|
A GREAT
movie can get you a fabulous table in Cannes and maybe
even an Academy Award, but it usually doesn’t get you a
spot at the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony in Oslo.
So when
news came Friday that Hollywood’s favorite
environmentalist, former Vice President Al Gore, had won
the world’s most prestigious prize, members of the
entertainment industry not only felt that the honor had
been bestowed on one of their own, they also shared in
celebrating his victory.
“Does it
feel better than an Academy Award?” said Scott Burns, a
producer on the Oscar-winning documentary An
Inconvenient Truth, a film version of Gore’s
multimedia presentation about the catastrophic effects
of climate change. “It’s interesting. I don’t think it’s
a question that’s ever been asked before.” But the
ultimate answer is that yes, it does.
Like a rock star.
Al Gore is
swamped by fans as he leaves the offices of the Alliance
for Climate Protection in Palo Alto.
It’s a
reaction that not only demonstrates how much of a home
Gore has found in Hollywood, but reinforces the
symbiotic relationship that has developed between his
crusade against climate change and Hollywood’s
moviemaking and marketing machine.
It’s
also a testament to the political and cultural clout a
movie can wield, with An Inconvenient Truth
helping turn a complex environmental issue into an
understandable talking point that has had a major
influence in the debate about global warming.
Hollywood
has been credited for playing a major role in the
efforts that led to Gore’s award Friday.
“Anyone
who says a film can’t make a difference hasn’t met Al
Gore or seen An Inconvenient Truth,” said Michael
Feldman, a long-time Gore advisor.
“It’s
really a validation to everyone who has worked on this
issue,” said Laurie David, who spearheaded the effort to
get Gore on film. “And it’s a wake-up call to everyone
who isn’t.”
The
honor marks yet another
high point
in Hollywood’s two-and-a-half-year journey with the
former Vice President, who shares his Nobel with the
United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change.
David
saw Gore’s slide show on global warming at a private Los
Angeles presentation in 2004. She immediately asked
Pulp Fiction producer Lawrence Bender to get
involved. They approached Burns and director Davis
Guggenheim, then set up a pitch session with Gore at a
hotel in San Francisco in spring 2005.
Their
message was succinct: Make a movie. The slide show
doesn’t have enough reach.
Gore
agreed. He later joked: “They had me at hello.”
Participant Productions—founded by eBay pioneer Jeff
Skoll—came onboard with financing, and Guggenheim
immediately went to work. In many ways, what Guggenheim
caught on film was troubling: He captured Gore’s message
but also showed that the former Vice President was alone
on his mission.
He lost
his Secret Service detail six months after losing the
2000 presidential race. He took off his shoes and
fumbled through his pockets at airport security
checkpoints, and pulled his bag carrying his slide show
behind him.
“When we
were making the film, it felt like the political
landscape was hopeless and there was no traction on the
issue for people like Al Gore, who spoke their minds and
fought for what was right,” Guggenheim said.
Several
studios passed on the film, which debuted at the 2006
Sundance Film Festival.
John
Lesher, the newly installed head of Paramount Pictures’
specialty film division, made the documentary one of his
first purchases.
In
addition to holding screenings across the country to
generate buzz, Lesher’s Paramount Vantage courted
theater owners, an often overlooked constituency that
proved critical in An Inconvenient Truth’s
staying power. Although many movies come and go in a
matter of weeks, the global warming movie, which was
released in May 2006, was still selling tickets that
October.
Although
the film’s ultimate box-office receipts amounted to
pocket lint for Paramount owner Viacom Inc.—a domestic
gross of more than $25 million and about the same
overseas—it was a remarkable performance for a
nonfiction film. Michael Moore’s latest documentary, the
health-care indictment Sicko, grossed $24
million.
As
important as its ticket sales, An Inconvenient Truth
became required viewing in Hollywood among awards
organizations.
Before
it took the documentary-feature Oscar in February, the
film won countless prizes from critics groups.
(The
movie also won an Oscar for Melissa Etheridge’s original
song.)
“We feel
the movie was the spark that ignited this intergalactic
flame,” said Participant Productions president Ricky
Strauss.
Lesher
said he was moved to tears when he received the news
early Friday that Gore shared the Nobel.
“This
issue was not at the forefront the way it is now,”
Lesher said. “It’s a great example of how a film can
start a conversation and lead to change. And it showed
how in the darkest point in someone’s life—losing a
presidential election—you can reassess what really
matters. And that’s what he did.”
“He has
been working on this issue for 40 years,” said Bender,
who was on his way to New York on Friday to give a
global-warming presentation of his own. “He is the one
person who has galvanized the world to fight the biggest
problem in our lifetime.”
Even
before Gore won the peace prize, Paramount Vantage had
been considering making either an updated version of the
film or some sort of sequel. “There’s much more
information now,” Lesher said, “and it’s much worse.”
Paramount Vantage says it hasn’t decided whether it will
rerelease the original movie or relaunch its DVD.
By
midday Friday, Amazon.com was reporting that sales of
the film’s DVD had surged more than 400 percent in
several hours, climbing to No. 16 overall. A companion
book, An Inconvenient Truth: The Planetary Emergency
of Global Warming and What We Can Do About It, was
ascending the sales charts even faster.
Alan
Horn, the president and chief operating officer of
Warner Bros. Entertainment, said Gore’s and the film’s
greatest accomplishment was giving the issue
credibility. “He did not jump on the environmental
bandwagon because it was the issue of the moment,” Horn
said; instead, Gore made it the issue of the moment.
“I think
the movie was transformational,” said Horn, a friend of
Gore. “It allowed people to access the issue in a way
that was understandable to them.”
Gore’s
friend George Clooney was equally enthusiastic.
“This
has been a cause that he’s championed his entire career,
and he’s now been given the ultimate honor for his hard
work,” the actor and director said in an e-mail
interview. “Films alone change nothing...but the right
film at the right time can certainly make a difference.
Al Gore has made a difference. Imagine what he could
have done as president.” |
