In this case, Transition Cornwall+ had managed to pack a room with at least 70 people, and they all stayed for the discussion. Then I sold every DVD copy of the full-length original version that I had brought with me, plus several of the shorter version and the new French-subtitled one.

It was a great event for me, as the passionate filmmaker. But it was clearly just as uplifting for the organizers and the audience. Here is some of the feedback:

Our Transition Cornwall group is really buoyed after a very successful event on Wednesday. David’s movie Powerful, was extremely well received by a large group of diverse people including two members of Cornwall City Council. David was an absolutely fabulous speaker, energetic and a fountain of solid information. He was peppered with questions for almost an hour after the movie. From the immediate feedback it seemed that people came away really satisfied to have had their understanding broadened through this very positive event and were looking forward to more.

Thanks again,

Susan T., Transition Cornwall+

To everyone who has not yet been to or hosted a screening of Powerful, what are you waiting for.

David

david[at]davidc.ca / +1-613-730-0870

What was different about this discussion, though, was that three of the candidates (riding of Carleton-Mississipi Mills) in Ontario’s provincial election attended, spoke and made themselves available for what turned into more than an hour-long discussion. [too bad the Progressive Conservative candidate declined, something that has become a pattern, especially when it comes to discussions on sustainable energy - but that's another topic.] It was great to see that Powerful was having just the effect/impact which motivated me to make the film in the first place: getting people thinking, debating and asking questions of our politicians and decision-makers.

However, a second big moment of the night was the fact that one of the candidates was hearing-impaired (“deaf”, in his words) and had an assistant who was “signing” so that he could follow the conversation and respond. At the end of the evening, he asked me if a “captioned” version of the film was available. I replied that no, owing to the costs of doing this I had neither produced a captioned version nor a French subtitled option when I produced the first version of the DVD. For my first film Be the Change (2008), I had incurred the additional $5000 or so expense of doing this upfront, thanks to having sufficient funds. In this case, I opted not to, but had every intention of “getting to it” in the future. Well, now here I am in the midst of getting the French subtitling done in time for a November 25th event that requires it. But, still no captioned version.

This candidate made the very helpful suggestion that I could/should prepare a copy of the transcript (with accompanying time codes), so that a hearing-impaired viewer could refer to this transcript before, during or after. As an interim measure, this is a great idea. Not as good as a true close captioned version, but a good start. So, for anyone who may desire such a transcript, please email me with this request at david[at]livinglightly.ca.  I will post this as an option on the Powerful page on this website, but that may take me a little while. And yes, I will aim to get that true captioned version done soon. Financial contributions towards this and/or the French versions are always welcome!

Cheers,

David

Read what we did at Living Lightly Productions to make the film Powerful: Energy for Everyone in a “greener” way. Then tell us what you are doing, or share some anecdotes about greening your production.

A commitment to “living lightly” is the core philosophy and a standard practice of Living Lightly Productions and all my creative and business activity. I take this approach to every type of decision or choice, including the production of Powerful: Energy for Everyone.

The Greening of Powerful

Our goal was to produce the film in as green a manner as possible, at every stage of the film, from production through post-production, marketing and sales. A very important sub-goal was to use renewable energy wherever possible.

The most demonstrable accomplishment was in making an “international” film with only seven legs of air travel, and with very limited use of a standard gas-burning private car.

Steps Toward Greener Travel

–      Selecting my film subjects and locations so as to minimize the need for long-distance travel and so as to keep airplane travel to a minimum. Two long-distance trips were required.

o      Within Europe, wherever feasible, train travel was selected over plane travel. Most of my location shooting travel was done by train, streetcar, bicycle and on foot.

o      On my California- B.C. road trip, I joined up with bio-diesel advocate Adam Kreek for a “bio-diesel road trip” in his bio-diesel car named Helmut. We used recycled vegetable oil biodiesel for every fill-up but one. This journey makes for a humorous and educationsl segment of the film.

–      Choosing accommodation that included green hotels, B&Bs or “couch surfing” for environmental and financial reasons;

–      Making maximum use of buses, bicycles and walking in pre-production and post-production in Ottawa;

–      Showing my travel choices in the film (train, bio-diesel car, bicycle shots, etc.), whether through maps, graphics or on-camera scenes of me boarding trains/trams, using a bicycle, etc.

–      Choosing not to travel to festivals or screenings where air travel is required. I frequently use Skype to “attend” film screenings virtually, allowing me to introduce the film and participate in post-screening discussions. (I recently did this for screenings in Victoria and Prince George, BC).

Greener Food choices

I choose sustainable foods (local, fair trade  and/or organic) wherever possible, both for myself and for my crew. This often proves difficult for out of town shoots, but was possible for most of the European locations, California, BC and Ontario shoots such as in Kingston, ON.

Greener Production Office

–      I use energy conscious practices in my main production home office, as well as using renewable energy (solar panels) to power that office.

o      Examples: choice of efficient computers and printer, adjusting settings for sleep functions, turning off all equipment when not in use (including shutting off the power bar to avoid “phantom” energy losses).

–      Paperless practices where possible, plus re-use of the second side of transcript printouts for subsequent drafts.

