as they’re cleared. Until then, email us for the cover, author photo and sketches.
(300 dpi)
Ground rules
James speaks openly about his case, his sentence and his time in Jamaica. He doesn’t give advice on anything illegal, doesn’t name people whose names were changed in the book, and asks that coverage describe GANJALAND as a memoir and film project, not a cannabis product or brand.
GANJALAND is a Metallic Marine project. Campaign manager: David Zimmerman.