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Permalink Reply by intrepid on December 12, 2009 at 15:01

Coming soon to a theater near YOU!

Filmmaker Gregory Kallenberg will screen his documentary and lead a panel discussion on Jan. 21 in the Shell Auditorium at Rice University's Jones School of Business. Watch for details on the Chronicle's Newswatch: Energy blog at blogs.chron.com/newswatchenergy


>>Gregory Kallenberg was sitting in a Shreveport diner early last year the first time he heard about the massive Haynesville natural gas find from a fellow patron.

“It was like the crazy miner who comes in from the hills saying he has found gold,” said Kallenberg, a former newspaper reporter and cable television writer turned documentary filmmaker. But what he thought would be a film about the people in the middle of a mad rush for drilling rights ended up being something bigger, a story about the nation's energy future.

Kallenberg took a few minutes from preparing for a screening of the movie at the Copenhagen climate change conference this week to speak with Chronicle reporter Tom Fowler by phone about his film Haynesville.

Q: What's your elevator-pitch description of the movie?

A: Haynesville follows the momentous discovery of what is looking like it will be the largest natural gas field in the country. The film itself looks at the discovery from the perspective of three people's lives and how they're affected by the find. One is a single mom fighting for her community's land rights. One is an African-American preacher who's trying to use the proceeds from the Haynesville to build a Christian school. And the other is a self-described good ol' boy who becomes an overnight millionaire. The other part that's woven in between these personal stories is what this vast amount of energy means. What does it mean when you find 170 TCF of natural gas? How does that impact the national energy picture and eventually the energy future?

Q: How do you think the movie changes audience opinions on drilling?

A: We've now shown this film in Louisiana, in New York, in England, and we're about to show it in Copenhagen at the climate summit. What we're seeing with the audience is an empirical change in the way they think. I think people know how much coal we use in the United States. But I don't think people know how clean a fossil fuel natural gas is. I don't think people know there's no utility-level storage for renewables. Bringing these things to the table really does change an audience. During the Q&A at the end of the film, you really expect the audience to want to talk about the personal stories, but they want to talk about energy and natural gas and how they had no idea these facts were there. Especially in Europe, these guys come in with a preconceived notion of what an oil company is and what they do, or what fossil fuels are. The European audiences came out very positive to some of the notions that came out at the end of the film.

Q: Since you stopped filming in early 2009, there's been a lot of negative backlash against natural gas shale drilling, particularly in the East. Did you experience much of that when filming?

A: It's definitely a different environment in Louisiana than in the East. But one thing I can say about Louisiana is we really searched hard for water contamination. We really wanted to kick over every rock we could, and at least in Louisiana we found that the oil companies seemed to be very careful. I don't know if that's because they're watching their pocketbooks or they truly cared. But the fact is, I found the energy companies to be decent stewards considering what they do. They're clearing land and poking holes in the ground. They're bringing in big trucks. So there is some damage that occurs, but we didn't run into exactly what they've seen in the Marcellus (a shale formation that stretches from West Virginia to New York), or the fervor that's up there both for and against the drilling.

Q: Where did your funding come from?

A: I was very careful to do this as an independent project with no industry money. Part of my background was cable television writing, so I took that money and put it into it. And then from there, it was friends and family. Much to my wife's chagrin, her next six summer vacations are in the film Haynesville.

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Permalink Reply by Ben Miller on December 16, 2009 at 5:42

Can anyone attend the Rice screening?

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Permalink Reply by intrepid on January 4, 2010 at 12:20

It would seem that it's open to the public based on space availability.

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Permalink Reply by GregoryK on January 4, 2010 at 16:46

Rice Screening is free and open to the public. More details are coming. We have a conference call with Rice U. tomorrow.

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Permalink Reply by intrepid on January 4, 2010 at 17:00

Looking forward to hear when it will be.

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Permalink Reply by GregoryK on January 4, 2010 at 6:36

Shalers,

Happy 2010!

Just wanted to let you know that we are trying to set up more screenings in the Shreveport and Mansfield area. While I want everyone to buy the DVD and share it with a friend or family member, I want to you all to have the "big screen" experience. More importantly, I want to get us all in a room and have a discussion about the issues presented in the film.

I'll keep you up to date.

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Permalink Reply by GregoryK on January 4, 2010 at 10:14

You know what they say about sequels? All you need is an idea and money (not necessarily in that order ; ) ). I'm ready to start another project. There's plenty to cover, but my main focus is getting "Haynesville" out there and seen by the nation. Please E-mail me with any and all comments. Thanks in advance for taking to the time to jot down your thoughts.

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Permalink Reply by intrepid on January 4, 2010 at 12:26

We really enjoyed watching our copy. Hopefully we'll be able to catch it in Houston but that date may conflict with the Ft. Worth Rodeo date we have.

I would think Austin would be a great place to show it also. Maybe at he LBJ School of Public Affairs auditorium?

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Permalink Reply by GregoryK on January 4, 2010 at 16:44

Hope you get a chance to see it in Houston. It should be a great showing and a great discussion. I really want people to see my film and gather under the natural gas banner. It's important to me that we try to diminish coal's role in our energy make-up.

If I do the Q&A on a bucking bull, would you skip the FW rodeo for the "Haynesville" screening?

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Permalink Reply by intrepid on January 4, 2010 at 17:01

That would be a sight I wouldn't want to miss.

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Permalink Reply by DJG on January 4, 2010 at 14:23

Hey Greg,

Any update on a response regarding your submission of "Haynesville" to the South By Southwest Film Festival? Just watched the DVD version that my wife gave me for Christmas and was impressed with your film. Would love to see it reach a wider audience and to see it on the big screen here in town.

Keep up the good work.

David

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Permalink Reply by GregoryK on January 4, 2010 at 16:40

David,

No response yet from SXSW. We're crossing our fingers for an A+ festival premiere in the US. Our world premiere was first class at the International Documentary Fest, but we really made this for an US audience.

Keep the good vibes coming our way. I'll keep you up to date.

Also, thank your wife for buying the DVD. Her support of independent filmmakers like myself are greatly appreciated.

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