Energy Industry Targets Upcoming Matt Damon Film ‘Promised Land’

Energy Industry Targets Upcoming Matt Damon Film ‘Promised Land’ by Georg Szalai, October 8, 2012, Hollywood Reporter
“We’ve been surprised at the emergence of what looks like a concerted campaign targeting the film even before anyone’s seen it,” says Focus Features CEO James Schamus. Focus Features’ Matt Damon film Promised Land is only coming to theaters at the end of December, but the energy industry is already gearing up for a public relations battle, the Wall Street Journal reported. … The energy industry is worried that it will be presented in a critical light and is preparing possible responses, such as providing film reviewers with scientific studies, distributing leaflets to moviegoers and launching a “truth squad” initiative on Twitter and Facebook, the Journalsaid. “We have to address the concerns that are laid out in these types of films,” a spokesman for Independent Petroleum Association of America, which represents energy producers, told the paper.

“We’ve been surprised at the emergence of what looks like a concerted campaign targeting the film even before anyone’s seen it,” James Schamus, CEO of NBCUniversal’s Focus Features, told theJournal. … “Fracking is the catalyst for a bigger story about the complex challenges confronting small towns across America today,” said Jim Berk, CEO of Participant Media, which is Focus’ partner on the film. The movie wants to “raise awareness of the importance of transparency and regulations for public health and safety,” he said. Image Nation, partially funded by the Abu Dhabi government, provided financing for the film as part of a broader deal covering several movies from Participant. It told the Journal that it invests in Participant films “regardless of genre or subject matter.” [Emphasis added]

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