On a first-come, first-served basis, anyone can use the promotional code “Triple Divide Fracking” at http://rent.tripledividefilm.
Released in March 2013, Triple Divide
“exposed the way state environmental agencies failed to regulate
fracking in Pennsylvania,” according to the film’s co-director Joshua
Pribanic. “One exclusive report in the film uncovered how an oil and gas
company avoided liability for water contamination by dismissing its own
baseline data” – a finding the Wilkes-Barre Times Leader called a “bombshell that could reverberate across the state.”
Thus
far the film has streamed in 120 countries and been downloaded in 29,
which the directors believe is a testament to how stories in
Pennsylvania resonate with readers all over the world. Pennsylvania’s
Marcellus Shale is one of the largest producing fracking zones on the
planet.
“The hard truths in Triple Divide
are as relevant now as ever,” said co-director Melissa Troutman. “The
human rights impacts from fracking have only grown since the
documentary’s release. The Auditor General’s investigation in 2014 echoed Triple Divide
when it concluded that Pennsylvania Department of Environmental
Protection is not properly handling fracking’s impacts, especially water
contamination. Still, new permits are issued for fracking while
problems pile up in the absence of solutions amid silence from public
officials.”
Troutman
is a native of Potter County, home of the film’s namesake – the Eastern
Triple Divide – one of four triple continental divides in North
America. The mountain peak gives birth to the headwaters of three major
river systems – the Allegheny, Genesee and Susquehanna Rivers.
Triple Divide is Public Herald’s first feature-length production, praised as “the best documentary on fracking to date”
and co-narrated by award-winning actor Mark Ruffalo. According to the
filmmakers, it’s one of the only unbiased films on the subject. Triple Divide
was an “Official Selection” for Bellingham Human Rights Film Festival,
Albuquerque Film & Media Experience, performed 249 public
screenings, appeared in over 50 news publications and continues to
screen internationally.
Since
the film’s release, Public Herald has continued its investigations of
water contamination first discovered during production of Triple Divide. Reports can be read at PublicHerald.org under “Fracking.” In March 2014, one Public Herald report inspired correspondent Aasif Mandvi’s segment “The Benefits of Fracking” on Comedy Central’s The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.
In anticipation of follow-up reports to Triple Divide, Public Herald has launched an online petition at Change.org to garner public support for an interview with new Pa. Governor Tom Wolf, who has promised to “work hard to make fracking safe” for the people of Pennsylvania. The governor’s office hasn’t replied to Public Herald’s interview requests.
For
the filmmakers, “the lack of attention to the documented impacts from
fracking by public officials was a bit of a surprise.” They spent three
years obtaining files from state agencies and have started to make these
records available online at PublicFiles.org.
“We hardly knew what to expect for Triple Divide,”
said co-director Joshua Pribanic. “What we did know is that we wanted
this film to be accessible to the public. That meant publishing reports
before the film’s release, offering low licensing costs for public
screenings, creating a promotions checklist for local communities, and
making it available for anyone to view on the internet.”
Pribanic
is a native of Sandusky, Ohio and got his start in journalism and film
covering agriculture and brownfield pollution along the shores of Lake
Erie.
In April 2014, Public Herald won a $35,000 INNovation Fund competition award by Investigative News Network and Knight Foundation to tour Triple Divide across the nation. After seeing the documentary, Tesla Motors donated its top Model S to support the tour, and Public Herald completed 20,000 miles across the U.S. and back without using gasoline.
Public
Herald has produced over 35 multimedia reports and amassed 900 Lifetime
Members in only three years, with only two people carried by public
support. Triple Divide is a publicly-funded ‘in-house’ production, from distribution to web design and promotion.
For
beginning filmmakers and budding journalists, Pribanic and Troutman
offer the following advice: “To anyone who’s apprehensive about taking
on a project like this, don’t be. Investigative documentary work is
hard, but it’s a necessary and powerful force for accountability and
change.”
TD_anniversary_screening
Caption: Triple Divide poster for upcoming screening in Ligonier, Pa. © Public Herald
TD_Judy_water_contamination
Caption:
Judy Eckert holds a jug of her well water, which showed high levels of
arsenic, manganese, iron, barium, strontium, methane and radon compared
to predrill tests. © Public Herald
TD_anniversary_Tom
Caption:
Triple Divide co-director and Public Herald co-founder Melissa Troutman
is on a mission to sit down with Governor Tom Wolf about Public
Herald’s investigations. © Public Herald
TD_anniversary_filereview
Caption:
Public Herald has conducted over 2,000 hours of file reviews at
Pennsylvania Dept. of Environmental Protection for its investigations.
© Public Herald
TD_anniversary
Audiences have watched Triple Divide at over 240 screenings across the globe. Pictured is an audience in Mansfield, Ohio. © Public Herald
