Would you pay $10 to see a recording of a slideshow on global warming?
What if I said that the presenter was Al Gore?
Think not? I sure did.
I am just imagining the pitch that Al & Co would have made to the movie producers to get this film made and distributed broadly in the theaters. Most people couldn’t imagine anything more boring to do with their time on a Friday night. It would seem so dull and drab that perhaps a few would turn up to see what the gimmick was going to be. Of course, you would expect some super-liberals to take some time out of their busy schedule of saving baby seals and turning over the compost heap to see it; regardless, none of the above would turn this film into a blockbuster hit.
So last weekend, Steve and I decided to check out this film anyway. I was pleasantly surprised. I had no idea that Al Gore was so involved with this movement. Apparently he has been giving a slideshow on the consequences of global warming almost nonstop since the 2000 presidential campaign. He’s travelled the world, presented his pitch over a thousand times (so claimed during the film) and backed up everything with hard data and support from the scientific community.
Gore is very powerful and effective as a speaker. If only he carried this level of poise during the 2000 campaign. The good news is, it is clear that the film is gaining momentum. Positive word of mouth is playing its part. It opened two weeks ago, playing in 4 theaters over Memorial Day weekend, expanding to 77 theaters this past weekend. Next weekend, they expect to play in 130 theaters. You can check out more details about the movie, and just educate yourself on Global Warming at the movie website http://www.climatecrisis.net/.
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gringo 06.07.06 at 11:23 am
“I am just imagining the pitch that Al & Co would have made to the movie producers to get this film made and distributed broadly in the theaters.”
Actually it happened the other way around.
The producers asked Gore to allow them to make this movie.
It was not Gore’s idea, but that of Laurie David who then went to
Davis Guggenheim and asked him to watch Gore’s presentation which then convinced Guggenheim that he should make a movie out of it.
Paramount picked the film up after it’s success at Sundance.
ravisraman 06.07.06 at 8:55 pm
very interesting, thanks for sharing that point!
Regardless how it happened, it is outstanding to see a movie like this (with real substance about real issues) make it to the big screen.
Will Peavy 06.08.06 at 2:45 am
Nice site, I got the link from your post on veganbodybuilding.com. How did you set up the comments on your blog? I have comments on my site, but they open in a popup. I’ve been trying to set something like what you have here.
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Will Peavy
whpinvest.com
ravisraman 06.08.06 at 6:48 am
Hey Will, thanks for checking the site! I am using wordpress 2.0. The comment feature comes built-in. Are you using wordpress?
Will Peavy 06.08.06 at 12:53 pm
I haven’t used wordpress before. I really like the setup, I’m not sure if they allow commercial sites though, as mine is commercial.
ravisraman 06.08.06 at 3:55 pm
they definitely do. Wordpress is an open source application (php/mysql). You can do with it as you please
Go to their website and they have links to hosting services you can use, or you can install it yourself if you already having a hosting plan or are running your own server. For example, if you click on the last link in this blog post (climatecrisis.net) and visit their blog, it is done using wordpress.
Will Peavy 06.09.06 at 1:19 am
Cool, thanks for the tip. The climatecrisis site is pretty slick. I’m going to give wordpress a try when I update this weekend.
Also, you have “entrepeneurship” in your header logo. What kind of business are you into?
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Will
ravisraman 06.09.06 at 5:20 pm
not yet. interested in business, business models and entrepeneurship though. I currently work at microsoft, where we are building a new business…but I don’t think that counts as being an entrepeneur