February 26, 2012 by Mark.

Dear YERTians,

YERT’s West Coast Tour is in full swing, with screenings scheduled or complete in over 21 cities. This week we have an update about some awesome upcoming screenings, and a quick review of the ones we’ve completed.

• Upcoming Screenings in Vancouver (BC), Bellingham, Bainbridge, and Seattle
• Glowing YERT Review in Huffington Post
• Standing Ovation at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
• Great Screenings in Madison, Minneapolis, and Fargo
• The New, More Challenging Garbage Challenge

Upcoming Screenings in Vancouver (BC), Bellingham, Bainbridge, and Seattle

We’ve now traveled over 2,500 miles and screened at six locations for 700+ people, with over 15 screenings remaining before we call this “West Coast Tour” complete. Basically, we’re just getting started, and having a blast the whole way. We’ve even sold enough DVD’s along the away to pay for our travel expenses to-date. Woohoo! Don’t forget to take a look at our growing tour schedule here, and feel free to grab blurbs and pics from our online press kit to share with friends and family.

SCREENING in Vancouver, BC, CANADA on Sunday, 2/26, at 3pm
Village Vancouver, the local Transition initiative, is hosting the event. Their schedule is so full of sustainability events up there that we could barely squeeze in! But squeeze in we have, and we look forward to meeting those individuals who make up the green powerhouse that is Vancouver. Mark Dixon (YERT Producer) will be there for discussion during and after the film, and will be staying a couple extra days to soak up all the green activity they have around town. Contact him if you’d like to hang out! mark@yert.com. [Facebook event link here] (Langara College room A130, West 49th Avenue, Vancouver, BC, Canada)

SCREENING in Bellingham, WA on Wednesday, 2/29, 7pm
The very first “on the street” interview filmed for YERT was with Atul Deshmane, CEO of Whole Energy, who has been supporting the project with thoughts, words, deeds, and donations ever since. We’re honored that he’s hosting this YERT screening in his home town. [Facebook event link here] (Limelight Theater, 1416 Cornwall Avenue, Bellingham, WA)

SCREENING on Bainbridge Island on Thursday, 3/1, 7pm
We’ve been building up to this screening event for years! Bainbridge Island is the home of so many YERT friends we can barely count. David and Fran Korten, Kat Gjovik, Sustainable Bainbridge, the entire staff at Yes! Magazine, and friends from previous jobs around the world– have somehow converged on Bainbridge Island, and YERT can’t wait to join them for a big screening event with pre and post receptions. [Facebook event link here] (Historic Lynwood Theater, 4569 Lynwood Center Road Northeast, Bainbridge Isle, WA 98110-2238)

SCREENING in Seattle on Friday, 3/2, 7pm
With the help of some of our Bainbridge friends, we’ve squeezed onto the weekly screening calendar of the Meaningful Movies Project in Seattle. We’re thrilled to be included in their program! This event is co-sponsored by the Bainbridge Graduate Institute, a groundbreaking sustainable MBA program in Seattle. [Facebook event link here] (Keystone Congregational United Church of Christ, 5019 Keystone Place N., Seattle)

Additional Screenings:
(click here for detailed calendar and new screenings updated daily)
2/29 - Pittsburgh, PA
2/29 - Bellingham, WA (TOUR)
3/1 - Bainbridge Island, WA (TOUR)
3/2 - Gainesville, FL (Cinema Verde Environmental Film & Arts Festival)
3/2 - Seattle, WA (TOUR)
3/3 - Portland, OR (TOUR)
3/3 - Louisville, KY (Film excerpts + Director Q&A)
3/9 - San Luis Obispo, CA (SLOIFF Film Fest on TOUR)
3/10 - San Luis Obispo, CA (SLOIFF Film Fest on TOUR)
3/13 - Charlotte, NC (Charlotte Film Festival - Ben will be there on Southeast TOUR)
3/15 - Berkeley, CA (TOUR)
3/18 - Presidio Sustainable MBA Program, SF, CA (Private Screening on TOUR)
3/19 - Sebastopol, CA (TOUR)
3/20 - Davis, CA (TOUR)
3/21 - Athens, GA (EcoFocus Film Festival - Ben will be there on Southeast TOUR)
3/21 - Santa Cruz, CA (TOUR)
3/25 - Denver, CO (TOUR)
3/27 - Concord, NH
3/30 - Concord, NH
3/30 - YERT’s UK Premiere at Botanic Gardens Edinburgh

Glowing YERT Review in Huffington Post
With a title like this, what’s there not to love? “Beyond Hope: Groundbreaking Environmental Road Trip Film Takes Climate Change Solutions Back Home.” Jeff Biggers has gone above and beyond the call of duty to write a thoughtful, eloquent, and ultimately glowing review of the YERT film. It’s almost as nice to read it as it is to see the faces of audience members after they see the film. Here’s a little snippet from the review:

“…the YERT film crew has managed to pull off the impossible in the world of cinema: A deeply absorbing and often hilarious road trip that confronts the badlands of our nation’s spiraling descent into dirty energy darkness, only to emerge along the solar roadways and wind-swept plains into the myriad possibilities for new power and sustainable living.”

