BERNIE EPK Featuring Jack Black wrapping in Post and more wraps!

Michael is wrapping up the first phase of the OTW/HI-FI EPK and Added Content for Richard Linklater's new feature film "Bernie" starring Jack Black, Shirley MacLaine and Matthew McConaughey.  Harry & Michael we're in and around Austin Texas back in Oct-Nov. shooting the footage for the EPK & Added Content.

We now begin work on 2 new films including a new short film being filmed right here in Santa Barbara with one of the Producers from Ivan Reitman's Montecito Pictures as his first solo venture. More on that a little later...

The Film Crew's Deepwater Rising Production a documentary on the Gulf of Mexico enters post and should complete on April 8th! Two months of working across the entire Gulf of Mexico coastline and out at sea will soon be ready for broadcast!

As "Deepwater Rising' enters Post Production it seems there is no shortfall of news pouring in regarding events in the Gulf of Mexico

The events in the Gulf of Mexico are still making major headlines daily almost 10 months after it all began. The reality of what we saw as filmmakers continues to reveal itself each week. The latest report covering the deaths of nearly 60 juvenile Dolphins spread out along Gulf beaches over the last 8 weeks, nearly 10 times the normal observed mortality rate.

This report by Vivian Kuo, CNN just in.

SUPER-UBER MICROBES EATING ALL THE OIL

Something else noteworthy has been surfacing in the news as of late:
SUPERCHARGED OIL EATING MICROBES, bacteria consuming the Oil at off the scale rates of consumption...wow ! really? we keep hearing about this. Were they invented in the Lab? Well uh  no... Did it's overnite superpowers give birth in the Gulf? Well uh maybe? All that Oil, well most of it is gone! Well uh no, not quite. It's all either sitting on the bottom in a nice cocktail mix of dispersant and oil, hovering around in giant moving plumes, ashified remnants of surface oil set ablaze and oh yeah all over the barrier islands and marshes in the Gulf. That's right we've seen it ourselves. Uh but they keep telling us it's gone... Now why is that?  I wish I had an answer for that one...

What we do know according to our journalists is that NO ONE COULD SHOW PROOF POSITVE IN ANY LAB Macondo OIL EATING MICROBES, that is actual oil from Deepwater Horizon being consumed at UBER rates by Super bacteria. 
Someone please show us!

Our Scientists like Samantha Joye and many others who do have scientific proof and evidence have shown otherwise. It's still here, it's impact will be long lasting. It's current impact has already destroyed, yes KILLED sea life in the deepwater. We now need to be looking at a solution and at ways in which mankind can help replenish what was taken away.


SANTA BARBARA CHANNEL has oil eating microbes. That's right and they are able to keep approximately 6600 gallons per day of natural oil seeping into the channel at bay according to David Valentine at UCSB's Marine Science Institute. If we gave these microbes some vitamins could they really suddenly grow to handle the consumption of over 500,000 gallons of oil a day? Could this happen without a collapse within the system? I'm not a scientist but it does not seem possible, the levels of Oxygen needed to support and promote this type of oil eating genetic monster of a bacteria is neither attainable or sustainable. This activity would yield massive dead zones that could be observed in the Gulf environment.


What is your opinion?

How does 200 million gallons of oil compare to the size of our Oceans

So I asked around WHOI "What exactly can we compare 200 Million gallons of oil with in our modern world to get a better understanding of just how much oil actually spilled into the Gulf of Mexico from the Macondo well. Well you might be very surprised by the answer I got from Ken Kostel of WHOI!

The volume of the ocean is about 310 million cubic miles, which is a cube about 680 miles on a side--or a sphere a little over 500 miles in diameter.

The volume of the Gulf of Mexico is 584,000 cubic miles, which is a cube a little over 83 miles on a side or a sphere about 100 miles in diameter.

The amount spilled is 200 million gallons, which works out to .0002 cubic miles, or a cube just 300 feet on a side--or a sphere about 370 feet it diameter.

OK thanks Ken! So lets look at some graphical comparisons to better visualize the ENORMOUS impact this amount of oil has had upon the environment.

One thing I would tell you is that I had less than a drop of the oil on my thumb during our filming of the Marsh lands in Bay Jimmy, Louisiana. That one drop as I rubbed it between my thumb and forefinger spread out and when I rubbed both my hands together I received a very nice sheen completely covering the palms and fingers of both of my hands! LESS THAN 1 DROP !

Watch the NEW ALVIN DEEP SUBMERSIBLE being rebuilt LIVE at WHOI

Woodshole Oceanographic Institute has an ALVIN webcam which shows the DSV being rebuilt live in its hangar at Woodshole. After enjoying the unique opportunity working alongside of Alvins crew and of sitting inside of Alvin and filming while aboard the Atlantis I have to say that this is really an amazing opportunity to witness via the internet. Looks like the same crew onboard Atlantis are doing the work, Bruce, Mike, Dave & crew all hard at work!

What is most incredible to me is that right now the United States is without a Manned DSV of Alvins capabilities in depth for the first time since 1964 !! So these guys at Woodshole are working long hard hours to get Alvin back into the water ASAP.

