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It's not easy being green
Who initiated this idea?
"Leonardo. We'd produced two short films on Leonardo's site, leonardodicaprio.org. One was on global warming and the other was about fresh water. They're both four minutes long and Leonardo had worked with Nadia and Leila on those two films and he wanted to do a bigger film with them because they have such a great working relationship. So we raised independent money to do the film because Leonardo tends to get watered down when he's doing something for ABC or HBO."¯
What do you mean?
"They're like, "˜Well, you can't say that because we don't want to offend this corporation and you can't say that.' We want to be able to tell the truth, so we raised independent money."¯
Why make this in light of An Inconvenient Truth?
"We began this process before Al Gore's film came out and Leonardo is very concerned about global warming, but this film goes beyond global warming. An Inconvenient Truth spends 87 minutes on global warming and our film spends seven minutes, so it's the next conversation."¯
The film is depressing; did you worry about coming on too strong and scaring audiences?
[Laughs] "Leonardo wanted to scare people but in a good way! You do feel disillusioned and hopeless, but the second half of the movie talks about changing the culture and how we need a new way of seeing things and what's happening out there. So he hopes the audience is moved by the end of it and inspired to do something, no matter how small. Nobody is 100% green, but you do what you can. And in a way, what's more depressing is that the mass media in America don't cover this stuff. We're much more concerned about Paris Hilton in jail, instead of the fact that 95% of the big fish in the ocean are gone."¯
Does Leonardo DiCaprio live a green life on a daily basis?
"He does. I mean, we're all aware of keeping energy down, so of course we use recycled paper, and most of the people on the production team drive hybrid cars. Leonardo has solar panels in his house. He does what he can within the system we live in."¯
But he's still criticised for not doing enough, isn't he?
"He's very aware that there is a certain cynicism out there. He's just a concerned citizen. He's not posing as an expert, and that's why we interview the experts. He's very smart, don't get me wrong! He's really well versed on everything in the film but he's not pretending to be an expert. He's concerned and he wanted to give a platform to the experts, scientists and visionaries. He's very passionate about the environment and he couldn't sit back and do nothing. Plus, the Hollywood community has a long history of getting involved in important movements. He doesn't pretend to be somebody he's not. He's worried about what's happening, just like the rest of us, and that's all."¯
How did you decide on the structure of the film?
"Well, the girls and Leo had very, very long conversations for about a year, about the state of the natural world. So it took a long time to figure out how to structure this, and then we started thinking about who was best to speak. We interviewed 71 people and our first cut was 17 hours! Now it's 90 minutes. We describe it as a single narrative told by 54 people."¯
Will there be a follow up film?
"Absolutely. We do have other ideas that we want to do, and we're going to focus more on solutions for the next film. But we're not finished with this one yet. We're building a social action campaign that goes with it, so you can help, and we want to develop a curriculum for schools."¯
What will Leonardo DiCaprio's role be? How involved was he in this one?
"Leonardo was really involved. Leo was a co-writer and he was in the editing room until 2 or 3 o'clock in the morning for weeks and weeks. This is his film. He is into it, so it'll probably be the same on the next one."¯
The 11th Hour is released in cinemas on October 11. To read an interview with Leonardo DiCaprio, pick up the latest issue of FILMINK Magazine, which is available now.
For more on the film and to get involved, head to the official website and also to Leonardo DiCaprio's own official website.
