SILLY AND SERIOUS PREMIERES:
“SIZZLE: A GLOBAL WARMING COMEDY” OPENS AT
OUTFEST AND WOODS HOLE FILM FESTIVALS IN JULY
Hollywood, Ca. (June 9, 2008) - The new feature film from
scientist-turned-filmmaker Dr. Randy Olson (“Flock of Dodos: the
evolution-intelligent design circus,” Tribeca 2006, Showtime)
titled, “Sizzle: A global warming comedy,” will have it’s world
premiere at the Outfest Gay and Lesbian Film Festival on
Saturday, July 19, 2008 in Hollywood, California. The east coast
premiere takes place a week later as the Opening Night Film of the
Woods Hole Film Festival on Saturday, July 26.
“The movie is both silly and serious,” Dr. Olson says. “It’s only
fitting that we have a night of silliness in Hollywood at Outfest,
followed by a night of seriousness at Woods Hole.”
The Woods Hole debut features a post-screening panel discussion
including Andy Revkin the top global warming journalist for the
New York Times and author of the hugely popular Dot Earth blog.
Other panel members include Dr. Gary Borisy, Director of the
Marine Biological Laboratory of Woods Hole, Dr. Naomi Oreskes
of U.C.S.D. who is in the movie, and Randy Olson.
The movie is a unique and original mixture of three genres:
mockumentary, documentary, and reality. It is the story of a
scientist-turned-filmmaker (Olson) forced to team up with two
fabulous but flaky Hollywood producers (comic actors Brian Clark
and Mitch Silpa), who give him a crew that includes a global
warming skeptic (comic actor Alex Thomas). Olson valiantly
leads his ragtag crew through a series of interviews with top
climate scientists as well as a half dozen major global warming
skeptics. In each interview, his cameraman interrupts the
discussion to argue with the experts about his beliefs that global
warming is little more than a scam.
After realizing his interviews fail to provide enough material for a
documentary, Olson and his soundman (Ifeanyi Njoku) journey to
New Orleans in search of “the human face of global warming,” in
time for the two year anniversary of Hurricane Katrina. What they
encounter in the Lower Ninth Ward provides a somber, stark
contrast to the silliness of making a documentary feature, and calls
into question whether even the wealthiest nation on earth is ready
to deal with major climate events predicted by global warming.
“It’s a challenging film,” Dr. Olson says. “It takes you on a
journey from the superficiality of Hollywood environmentalism to
the skepticism of conservative critics of global warming to the face
of human suffering in New Orleans. And it’s only fitting that we
begin the release of the film with the gay community at Outfest.
They seem to respect and appreciate the novel and creative
approach we’ve taken to these two very important topics – global
warming and Katrina – despite the current media saturation.”
The music score for “Sizzle,” comes from Grammy Award winner
and Emmy nominee, legendary acoustic musician John McEuen -co-founder of The Nitty Gritty Dirt Band and host of his own XM
radio show, “Acoustic Traveler.”
Tickets for both premieres go on sale in mid-June. At least a
dozen universities are negotiating screening events in the fall
featuring Dr. Olson joining post-screening panel discussions with
global warming experts.
For information: info@sizzlethemovie.com