With five parallel camera crews following the American participants, there ended up being over 250 hours of camera footage.  The team had their work cut out for them - how would they cut all these hours into a feature length documentary and still convey the magic of the journey that was experienced.

They stepped up to the challenge and the results are a very moving film, Free Trip to Egypt which then inspired #PledgeToListen.

#PledgeToListen is the online companion to the feature-length documentary Free Trip to Egypt — the enlightening film that united people of divergent cultures to share their differences and make a human connection.

It was hard to imagine a more diverse group: From America, a retired teacher and her husband, a Marine veteran, a single mom, a police officer, a preacher and a beauty pageant queen traveled to Egypt where they were joined by an equally eclectic mix of local Egyptians including a young revolutionary, a dancer, a photo journalist and an orthodox Muslim family. Yet despite everyone’s vast differences in ethnicity, creed, age, maturity and personality, they all were able to coexist, exchange ideas, assert their beliefs and ultimately discover common ground. The power of both communicating and listening with respect proved truly inspiring and life-changing.

#PledgeToListen now extends the movie’s motivational message — offering a unique outlet for a positive, on-going and open dialogue to embrace and promote mutual understanding, inclusiveness and friendship.