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Sundance Channel Unveils Two New Eco-Series This Summer in THE GREEN(TM)
'Outrageous Wasters' and 'It's Not Easy Being Green Season 2' Debut
NEW YORK, May 20 -- Sundance Channel has added two British
eco-reality series to the summer line up of the network's weekly
environmental block THE GREEN. Beginning July 1 at 9pm et/pt, the network
will debut "Outrageous Wasters," a four-part series that follows a single
family through an ultra-crash course in eco-aware living, designed to
transform them from energy-guzzling "meanies" to tree-loving "greenies" in
two weeks. Kicking off on July 29 at 9pm et/pt is season 2 of "Its Not Easy
Being Green." In eight thirty-minute episodes three "green experts" travel
around the British countryside advising and assisting a range of citizens
in realizing their eco goals. These shows will be followed each week in THE
GREEN by a documentary film on one of a broad range of eco-related topics,
from climate change and energy to design, fashion and architecture.
"International television networks have been ahead of the pack in
creating upbeat and entertaining green programming," commented Sundance
Channel EVP and GM Programming and Creative Affairs, Laura Michalchyshyn.
"Sundance Channel's THE GREEN block is the perfect place to showcase these
lively, fun and sometimes outrageous eco-reality shows from around the
globe."
Sundance Channel's THE GREEN, presented by Lexus Hybrid Living and Citi
Smith Barney, returned for a second season in April 2008. THE GREEN
presents a lively mix of original series, documentary premieres and
interstitial series about the earth's ecology. Its original programs and
interstitial segments provide viewers with ideas for how to work green,
play green, eat green, dress green and live green. Sundance Channel's
original series "Big Ideas for a Small Planet" continues every Tuesday
night at 9pm et/pt through June 24.
THE GREEN July through September programming
Tuesday, July 1st
9:00pm e/p "Outrageous Wasters" Episode 1 (U.S. Television Premiere) - In the
suburban town of Aylesbury, the Witheys - Stella; Mark, her husband of
three years; and Stella's 14-year-old son Jak - admit they have given
little thought to environmental issues. They're a two-car family, with
loads of electronic gadgets and a rather cavalier approach to consumption.
10:10pm e/p
Wetlands Preserved (U.S. Television Premiere) - Directed by Dean
Budnick. From 1989 to 2001, Budnick chronicles the environmentally friendly
club's legend with rare vintage concert footage and accounts from the
club's former owners, rock critics, musicians and club regulars.
Tuesday, July 8
9:00pm e/p
"Outrageous Wasters" Episode 2 (U.S. Television Premiere) - The
affluent Buchannan family - John, Susan and their children, 19-year-old
Kris and 16-year-old Aimee - share a sumptuous home near Glasgow, Scotland.
They own three cars and a fourth vehicle is in the offing; their meals are
largely comprised of imported ingredients.
10:10pm e/p
Garbage Warrior (Original Production) - Directed by Oliver Hodge and
co- production of Open Eye Media, ITVS International and Sundance Channel.
This inspiring film profiles maverick architect Michael Reynolds, who has
spent thirty years developing radically original models of self-sustaining
housing near Taos, New Mexico.
Tuesday, July 15th
9:00pm e/p
"Outrageous Wasters" Episode 3 (U.S. Television Premiere) - The Fowlers
of Dunkirk - successful entrepreneur Roger; his wife Nicola; and their
children, 15-year-old Francis, 13-year-old Jonathan and 9-year-old Katya --
have a carbon footprint five times the British national average. They play
loads of games, have a shocking number of TVs, and host weekly parties that
generate lots of empty bottles and leftover food -- all of which ends up as
landfill event.
10:10pm e/p
In the Pit - Directed by Juan Carlos Rulfo. To give a human face to
seemingly unendurable labor, Mexican documentarian Rulfo visited a major
construction site as workers toiled to build an upper deck of Mexico City's
immense Periferico Highway. Grand Jury Prize for World Documentary, 2006
Sundance Film Festival.
Tuesday, July 22nd
9:00pm e/p
"Outrageous Wasters" Episode 4 (U.S. Television Premiere) -
Hairdressers/salon owners Stewart and Anji Armodtrading live 13 miles
outside of London in Maidenhead, sharing a home with their 21-year-old year
daughter Shanelle, their 18-year-old daughter Strong, and Strong's friend,
17-year-old Carla. Anji runs about 35 loads of laundry per week, and
computer programmer Shanelle ends each day with a luxuriant bath
10:10pm e/p
Genesis (Sundance Channel Premiere) - Directed by Claude Nuridsany,
Marie Perennou. From the French team behind the Microcosmos comes this
bewitching look at the origins and evolution of life on Earth.
Tuesday, July 29th
9:00pm e/p
"It's Not Easy Being Green" Season 2/Episode 1 (U.S. Television
Premiere) - In the borough of Wirral in northwest England, Dick meets Helen
and Russell Keenan, who have ambitious plans for a self-sufficient
eco-compound.
