December 29, 2009 by Mark.

Since we announced our $3,000 matching contribution on Dec. 17, we have received an amazing $2,350 of contributions. Doubled, that comes to $4,700 raised in less than two weeks! Can you make a donation to use up $650 of remaining matching funds before the end of the year?

Click here to make a tax-deductible and MATCHED donation to YERT!

And if you haven’t had a chance to check out the “YERT Filmmaking Lair,” take a look! You’ll see Ben, Scott, and Mark discuss the nitty gritty elements of eco-filmmaking.

Click here to watch the “YERT Filmmaking Lair”…

This is your last chance in 2009 to put your money where your mouth, or your mind, or your heart is. Every penny removed from the “extractive” economy and delivered to YERT helps to bring about a more sustainable world in a direct, loving way. Can you help us reach our year-end goal of $10,000?

Count my donation as a vote for a more sustainable world!

As always, we’re funded by love, encouragement, and your financial contributions. Thank you for sending them our way!

Happy New Year,

Ben, Julie, and Mark

team@yert.com

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December 17, 2009 by Mark.

Dear YERTians,

We’ve created a new video to give you an inside look at the “YERT Filmmaking Lair,” where our feature film is coming to life– see our grand plans on the giant whiteboard, meet our editor, Scott, and then find out what gives him his secret powers!

Click here to watch the “YERT Filmmaking Lair”…

We also just received a generous matching offer from an anonymous YERT donor: $3,000 of funds to double donations given before January 1st!

Click here to make a tax-deductible and MATCHED donation to YERT!

We’re trying to raise a total of $10,000 by the end of the year, which will give us the funds to pay our editor for a few more months and kick start our grass-roots distribution and fundraising plans for the new year. Can you spare a dime? Please consider making a year-end tax-deductible donation at
http://yert.com/donate.php.

We believe that the planet and those working for her care deserve a voice, and the YERT feature film will do just that. We’re funded by love, encouragement, and your finacial contributions, so please help us keep the message alive and well by making a MATCHED donation.

Thanks for your support!

Ben, Julie, and Mark

team@yert.com

Posted in Events, Video, Ben, Mark | 1 Comment »

December 17, 2009 by Mark.

Just wanted to let you all know that Ben and Scott submitted a fresh new cut of the YERT feature film to the SXSW (South by Southwest) Film Festival! They pulled a butt-kickin’ all nighter last friday and today I received official notice that our submission was received. So now we wait. Looks like we’ll find out it we’re in the festival on or before February 12, 2010. Stay tuned!!

Best,
Mark

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December 7, 2009 by Mark.

YERT - Your Environmental Road Trip - is seeking an enthusiastic, motivated, eco-minded and web-savvy intern to kick-start and drive a variety of marketing initiatives for its documentary film project. YERT has a nationally recognized brand and over 2000 people on various mailing lists, including a solid volunteer base. The YERT team has also recently submitted an initial rough cut of the YERT feature film to the Sundance Film Festival. As YERT fast approaches the release of its feature film, it’s time to build upon that strong foundation to get the project — and the exciting sustainability ideas we support — in front of as many people as possible. Sustainability can be fun, and you can help spread the word around the world! (Check out the feature film trailer and 50 more short films at http://www.yert.com)

Time Required

* 10-20 hours/week
* Starting immediately
* Work available through Dec. 2010

Compensation

* Position is unpaid, but interns will be noted in feature film credits.
* Position will give you valuable experience inside an environmental film marketing campaign.
* We are happy to work with your school advisor to see if they can give you course credit.

Location
Pittsburgh, PA preferred, but can work from anyplace with high speed Internet.

Qualifications

* Be at least 18 years old.
* Must have computer with high-speed Internet access.
* Very comfortable with Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, blog culture, and related web tools.
* Interest in film marketing and/or grassroots organizing.
* Some project management and organizing experience preferable.
* Interest in environmental/sustainability issues.

Primary Responsibilities
Work closely with film co-producers Mark Dixon and Ben Evans to develop and implement film marketing strategy, including but not limited to:

* Submit YERT shorts and feature film to film festivals worldwide.
* Work to get YERT videos embedded in blog and news sites.
* Develop grass-roots film screening parties in communities, colleges, and homes nationwide.
* Increase traffic and subscribers to YERT.com and other online outlets, including YouTube and Facebook channels.
* Coordinate and drive volunteer projects to support marketing initiatives.

Application Process
To apply for this position, please send your resume to Mark Dixon, mark@yert.com, 415-672-5537. Be sure to add “YERT Marketing Intern” to the e-mail subject line.

What’s YERT?
YERT, which stands for “Your Environmental Road Trip,” (http://www.yert.com) is a one year 50-state video documentary road trip to explore and personalize sustainability across the country. All throughout the journey, Mark Dixon, Ben Evans, and Julie Evans released fast-paced videos online to share their adventures, including their very own “road rules” eco-challenges (like keeping all of their garbage in the car all year), visits to environmentally significant destinations, and most importantly, interviews with over 800 leaders, businesspeople, researchers, and average citizens from all walks of life. Their work has been featured on Treehugger, the Weather Channel, Voice of America, the San Francisco Chronicle, and on NPR stations nationwide via the environmental news program, “Living on Earth.” Having completed principal shooting and the travel portion of the project, the team is working on “YERT Phase 2″ — developing a feature film, additional short films, live presentations, and educational curriculum based on the project.

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December 4, 2009 by Ben.

We finally received the results from Sundance and they are:

YERT was not accepted…

…but all is certainly not lost. (In fact they only took one environmental documentary film out of nearly 10,000 total submissions.) This just makes all of you, our grassroots supporters, all the more important. In fact, we’re convinced more than ever that the feature film will move countless environmentalists to action– both new and battle-tested activists alike. We just need a little more time to get it ready for prime time. We’re seriously examining the possibility of self-distribution, but we need to collect more information to do it well.

Please take our “YERT MARKETING SURVEY” by answering 10 quick questions here:

http://yertmarketing.questionpro.com/

As a thank you, we’ll give away five YERT ChicoBags to five lucky survey responders, selected at random.

Our submission to Sundance was very rough and incomplete– nothing compared to what we expect to create with a little more time (and money). Now we have our sights set on several other solid festivals - SXSW, Florida, and Tribeca. While the film remains far from done, we’ll keep whittling away at it until it finds its way successfully out into the world.

In the meantime, stay tuned for continued updates and thank you for helping us get this far. And don’t forget to fill out the YERT MARKETING SURVEY!

http://yertmarketing.questionpro.com/

Happy Holidays,
Ben, Julie, and Mark

P.S. Many thanks to our awesome unpaid marketing intern, Vidya Sarma from Chicago, for assembling the survey!

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December 2, 2009 by Mark.

YERT has known David Kroodsma for several years, and through that time we have known him to be a thoughtful, capable, and dedicated advocate for strong action on climate change. Indeed, he has put is body on the line to prove it, cycling all over the country and the world to bring his message to ever-increasing audiences. He is also an excellent writer, with a book in the works. As fellow national road-trippers, friends, and ambassadors for a stable climate, we believe that David would make the best citizen journalist in Copenhagen during the climate talks, and plan to do all that we can to help him get there.

If you’re inclined, please vote for him on Huffington Post here.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/19/hopenhagen-ambassador-con_n_363672.html?slidenumber=6plleJTZ3eM%3D#slide_image

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