Can you help us share the article with friends via Facebook and e-mail? Here’s the link to share: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/your-environmental-road-trip_b_1280954.html

Standing Ovation at Big Sky Documentary Film Festival
We had no idea how much of a YERTy town we would find here in Missoula! From our gracious host, Vicki Watson, to our festival sponsor, The Biomimicry Institute, to the fun, friendly and helpful staff of the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, this entire week has been a blast. It’s difficult to decide what has been more fun to encounter - the long and enthusiastic standing ovation by some 200 audience members at our Big Sky screeining? The fist bump from one of 300 high schoolers who saw our new hour-ish long educational cut? Or the cooing of 50 middle schoolers as I showed them our little fuzzy adopted mascot, Harry the Hairy Eared Dwarf Lemur (originally from the Xeko game), during a very active Q&A session at their school? I suppose we’ll never know. Thank goodness we don’t have to decide.

Great Screenings in Madison, Minneapolis, and Fargo
The West Coast Tour of YERT started out with three fun screenings as we drove west. Ryan, the Director from the awesome Within Reach Movie assembled a double feature for the thoughtful community at Arboretum Co-Housing in Madison, Wisconsin. Ryan and Tina literally rolled out the “green carpet” for our screening at Moss Envy in Minneapolis. And last but far from least, Nicole and David Crutchfield gathered their community together for a screening of YERT at the Historic Fargo Theater. All three screenings ended with lengthy discussions about the film and local sustainable community events and issues. Based on the audience response at these first few screenings, America appears to be ready for such discussion. Perhaps even yearns for it. Pictures below…

(Photo 1 is Arboretum Cohousing, 2 is Moss Envy, and 3 is Fargo!)

The New, More Challenging Garbage Challenge
In the original YERT adventure, we kept our garbage in the car for the whole year, trying to restrict garbage to just one shoebox per month. We estimate that’s about 1/100th of the average American’s garbage. (Know better? Let us know!) For the current West Coast Tour, we’re taking the garbage challenge to a whole new level - all garbage for the entire 50-day tour goes into one small ziplock bag. That bag goes into Mark’s cargo pants pocket. We took a picture of the garbage after 13 days on the road. Take a look at the picture and let us know what you see– the person who guesses the most items correctly during the next week gets a free YERT ChicoBag! (Send guesses to team@yert.com)

(Click to zoom in on the 13 days of garbage shown above.)

Phew! That’s the latest news. Want more? Are you sure? Get the most and fastest updates about the YERT screening and tour schedule on our Facebook page. Next week we’ll also have an update about a new educational (i.e. SHORT) cut of the YERT film that Ben has been feverishly working on– while he also prepares for upcoming Southeast and Northeast YERT screening tours. Good stuff!

Hope to see you soon, somewhere in the country!

Cheers,
Ben, Mark, and Julie
team@yert.com

Posted in village vancouver, portland permaculture, bainbridge, bellingham, vancouver, seattle, yes! magazine | No Comments »

September 14, 2011 by Mark.

Dear YERTians,

We’re on a roll with festival acceptances and new screenings! Take a look below for details…

• The CA Premiere of YERT at the Roxie in SF
• Lexington, KY Premiere - TONIGHT!
• A Fiesta of Festival Acceptances
• Pittsburgh Premiere and Overflow Screening on Sept. 20 AND Sept. 21
• YERT Film Screening at Mother Earth News Fair, PA
• Join Yes! Magazine for No Impact Week
• Host a YERT Screening!
• Seeking Outreach Volunteers

The CA Premiere of YERT at the Roxie in SF
One of our long-standing favorite national sustainability organizations, the Bioneers, is co-hosting this event with a brand new favorite of ours, the San Francisco Green Film Festival. The whole thing will take place on Oct. 11, 2011 at the famous Roxie Theater in downtown San Francisco, and Ben will be there with bells on for Q&A and general merriment. Invite your friends to our Facebook event and don’t forget to buy your tickets here. The screening and Q&A will take place from 8:45pm to about 11:00pm at the Roxie Theater, 3117 16th St., SF, CA.

Lexington, KY Premiere Tonight!
The YERT film will be screening TONIGHT, September 14th, at 7pm in the Worsham Theater of the University of Kentucky student center: 404 South Limestone St., Lexington, KY. The screening will be followed by Q&A with Director, Ben Evans. You can find parking at 409 South Limestone.