–      Use of LED lights (rechargeable) for filming

–      Recycling of all batteries through municipal hazardous waste depots

–      Choice of packaging for DVD cover (FSC certified recycled cardboard, and recycled plastic tray).

–      The decision to include a recycled plastic tray in the jacket design was made to avoid the need for padded envelopes. It allowed for an overall reduction in material required.

–      Mailing envelopes are made  of recycled paper and on the lightest stock.

–      When submitting to festivals or mailing screeners, I re-use some of the stacks of jewel cases that find their way into my office.

–      A donation was made to the Guatemala Stove Project to compensate for greenhouse gas emissions that were unavoidable (from travel and electricity consumption)

Getting my film Powerful: Energy for Everyone down to 95 minutes was a slow and painful process. Just imagine how it felt being asked (told!) by my distributors to make versions of 52-minutes (for International television) and 48-minutes (for North American advertisement-filled television). But it was very much worth it. Being forced to cut the film to its core essence and messages made me rethink what it would take to excite, educate and entertain an audience in less than an hour.

The task also got me thinking about creating a version that would be used for public debate and discussion. If a teacher, city manager, environmental group, community energy co-op or utility outreach officer had just 90 minutes to show a film, lead a discussion and then take audience questions, what would be the key elements that should be in that film? With this objective in mind, I and my co-producer Michael Dobbin and editor Lisa Virtue completed these shorter versions and sent them out to our distributor Filmoption International to take to the major film and television markets.

And then the request started coming in to make Powerful: Energy for Everyone available to just the kinds of audiences I had envisioned. Colleges, universities and even high schools. Town energy planners, energy co-ops and more. So, I created a few DVDs with the 52-minute version and put it to the test. The feedback was great.

So now anyone can request the short or long-version of Powerful with a public screening license and use it to stimulate much-needed debate about our energy future on this special planet of ours. Energy security, waste-to-energy, green buildings, the pros and cons of wind energy, the real potential of solar power, green collar jobs, biodiesel, the economics of nuclear energy… Powerful is just the film for leading into a serious discussion about energy, and power.

To inquire about screening Powerful: Energy for Everyone in your cinema, city hall, campus … wherever, contact me by phone at 1-613-730-0870 or email david[at]davidc.ca

I lived in Japan for two years, and covered the nuclear disaster in Chernobyl while working for a Japanese newspaper. Since that time I have not trusted nuclear energy to ever be the safe, reliable source that merits our confidence or the investment of taxpayer money. I have been a passionate critic of nuclear energy and a proponent of conservation, efficiency and renewable energy for most of my life. So for a number of reasons I am especially dismayed by what is happening today following the earthquake and tsunami-triggered nuclear emergency at Fukushima. Just as our oil dependent modern lifestyles force us to justify getting oil from “petro-tyrannies” like Saudi Arabia and Libya and the questionnable democracies in Nigeria and Venezuela, just as our need for cheap oil allows us to justify the ecological and social damage being done in Alberta’s tar sands, our appetite for power-on-demand has prevented most of us from doing a real risk analysis of nuclear energy and its many hidden costs. Well, the full costs of our energy “need” is now in full view. Who will dare to stare it in the face, then look in the mirror and say “I will not be a part of this!”

Today I ask myself, can I turn off some of the devices in my home? Can I improve the insulation of my home? Can I ride a bus or a bike a little more often? Do I need to buy new clothes for the coming summer? Will I be able to use a fan, and blinds instead of an air conditioner this summer? What can I do to be the change I wish to see in the world?

David Chernushenko

But I finally managed to post six different scenes from the film on YouTube. This should give viewers (and potential buyers and groups interested in booking a screening) a good sense of the look, feel and subject matter of the film.

Enjoy!

David Chernushenko

I am thrilled to say that I can now stand up, and let Powerful take flight!

Just last week, we signed an agreement with the Montreal-based international distributor Filmoption International. They will be representing Powerful at major television sales markets andfestivals starting with MIPCOM in Cannes in France.

We are also now editing a 52-minute version to make available for the academic and institutional markets.

So, I can hear you asking: When will I be able to see Powerful at a theatre near me, or book the film to screen, or purchase a DVD for home viewing?

Booking a screening: Contact me if you are interested in booking a screening of Powerful. We’ll send you details of costs, guidelines and considerations.

Attending a screening: As screenings of Powerful begin to take place later this fall, we’ll do our best to post the details at www.livinglightly.ca/events. Beyond that, keep your eyes and ears open for local screenings. Or better yet, tell your local cinema, university, film club, etc., that they should be arranging a screening.

Buying a DVD: We will soon be taking online pre-sale orders for Powerful on DVD using Paypal. Until we can get that set up, however, you can send a cheque for $35 (including taxes and shipping) to Living Lightly Productions, 99 Seneca Street, Ottawa, ON K1S 4X8, Canada. Delivery is currently scheduled to begin in the new year (perhaps just in time for Christmas gifts – we’ll keep you posted).

In early July I posted some additional video content that was shot during the filming of Powerful — interesting stories that did not make it into the film. Check them out under the title More Powerful at http://www.livinglightly.ca/category/videos/

As proud as I am of Powerful, there are other great new films out there. I’ll make a plug for one of them here.

