Aaron Stoller of Backyard Productions directed this tongue-in-cheek, client-direct PSA for Greenpeace touting the “virtues” of the Carbon Regulatory Offset Committee (C.R.O.C.) program.
We open on Carl Cordova, chief press liaison for C.R.O.C., pouring motor oil over a tree in the wilderness and setting it on fire. He explains that he is simply redeeming his carbon offset points, noting that C.R.O.C. isn’t just for big polluting multinational corporations but also for everyday citizens.
Our next slice of life shows a woman who installed solar panels on her home, earning enough points to allow her to burn a pile of used tires on her front lawn.
A construction worker explains the crock–make that C.R.O.C.–program. “The government believes if you do something good for the environment, that allows you to do something bad to the environment, thereby negating the positive effects of the good you did.”
Next up is a couple who proudly tell us they drive a hybrid vehicle and celebrated Earth Day. This entitles them to now blow tops off mountains for coal mining.
Other outlandish examples follow, underscoring Greenpeace’s contention that carbon offset is the product of flawed, hypocritical thinking.
Does “Hundreds of Beavers” Reflect A New Path Forward In Cinema?
Hard as it may be to believe, changing the future of cinema was not on Mike Cheslik's mind when he was making "Hundreds of Beavers." Cheslik was in the Northwoods of Wisconsin with a crew of four, sometimes six, standing in snow and making his friend, Ryland Tews, fall down funny.
"When we were shooting, I kept thinking: It would be so stupid if this got mythologized," says Cheslik.
And yet, "Hundreds of Beavers" has accrued the stuff of, if not quite myth, then certainly lo-fi legend. Cheslik's film, made for just $150,000 and self-distributed in theaters, has managed to gnaw its way into a movie culture largely dominated by big-budget sequels.
"Hundreds of Beavers" is a wordless black-and-white bonanza of slapstick antics about a stranded 19th century applejack salesman (Tews) at war with a bevy of beavers, all of whom are played by actors in mascot costumes.
No one would call "Hundreds of Beavers" expensive looking, but it's far more inventive than much of what Hollywood produces. With some 1,500 effects shots Cheslik slaved over on his home computer, he crafted something like the human version of Donald Duck's snowball fight, and a low-budget heir to the waning tradition of Buster Keaton and "Naked Gun."
At a time when independent filmmaking is more challenged than ever, "Hundreds of Beavers" has, maybe, suggested a new path forward, albeit a particularly beaver-festooned path.
After no major distributor stepped forward, the filmmakers opted to launch the movie themselves, beginning with carnivalesque roadshow screenings. Since opening in January, "Hundreds of Beavers" has played in at least one theater every week of the year, though never more than 33 at once. (Blockbusters typically play in around 4,000 locations.)... Read More