A Fiesta of Festival Acceptances
As you can see from the laurels at the top of this e-mail, we’re pleased to announce a bunch of new festivals that the YERT film has been accepted into. We have over 18 screenings planned around the country during the next month, possibly one near you! Check out our screenings page for more details and our calendar of events. And don’t forget to tell your friends and family to go see the YERT Film in their area! Here’s a quick reference list of events coming up through the end of October:

UPCOMING YERT SCREENINGS
(click each for details or here for full calendar)

• 9/14/11 @ 7pm - University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY** (TONIGHT)
• 9/15/11 @ 6pm - 15Thousand Farmers, Louisville, KY** (TOMORROW)
• 9/20/11 @ 7pm - Pittsburgh Premiere at Chatham U., Pittsburgh, PA***
• 9/21/11 @ 7pm - Overflow Screening at Homewood Library, Pittsburgh, PA*
• 9/22/11 @ 2:15pm - Twin Cities Film Festival, “Twin Cities,” MN
• 9/22/11 @ 8:45pm - Dallas VideoFest, Dallas, TX**
• 9/24/11 @ 11am - Mother Earth News Fair, Seven Springs, PA*
• 9/25/11 @ 11am - Mother Earth News Fair, Seven Springs, PA*
• 9/25/11 @ 9:30pm - DocuFest Atlanta, Atlanta, GA
• 9/26/11 @ 9:00pm - Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA
• 9/27/11 @ 7:30pm - Eastern Mennonite University, Harrisonburg, VA*
• 9/27/11 @ 7pm - Transylvania University, Lexington, KY**
• 10/7/11 @ 7pm - Westport Village Shopping Ctr., Louisville, KY**
• 10/11/11 @ 8:45pm - CA Premiere at Roxie Theater, San Francisco, CA**
• 10/15/11 @ 6pm - Flagstaff Mountain Film Festival, Flagstaff, AZ
• 10/15/11 @ 7pm - Central Coast Bioneers, San Luis Obispo, CA°
• 10/15/11 @ 9pm - Kentucky Waterways Alliance, Corbin, KY**
• 10/22/11 @ 7pm - Transition Honesdale, Beach Lake, PA

Key:
*Mark attending for Q&A
**Ben attending for Q&A
***Mark + Ben attending for Q&A
°Mark or Ben for videochat Q&A

Pittsburgh Premiere and Overflow Screening on Sept. 20 AND Sept. 21
We’re filled to the brim with reservations for the big Pittsburgh Premiere of YERT on Sept. 20, so we’ve opened up an Overflow Screening the very next day, same time (7pm), at the Homewood Library Theater. You can still try to get a seat at the Sept. 20 event by signing up on the waiting list here, and we’ll let people in in order of their appearance on the list. Alternatively, you can go see it the next day in Homewood (just a few minutes from Chatham) and be guaranteed a seat. Wait list and Overflow Screening reservations must be made via this form. Feel free to contact Mark@yert.com if you have any questions.

YERT Film Screening at Mother Earth News Fair, PA
This is an event you won’t want to miss. The planners are expecting more than 8,000 people and it is happening right outside of Pittsburgh, PA. The Mother Earth News fair is a hands-on festival of sustainability activities, speakers, events, and one feature film screening: YERT! Twice! That’s right, we’re screening at 11:00 AM on both Saturday 9/24 and Sunday 9/25 at the Utne Reader Stage. Mark and a team of helpful volunteers will be there for the event, including a Q&A with Mark after each screening. Check out the website for the Mother Earth News Fair to see their massive calendar of events.

Host a YERT Screening!
We are working to build the team and infrastructure to enable thousands of community screenings around the world during the next couple of years, but in order to do that, we need your help! Are you involved with a community group in your area that might enjoy a screening of the YERT film? We’d love to help you make that event happen. Each of our screenings to-date have sparked the creation of several more screenings, so once we get this ball rolling it’ll grow and grow — but we need your help getting those initial sparks launched! Sign up today at our screening page.

Join Yes! Magazine for No Impact Week

Our friends and long-standing supporters at Yes! Magazine are contributing 250 current editions of their magazine for attendees at YERT’s Pittsburgh Premiere. They are also teaming up with the No Impact Project for a week-long experiment in low-impact living called No Impact Week, starting on Sept. 18! Over 30,000 people across the planet have participated in the experiment, and YERT encourages you to do the same. For more information about how to get involved, click here.

Seeking Outreach Volunteers
Our team of outreach volunteers is growing, but we still need more help! Would you like to spend a couple hours each week as an outreach volunteer? Click here to sign up and we’ll follow-up with you by e-mail and phone. We particularly need active grass-roots development in these states: PA, CA, AZ, MN, TX, GA, and IN. Sign up today!

We’re certainly feeling the wave of enthusiasm build for the YERT film, and we’ll be keeping you updated on how it all flows in these very full months to come. Don’t forget to join the conversation on Facebook, and we’ll write again soon!

Cheers,
Ben, Mark, and Julie
team@yert.com

Posted in San Francisco Green Film Festival, bioneers, mother earth news fair, yes! magazine, no impact man, no impact week, route 66 festival, docufest atlanta, dallas videofest, soapiff, twin cities film festival, orlando film festival, cincinnati film festival, flagstaff mountain film festival, premiere | No Comments »