Burt's Buzz

Introduction by Waterloo Mayor Brenda Halloran at May 4 screening.

In his documentary "Burt's Buzz," Jody Shapiro tells the story of the man behind the Burt's Bees label, Burt Shavitz.  Shavitz's story is amazing.  After growing up in a middle class family in New York, Burt grew a beard and took to the land in middle age.  In Maine, he took up beekeeping and sold honey in gallon containers by the side of the road.  After a bit, he met a young woman.  They fell in love and developed a brand of personal care products that prided themselves on using ingredients from the earth, and they took the Maine craft fair circuit by storm.  After scaling up to a few retail stores in quaint small cities, Burt was bought out of the business and his partner eventually sold it for millions of dollars.  Now, he's just a spokesperson.  While many in America don't know that the man behind the beard is a real person, he's got a huge fan base in Taiwan, and the film shows his fans waiting in long lines for a picture and autograph.

The film had its world premiere in the TIFF Docs section at The Toronto International Film Festival

Co-presented by Pfennings Organic & More