The announcement was made today by John Lesher, President of Paramount Vantage and Paramount Classics.
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Hollywood, CA (JUNE 6, 2006)- Paramount Classics, Participant Productions, and NativeEnergy have joined forces to offset 100% of the carbon dioxide emissions from air and ground transportation and hotels for production and promotional activities associated with the documentary “AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH” making the film the first carbon-neutral documentary ever. The announcement was made today by John Lesher, President of Paramount Vantage and Paramount Classics.
"AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH," is a riveting documentary that weaves the science of global warming with former Vice President Al Gore's personal history and longtime commitment to communicating the need to reverse the effects of global climate change. Directed by Davis Guggenheim, “AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH” was produced by Laurie David, Lawrence Bender and Scott Z. Burns. Jeff Skoll, Davis Guggenheim, Diane Weyermann, Ricky Strauss and Jeff Ivers are the executive producers and the co-producer is Lesley Chilcott. The film opened on May 24, to rave reviews and record-breaking per screen grosses in New York and Los Angeles and will expand to every major market across the country.
”We are so excited by the opening weekend response to ‘AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH’ in New York and Los Angeles,” said Division President, John Lesher. “We think that the promotional activities were essential to getting people to turn out in these numbers and we are grateful that NativeEnergy has created a way for us and Participant Productions to compensate for any negative impact caused by these efforts.”
NativeEnergy, which works with individuals and organizations to help them compensate for their contributions to global warming, calculated the “carbon footprint” from producing “AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH”, including all travel, office, and accommodations related emissions. The company then offset emissions through renewable energy credits or “green tags from new renewable energy projects. Paramount Classics and Participant will split the cost of these tags; the funds will go towards helping build new Native American, Alaskan Native Village, and farmer-owned renewable energy projects, creating sustainable economies for communities in need and diversifying our energy supply.
“It only seemed right to try to counteract the pollution we created in our production and promotion of “AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH.” It would be ironic, not to mention wrong, if we added to the global warming that Al Gore warns about in his film,” says Participant founder Jeff Skoll. “Plus, these renewable energy projects offer options that will decrease our demand for fossil fuels and otherwise would likely not happen without these kinds of investments. So we are happy to be a part of this for all these reasons.”
“As a company, our mandate is to create projects that not only entertain but inspire audiences to take action,” adds Participant president Ricky Strauss. ”In the case of “AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH,” this partnership with NativeEnergy illustrates just one way of doing this.”
“This film is generating tremendous awareness and understanding about the climate crisis, and so many people and organizations now see how easy it is to participate in change by helping build new renewable energy projects,” says NativeEnergy president & CEO Tom Boucher.
This partnership between “AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH” and NativeEnergy will bring critical revenues to these renewable energy endeavors, directly aiding their development and construction through the purchase of shares of the offsets the projects are estimated to generate over their operating lives. Renewable energy sources such as wind and farm methane provide clean electricity and reduce pollution that would otherwise have to come from fossil fuels. Simultaneously, these projects help Native American tribes and family farms operate sustainable businesses in balance with the earth.
Participant, NativeEnergy and Warner Bros. partnered in a similar way on Stephen Gaghan's provocative thriller about the global oil industry, Syriana. As a result, Syriana became the first “climate neutral” major motion picture, as 100% of the carbon dioxide emissions generated by the production were translated into investments into renewable energy.
ABOUT PARAMOUNT VANTAGE AND PARAMOUNT CLASSICS
Paramount Classics and Paramount Vantage are the two labels that comprise the specialty film division of Paramount Pictures, which is part of the entertainment operations of Viacom Inc. (NYSE: VIA and VIAB), a leading global entertainment content company, with prominent and respected brands in focused demographics.
ABOUT PARTICIPANT PRODUCTIONS
Participant Productions is a Los Angeles-based production company that focuses on compelling entertainment that highlights important social issues in order to awaken, inspire and empower audiences to make a difference. The company was founded in January 2004 by philanthropist Jeff Skoll and is headed by Skoll and President Ricky Strauss. Participant's recent films have included Good Night, and Good Luck, Syriana, North Country and Murderball, which received a total of 11 Academy Award nominations in 2005. Coming soon from Participant Productions is the documentary, The World According to Sesame Street by Linda Goldstein Knowlton and Linda Hawkins Costigan. In cooperation with "Sesame Street Workshop" the film explores the drama and complexities behind producing international versions of the world's most-watched children's television program. It airs on PBS on October 24, 2006. Also from Participant is Richard Linklater's Fast Food Nation, which debuted at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival, to be released in North America by Fox Searchlight Pictures. Fast Food Nation, a fictional, dramatic feature, based on Eric Schlosser's best-selling book, reveals the shocking and Byzantine nature of the billion dollar fast food industry through intersecting yet disparate storylines involving characters from all segments of society.
ABOUT NativeENERGY
American Indian majority-owned, NativeEnergy is a leading national marketer of renewable energy credits (RECs) or “green tags,” offering individuals and organizations a means to compensate for their global warming pollution, or to effectively power their homes and businesses with renewable energy. NativeEnergy’s patent-pending Future RECs bring upfront payment to renewable projects for their future REC output, enabling its customers to help finance the construction of new wind farms and other renewable energy projects, such as tribal wind projects and methane digesters on family dairy farms. NativeEnergy also offers Green-e certified RECs from operating wind farms and Climate Neutral Network certified offsets from a variety of CO2 mitigation projects. Online at: www.nativeenergy.com.