I had a long lunch with Zach Frankel, executive director of The Utah Rivers Council yesterday. Like me, Zach grew to believe that telling stories might be the way to catch the attention of a greater mass of citizen voters and orient them toward some action on protecting the nest they live in. Zach started off thinking he and the River Council would focus on stream ecology and spread the word about their beauty and peril and what could be done about it. Now, with the same goal in mind of saving the streams, he is making documentaries on Real Estate. Zach often comments that his evolution as an activist has led from ecology to economy. Now he believes changing that the way we lobby for, build and live in our homes could have as much impact on saving streams as direct activism. For instance, he says, the laws changed in the 1970's to allow for lower energy efficiency make the housing stock today about 40% less efficient than it would have been. Zach also points out the preponderance of Real Estate motivated folks in politics. Interesting stuff. Zach is still manning the helm at the River Council but he's well on the way with the film making.
In music today albums are often given away to promote a band's tour. Used to be the other way around. I have wondered what the parallel is with books. So Zach's idea of using the films he makes to also promote a companion book is intriguing. I noticed this morning that Marc Reisner's Cadillac Desert is touted on the book cover as being, "The companion to the PBS documentary."
I'll get Zach to write a little summary of his Real Estate theme and we'll post it in "Plateau Palaver."
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