I had the pleasure of hosting a screening of The Clean Bin Project in Ottawa recently. Producers Jen Rustemeyer and Grant Baldwin were in attendance — actually they brought their film by bicycle, all the way from Vancouver, BC, with dozens of screening stops on the way. The Clean Bin Project was entertaining, beautiful to watch, provocative and (that dreaded word) educational! If you get a chance to see it, do it (hello Halifax and Newfoundland, check out their schedule http://www.cleanbinmovie.com/).  Like me, they are still working out details of a future release and DVD sales, and also hoping to get into some prime festivals.

All the best as we head into autumn (or spring if you are Down Under).

David Chernushenko

Patience is a virtue, I know, but I am feeling somewhat impatient to share Powerful as widely as possible. The message needs to be heard, as the oil gushes into the Gulf of Mexico, the air conditioners get cranked up again this summer, and the opposition to wind turbines grows.

***

Some feedback on Powerful: Energy for Everyone, a David Chernushenko film:

Congratulations on a fine piece of work.

Jane & Francois

The film is fantastic and it was great to see such an engaged audience come out to see it.

Heidi L.

I was one of the few privileged to view your preview screening for Powerful: Energy for Everyone and I just wanted to let you know that I thought your movie was EXCELLENT. It was inspiring and motivating. It has really made me reconsider how I’m living my life. Changes MUST be made.

John A.

It was a very inspiring movie, and I am certain it will add much to the current debate on renewable energy. Especially the sentence: “Politics is fundamentally flawed”. Let’s work to change that!

A Canadian Member of Parliament

Congratulations!!! The photography was terrific. Good luck going forward.

Peter L.

Congrats, that was a hugely successful event. The buzz afterwards was loud and ‘empowering’. Your film moved me. Thank you.

David C.

Congratulations on your production. It was amazing and well done – everyone was impressed.

Eric G.

Congratulations on the new film!  It is an intelligent and artful look at where we are, and the very positive message is excellent. It was nice of you to acknowledge the people in the film last night, I am delighted to be part of the message.

Steve L., professor of energy technology, Kingston

Out of 5, the film is a 5 stars  It was excellent for the following reasons:

* it’s totally upbeat!

* it’s fun and at times funky!!

* it’s focus is on the young which, in my opinion, is vitally important.

Congratulations!  Great work.

Denise R.

I found your movie very well done; keeps the attention throughout; quite an achievement for that type of movie.

Carol K

Félicitations David, à toi et ton équipe, pour ce film qui suggère des solutions et nous outille face aux défis d’effectuer des changements. On peut constater que tu as fait énormément de recherche pour mettre en valeur énormément de différents exemples de projets qui font partie de ces solutions.

Bravo donc!

Claire F.

I had no idea that you and your team had travelled so extensively to gather so much information from around the world.The story line of the film held together very well, and it flowed smoothly from location to location, embracing many renewable technologies along the way.

Great job and good luck with the festivals.

Doug R.

Really inspiring. A lovely display of what is possible and a solid reminder that us sustainable-minded folks can really do anything we set our hearts+minds to. It is an excellent film.

Barbara M.

Your film was fantastic – motivational, entertaining, honest, educational, ….Congratulations!  I’m so glad I went!

Joan H.

I really enjoyed the film and I especially appreciated your focus on the importance of community-owned green power.  I think that the community approach is the only thing that will work to get public buy-in on green energy projects.  Excellent work and I wish you lots of success with it.

Sabrina B.

Bravo many times over, for the new film!  From the opening frames I could tell it was going to be something special.

Andrea P.

Congratulations on a wonderful &  knowledgeable movie. You’ve delivered an incredible and well rounded view of the issue at hand.

Natalia S.

Turn off or unplug any non-essential appliances whenever possible. Culprits include: modems, digital cable boxes and lamps or boomboxes with “powerpack” adapters. A rule of thumb is, “if it’s hot, it’s using/wasting electricity. Something that is generating heat for no real purpose is actually creating an even greater cooling requirement in your home. That means more air conditioning or fans just to get rid of heat that you didn’t intend to create in the first place. Do a quick walk around your home and do the “touch test”.

Try a book or magazine, rather than a computer. Have you noticed how hot your computer is? You may be saving it’s life!

Run your dishwasher after 10pm, then open it up and let it air dry rather than using an electrical heater to dry the dishes. Open your doors/windows to let out the steam and heat. We are all up late anyway.

Wash a load of laundry each night after 10pm, then hang that load out first thing in the morning. Get a drying rack for your yard, deck or balcony if you don’t have space for a clothesline. If you have a phobia about hanging out clothes, just ask yourself which is really hurting your neighbours: smog alerts and power outages, or fresh laundry flapping in the breeze?

Now if only we could order up some breeze.

David Chernushenko

Yesterday morning it was Giacomo Panico’s Monday Special Blend show on CKCU radio at Carleton University in Ottawa. This morning it was the “A-Morning” television show, and there is plenty more to come. If you like what you see and hear, please help me to spread the word.

David Chernushenko