9:35pm e/p
The Greening of Southie - Directed by Ian Cheney. This documentary goes
behind the scenes and onto the scaffolds to follow the construction of
Boston's first green residential building, a luxury condominium complex
called the Macallen.
Tuesday, August 5
9:00pm e/p
"It's Not Easy Being Green" Season 2/Episode 2 (U.S. Television
Premiere) - Dick and James meet sisters Jake and Candy Moriarty, who have
sold the family B&B and now want to create an eco-friendly campsite on land
they own in Cornwall.
9:35pm e/p
The Unforeseen (Television Premiere) Directed by Laura Dunn. Combining
lyrical cinematography, illuminating archival footage and even-handed
reportage, Dunn maps three decades of conflict between real estate
developers and community-based conservationists in Austin, Texas. Executive
produced by Terrence Malick and Robert Redford.
Tuesday, August 12
9:00pm e/p
"It's Not Easy Being Green" Season 2/Episode 3 (U.S. Television
Premiere) - Dick meets Chris and Carla Fletcher, rat-race refugees who have
settled in Aberdeenshire, Scotland to grow their own food and raise
livestock (including an unusual breed of sheep).
9:35pm e/p
Grass - Directed by Ron Mann. While it's unlikely to change US drug
policy, this entertaining documentary chronicling the bizarre 100-year
history of laws against the use of marijuana may prompt outrage, discussion
and a perverse sense of nostalgia.
Tuesday, August 19
9:00pm e/p
"It's Not Easy Being Green" Season 2/Episode 4 (U.S. Television
Premiere) - James meets Maggie of Staffordshire, who is renovating her
1930s house in a thoroughly eco-friendly fashion, re-using original
fixtures and as many eco-friendly materials as possible.
9:35pm e/p
Ice Breaker (Television Premiere) - Directed by Jody Shapiro and David
Best. This documentary captures 42 days onboard a Canadian Coast Guard ship
as it sails from Newfoundland to the high Arctic, patrolling some of the
most spectacular and dangerous waterways on the planet.
Tuesday, August 26
9:00pm e/p
"It's Not Easy Being Green" Season 2/Episode 5 (U.S. Television
Premiere) - At New House Farm, James recruits his friends and his sister
Charlotte help dig a new pond to attract more wildlife -- and give the
family's ducklings their own home. Dick meets with East London resident
Andrew Martin, who wants to install a solar hot water heater in his back
garden
9:35pm e/p
Everything's Cool - Directed by Daniel B. Gold and Judith Helfand.
Mixing humor with urgency, Gold and Helfand (Blue Vinyl) profile the small
group of global warming messengers who continue to prod a largely apathetic
public into political activism.
Tuesday, September 2
9:00pm e/p
"It's Not Easy Being Green" Season 2/Episode 6 (U.S. Television
Premiere) - In Lincolnshire, we meet Zannah and Arthur, who are renovating
a 200-year- old cottage that has no onsite heating source.
9:35pm e/p
Somba Ke: The Money Place - Directed by Linda Henningson, Petr Cizek
and David Henningson. Sombe Ke reveals the neglected story of the remote
Canadian region that supplied the Manhattan Project with uranium for the
Hiroshima and Nagasaki A-bombs, and its dark and disturbing legacy.
Tuesday, September 9
9:00pm e/p
"It's Not Easy Being Green" Season 2/Episode 7 (U.S. Television
Premiere) - In the seaside area of New Forest, Matt Goldschmeid wants to
make a permanent home of the lush vacation property his parents bought in
the 1980s.
9:35pm e/p
Burning the Future: Coal in America - Directed by David Novack. West
Virginia provides coal to produce electricity for half the nation.
Ironically, while preserving jobs, coal mining disfigures mountainsides,
destroys plant and animal species and spreads toxic groundwater.
Tuesday, September 16
9:00pm e/p
"It's Not Easy Being Green" Season 2/Episode 8 (U.S. Television
Premiere) - Dick and Jim visit a Cambridge mechanic named Gary, who wants
to save money by switching his car to biodiesel. Using scrounged and free
materials, the men construct a backyard biofuel processor, which will
convert used vegetable oil from the local take-out restaurant.
9:35pm e/p
Off the Grid: Life on the Mesa - Directed by Jeremy Stulberg and Randy
Stulberg. Some 400 people make their home on a rugged 15-square mile
stretch of New Mexico desert known as the Mesa. Devoid of basic amenities
like running water, paved roads and power lines, the Mesa isn't an easy
place to live, but it does offer solitude and autonomy to those who need
it, as well as an alternative to contemporary consumer society.
Under the creative direction of Robert Redford, Sundance Channel is the
television destination for independent-minded viewers seeking something
different. Bold, uncompromising and irreverent, Sundance Channel offers
audiences a diverse and engaging selection of films, documentaries, and
original programs, all unedited and commercial free. Launched in 1996,
Sundance Channel is a venture of NBC Universal, CBS and Robert Redford.
Sundance Channel operates independently of the non-profit Sundance
Institute and the Sundance Film Festival, but shares the overall Sundance
mission of encouraging artistic freedom of expression. Sundance Channel's
website address is http://www.sundancechannel.com.
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