Monday, June 24, 2013

TSH HOLLYWOOD - My Exclusive Interview with FrackNation Co-Director Magdalena Segieda

 


The following is my exclusive interview with Magdalena Segieda, who co-directed  the documentary FrackNation along with noted filmmakers  Phelim McAleer and Ann McElhinney. Ms. Segieda was born in 1982 in Szczecin, a city in Poland mentioned in Churchill’s famous speech about the Iron Curtain. She studied in a college geared towards supplying employees for European institutions, graduating with a BA in Political Science and International Relations the year Poland joined EU. (source Ann & Phelim Media)

Thank you for taking the time to answer a few questions about FrackNation for our readers.

1 - Before we get to the film, I want to ask you about the environmental movement, writ large. In an Episode of Penn and Teller BS, an actress attends a massive green rally and is able to convince dozens of people to sign a petition banning dihydrogen monoxide, saying it was used by corporations everywhere and was found in just about everything. People gladly signed the petition without question. Dihydrogen Monoxide is H2O - water! What is it about the environmental movement that makes seemingly intelligent people check their brains at the door?

Why do their critical thinking skills fail when in comes to environmentalism? Ideology. The will immediately accept any, even most fantastical storyline, if it fits their narrative of "evil corporations spreading death and destruction" and they will refuse to consider any evidence that contradicts that narrative.
 
2 - Environmentalism seems to have an almost fundamentalist fervor to it: Man destroyed paradise through his reckless actions and must atone or the earth will be destroyed. Do you think environmentalism has become a secular religion to many people?

3 - What event or events stirred such a passion that it set the wheels for FrackNation in motion?
 
Ann and Phelim are long-time journalists with passion and experience in telling stories that the mainstream media just won't tell. I was born in Poland, where energy was very expensive and intermittent and that affected my life growing up. So it's a combination of those factors plus outpouring of support from people all over the country (and abroad) once we announced we were planning this project and launched our crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter.
 
4 - In the film and subsequent interviews, you demonstrate that not only is the anti-fracking movement promoting bad public policy, it's promoting bad science. We are also seeing a growing  dependence on Saudi oil, unemployment and crappy Matt Damon movies. What do you think is the single most destructive impact the Josh Fox/Gasland crowd have had?
 
Personally, what I find most insidious about Josh Fox's films and campaigns is that he created this impression that there is a massive local opposition to fracking among farmers and landowners. When I hit the road to do research for FrackNation and went from door to door, I discovered it was the New York City elites that were against fracking, not the people of the land.
 
5 - The Alec Baldwin foundation recently kicked Phelim off a panel that is going to debate fracking. He's given no logical reason as to why he was kicked off, with the exception of a flurry of insulting tweets. What do you think they're so afraid of?
 
Alec Baldwin will sit on that panel himself, accompanied by Josh Fox and another anti-fracking journalist. I don't think he's looking for balance. But it's Josh Fox who refused to debate Phelim on multiple occasions. What he is afraid of? The truth I guess. He can't defend the misinformation and the misleading claims he made in his movies, so he prefers avoiding difficult questions.
 
6 - The New York Times wrote a very positive review of FrackNation. Do you think you are finally changing hearts and minds when it comes to fracking?
 
Well, we were surprised by that review too. I hope they simply watched FrackNation and thought it was a good movie.
 
7 - Do you think people like Josh Fox, Alec Baldwin and Matt Damon really care about the environment, or is there something else going on?

It's hard to say. Josh has made a career out of protesting against natural gas. As for Hollywood actors and celebrities, there is their ego, so perhaps they feel the need to save the world.
 
8 - There are over 30,000 climate scientists who are challenging the claims of the environmental movement, yet we keep hearing the debate is over, the science is solid, and climate skeptics are right-wing schills for big oil.  Even very smart folks like Michael Shermer think global warming skeptics have simply skewed the data in their favour, blinded by their own conservative biases.  Again, why are they shutting down dissent?
 
Because once "the debate is settled", they can just proceed with policies that are supposed to shape the world according to their vision. Thankfully, there is still freedom of speech in America.
 
9 -  Where can people see FrackNation? Will it be available for streaming rental on ITunes or a similar site at some point?
 
People can view the film at public screening organized all around the country by various groups. They can check for a screening near them, here: http://fracknation.com/screenings/. They can also buy a DVD to watch and keep at home to show to friends and family here: http://fracknation.com/purchase/. Mark Cuban's AXS TV will show FrackNation again on Tuesday, July 9th at 8 and 11 p.m. Eastern. So there is really no excuse not to see it.

10 - Congratulations on the success of FrackNation. What's next for you, Ann, and Phelim?

A very much needed break.
 
 
 
11 - Thanks again for taking time out of your busy schedule to talk with us.
 
Thanks a lot for your interest in our work.
 
Magdalena Segieda can be reached at;

Hard Boiled Films
578 Washington Blvd, #938
Marina Del Rey, CA 90292