In the aftermath of Deepwater Horizon all indicators are pointing towards an uncertain future in regard to the overall impact the oil, which is still on the bottom of the ocean, will play in the future of the Gulf. Evidence is conclusive that the oil on the bottom has killed most of what it has come into contact with. We need manned DSV's to better explore and better understand what is going on in our Oceans but for right now the scientists are analyzing all the critical data they were able to gather before Alvin was retired and the results are coming in more rapidly as of late.

I for one would like to thank WHOI for all they do and for their continued efforts and strides their organization makes on a daily basis on behalf of our planet Earth and all the life it sustains.  Let's get Alvin back to work as soon as we can!

LATEST NEWS FROM GULF REVEALS MASSIVE FLUX OF GAS

Well the new scientific paper from University of Georgia Professor of Marine Sciences Samantha Joye has been released ! It is extremely revealing in regards to the oxygen depletion currently taking place in and around the Deepwater Horizon site. You can read it here.

We had the opportunity to interview Dr. Samantha "Mandy" Joye the day before we left port on the Research vessel Atlantis. What Mandy had to say about all of this was indeed pretty much what she has substantiated in her research paper and you'll be able to see that interview soon! Stay tuned for more...

Impact of the Oil on the Marshes

   OK we have been given approval from Mike deGruy to show a little bit of what we shot when we were at Bay Jimmy & witnessing the oil's impact on the Marshes.

  You can clearly see how the oil is pushing, covering and killing the Marsh and in so doing has condemned the land beneath it's dead roots to erode into the sea as well as loss of natural habitat for the creatures that inhabit these waters and islands.

Oil under the Sea, on land and loss of land in the Gulf!

Well I have to apologize for not updating the blog everyday but it simply was not possible. Why you ask? Sometimes no Internet and most of the time we were working 18-20 hour days to get all the incredible stories and film for the documentary. So let's start off in Grand Isle where we made it in 3 days of driving from Santa Barbara! We were in a rush as our leads in Louisiana reported a South wind was blowing oil and tar onto several Grand Isle beaches.

Well no sooner did we arrive when we were instructed by the producer and star Mike deGruy to immediately head for Bay Jimmy about 4 hours from Grand Isle near the bottom of Louisiana. This would prove to be an important trip and the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, LDWF, WOULD BE ESCORTING US ALONG WITH EVERY MAJOR NEWS NETWORK out to Bay Jimmy to see the oil and the damage first hand!

Why is Bay Jimmy important? The same reason descending to the bottom of the ocean at over 5000ft in the Alvin...OIL.  The oil is on the bottom of the sea and it is also on the shores of many of the barrier islands and mainland in the Gulf states. Dispersant sunk the oil and the oil that made it to the surface has been washing ashore for over 9 months since the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 workers..

What is the solution here? The oil that attacks the marshes and kills the marsh grass causes further erosion. More erosion means more lost land and also lost habitat for birds and juvenile fish and other plankton. This works it's way right up the food chain to what we eat and consume on the planet. For decades, long before the spill, saltwater intrusion has been the main culprit of land loss in the Gulf! The oil spill simply added to the problem and maybe some good will come out of all this. GOOD OUT OF AN OIL SPILL, HAVE I LOST MY MIND !! No, not yet, the BP spill has received world and more importantly nationwide recognition regarding the effects of the oil spill on the marshes. BP is being held responsible and money is being given out for studies as well as cleanup.  Funding is important because it is something our scientists have not had enough of to do their job. To come up with better and more modern solutions to the many problems that face the Gulf region.

How did this all start? What caused the loss of marsh grass and erosion in the first place?
How about man altering the path and trying to contain and control the mighty Misssissippi River !! The river for millions of years flowed unabated, changed course, continued to deposit silt into the basin and all that was changed by man in a mere 100 years!

There is a great deal to be said on the state of the Gulf about the causes and more importantly about future remedies. The documentaries we will be creating from our 2 months in the Gulf will tell those stories both accurately and through stunning visuals!



Here's a shrimp boat from Grand Isle and what a magnificent sight!















Stay tuned for more details to come from Mike deGruy's "Film Crew"-"Deepwater Rising" productions.  Mike's website should be online soon and we'll keep you posted!

We're driving to Grand Isle 2150 miles away...

OK crew on the road! We've got Mike Braniger and Stephen Posner and off we go.
Day 1 January 3rd: We made it all the way to Deming, New Mexico!
We forged ahead as we got the news that the WINDS were blowing from out of the South and that our destination was getting it's beaches covered again in Tar balls and oil

Day 2 January 4th: All the way to San Antonio, Texas !  
Went to the Riverwal, and wouldn't you know it, the one week a year they drain the river we show up.  Also it seems all the good eateries decide to close as well right when we show up!

Day 3 January 5th: It's RAINING Blackbirds as we headed out just before dawn fron San Antonio. Thousands took to the sky as we were rubbing our tired eyes in amazement!

 14 hours later we make it to Grand Isle, LA. Time for a shower & bed !! 

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL OUR FOLLOWERS AND SPONSORS

 Just wishing you all the best and thank you for supporting our efforts in the Gulf of Mexico.