Behind the Scenes of An Inconvenient Truth

Kid Reporter Aaron Broder talks to Lawrence Bender

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Civil engineer, dancer, actor, movie producer—these are all jobs that Lawrence Bender, producer of An Inconvenient Truth, has held. Bender helped produce the Oscar-winning documentary, which features former Vice President Al Gore.

The movie focuses on global warming and its effects. I recently had the opportunity to speak with Bender when he came to the Nashville Film Festival.

Scholastic News Online: How did you first get involved in An Inconvenient Truth?

Lawrence Bender: I went to see Al Gore do his presentation on global warming and, like everybody who has seen his presentation, I came out really moved and I [thought] “What can I do?” And because I make movies, I had to make this into a movie. [Vice President Gore] is funny, he’s passionate, he’s wonderful to watch, and he’s able to take this science of global warming and boil it down into an easily digestible form that someone like myself could understand. I put together a team of people and we went to pitch the former Vice President about making a movie about his slide show. We were all really nervous, and then he walked in, and immediately just disarmed us. He was very engaging, and that made it very easy for us. He was skeptical at first [and] wasn’t sure he saw how it was going to be made into a movie. But he said okay—and away we went.

SNO: What exactly were your responsibilities when you worked on An Inconvenient Truth?

Bender: A producer’s job can vary. In this case, there were several producers and it was very much a team effort. First of all, as a producer, I came up with the idea to make the movie and I put together the team of people that would actually be involved in making the movie. That included finding a director, finding the money, talking to the [former] Vice President, and talking to the people with the money. Then I was very much involved in making the schedule and the budget. I also worked a lot with the director. In the editing of the movie, we [the producers] looked at the “cuts” and gave opinions about the movie.

SNO: How is it different working on a documentary than a feature film?

Bender: There is a big difference. In a feature film, you often have big stars and lots of funding for advertising. With a documentary, you don’t have that money, and you have to create buzz by showing it to critics and then releasing it. On a technical basis, when you are making a feature film, you generally have a finished screenplay that you send to a director and actors. But for a documentary, there is no script, it’s an idea. In this case, it was Al Gore’s presentation.

SNO: When did you first hear about global warming and what made you want to get involved?

Bender: I’ve heard about global warming for the past ten years. The first time I really started thinking about global warming was sometime after 9/11. It became clear the global warming was directly related to our consumption of energy [gas and oil]. And those things are directly related to our national security. So our national security and global warming are very much linked together. I really got energized to do as much as I do now after I saw Al Gore give his presentation.

SNO: Why do you think it is so important for kids and adults to learn about global warming?

Bender: It’s almost more important for kids your age than for me. If we don’t fix the problem now, the world is going to look very different when you are my age. In the past 50-75 years, the amount of carbon in the atmosphere has increased dramatically. [If nothing is done,] by 2050 the amount of carbon will be higher then is has been in tens of millions of years. The results would be catastrophic. The chances of there being another Katrina are increased. All of the ice in the North Pole would be melted.

SNO: What was it like working with Vice President Al Gore?

Bender: It was great. He was the hardest-working man I have ever met. We would go into the editing room at 9 o’clock in the morning, and at midnight he’d be going as if it were noon. And he was very funny and very personable.

SNO: Can you tell me about your initiative, 18seconds.org?

Bender: People came out of the movie saying, “what can I do?” I wanted to get people really energized to do something and I thought the light bulb was kind of an iconic figure. And there are energy-efficient light bulbs that cost a little more, compact fluorescent bulbs (CFL). They use 30% of the energy a standard light bulb uses—18seconds is a grassroots movement I’m creating. On the Web site, you can enter your zip code and see how many CFL light bulbs have been purchased in your area. This is an easy thing because the light bulb causes your energy bills to go down by saving energy. If every person in the country bought one CFL light bulb, we would save 30 billion pounds of coal. [That’s the same as] $8 billion in energy savings.

What Can You Do to Help?

Though there may not be much you can personally do to help cut down on global warming, there is plenty that you and your parents can do together. Lawrence Bender put together this list on ways you can help the environment.

1. Ask your parents to replace their light bulbs with the energy-efficient CFL light bulbs.
2. In the summertime, turn the thermostat up a few degrees, and in the winter, turn the thermostat down a few degrees. This saves energy while still keeping the temperature comfortable.
3. When doing the laundry, try to hang-dry your clothes instead of using a dryer, and use cold water instead of warm water in the washing machine.
4. When going to dry cleaners, don’t take the plastic bags.
5. Wrap your water heater with insulation.
6. If possible, set up solar panels on your roof.
   

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