[ROCKMAN]

Repop

[Revi]

This film isn't a very technical peak oil doomer flick. It's just the story of one man's obsession with the topic and the things he did to try to come to terms with it. It shows me driving around in the electric car, and some of the things that happened to me. It's pretty funny in parts. I don't claim to be an expert at any point in this film. I think it's going to be interesting and amusing to people whatever they think about peak oil. So far the farmers and fishermen have liked it! I am a farmer and a fisherman, so I guess maybe I am a bit biased.

[Revi]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=owUIkQJ_btM

A preview of the movie.

[Revi]

We are showing the film again on Nov. 16th at Colby College. We have been getting some interest. We may show it in Massachusetts, Southern Maine and even in Seattle! We'll see how it goes, but as you can see it's a film that may appeal to a wider audience and isn't too preachy. (except for the bit where I say "repent ye sinners")

Let me know if there's a venue that would work for it. We may have DVD's soon.

[Revi]

Here's how the movie is summarized for a local showing:

The hour long film “Peak Oil: A Love Story” was made by filmmaker Nelson Cole (of Cambridge, ME) and features Iver Lofving (Skowhegan resident). It summarizes Lofving’s evolving theory that when the Earth’s petroleum supplies reach their zenith — the peak of oil production — the eventual collapse of civilization will not be far behind. The film leaves viewers with the question: Is peak oil the end of the world or a new beginning?

I think it's a little heavy, but maybe it will work to interest the uninitiated.

What do you think?

[AdamB]

Here's how the movie is summarized for a local showing:

The hour long film “Peak Oil: A Love Story” was made by filmmaker Nelson Cole (of Cambridge, ME) and features Iver Lofving (Skowhegan resident). It summarizes Lofving’s evolving theory that when the Earth’s petroleum supplies reach their zenith — the peak of oil production — the eventual collapse of civilization will not be far behind. The film leaves viewers with the question: Is peak oil the end of the world or a new beginning?

I think it's a little heavy, but maybe it will work to interest the uninitiated.

What do you think?

Peak oil is your theory?

[Revi]

I agree. It's not my theory. That's the way they wrote it, after much deliberation. They wrote it by committee, so this is how it came out. Do you think it will interest people? I hope so.

[Revi]

Here's the poster for the film:

[AdamB]

I agree. It's not my theory. That's the way they wrote it, after much deliberation. They wrote it by committee, so this is how it came out. Do you think it will interest people? I hope so.

Peak oil was interesting for a short time, about a decade or so back. Might still be interesting in the future, as long as prices are rising to previously unheard of levels. But when everyone who drives a car during the bad old peak oil days (when prices were $4/gal) notices the prices of now (paid $1.96 this morning to fill the kids car) they really aren't going to be interested, no.

Just another conspiracy, Big Oil gouging the little guy, and things like peak oil or the Saudi royal progression or the Libyan war or Iranian embargo being lifted not mattering much, and to most people, are pretty insignificant anyway, compared to the size of those little numbers they see when they go down for their fuel.

Undoubtedly some will be interested. Of those interested, next to none will understand anything about the science behind the concern, and of those who understand some of the science, only a fraction will understand the interplay between the multiple sciences involved that explain not only peak oil, but why it didn't cause the world to crash, and probably won't in the future either.

[dashster]

I agree. It's not my theory. That's the way they wrote it, after much deliberation. They wrote it by committee, so this is how it came out. Do you think it will interest people? I hope so.

A lot of people seem to have a gut feeling that there is plenty of oil. Or they assume that unless the president says otherwise, there must be no problem with oil. Even when oil was $100 they felt that environmentalists were keeping us from too much oil which was keeping prices high. Or that Saudi Arabia was manipulating the market. So right now is probably not a good time for release since prices have come way down in the last two years (but still not cheap from an inflation-adjusted historical standpoint). But I think prices are going to go up soon and as they rise, interest in a peak oil film should as well. Or, if the summer of 2015 continues to be the world peak in total liquids production, interest will rise as we move away from that.

Right now it would be easier to market the parts about mitigation as a Climate Change response since that has most people believing in it, versus Peak Oil which most people have never heard of or don't believe will occur in the next three decades.

[ROCKMAN]

d - "So right now is probably not a good time for release...". Or the perfect time if your audience has sufficient patience and intelligence to listen to the complete explanation of the POD. As I've explained before the dramatic decrease in oil/gasoline price is a result of the deteriorating supply. Best to keep it simple: oil prices tripled from the early 2000's because demand put pressure on the supply side. This, in turn, made expensive oil resources attractive to develop...good time to confirm that yes: there is still a lot of oil in the ground.

With the high oil prices lots of wells drilled for that expensive oil. But then prices hurt the consumers financially...that should be a very easy point to make to the public which was very pissed off by those high pump prices. So oil prices were forced back down...but as your chart shows not as low as they had been. Now that expensive oil isn't as economic to develop and much drilling stopped. Here's probably the more difficult part to explain: the time lag. It can take many years for the system to adjust which is why we are still producing a lot of oil. But eventually the "new oil" will be depleted, production will decline, prices will rise, drilling will increase and production will increase.

And now the big BUT: but just like the last cycle consumers won't be able to keep paying those high prices for ever and they'll decrease. But probably not as low as the last bust since we depleted oil a lot faster thanks to low fuel prices. IOW a lot less of that CHEAPER oil left to produce.

Of course for those that lack the patience/intelligence you'll still be wasting your time. OTOH any conversation with such folks would be a waste of time anyway and thus they shouldn't be your target audience in the first place.

[Revi]

I think the target audience is people who have small groups such as Transition and sustainability groups. There aren't many left, but those who exist might want a fun vid to show to their people. I realize this is preaching to the converted, but they are the only ones who might take an interest in this kind of thing. The whole debate about whether peak oil is real is not the focus of this film. It's just a story about how one person tried to do something about a huge problem, how he dealt with it and how he feels nowadays. It's really very watchable, which helps with a mixed audience.

We've got two more dates to show it, and then it will be going to DVD and will be available for purchase. Probably some time in the middle of next month.

[Revi]

We have at least 5 dates to show it now, from Maine to Seattle. I hope to get others near enough to get to. We plan on showing it at Colby College in Waterville, Maine on Weds. Nov. 16th at 6:30. It will be in 141 Diamond Building. Come check it out! Discussion to follow.

[Tanada]

We have at least 5 dates to show it now, from Maine to Seattle. I hope to get others near enough to get to. We plan on showing it at Colby College in Waterville, Maine on Weds. Nov. 16th at 6:30. It will be in 141 Diamond Building. Come check it out! Discussion to follow.

Will you eventually post it to YouTube for those who can't see it in person?

[Revi]

Yes, it will end up on some kind of a sharing site, but not until next summer or fall. We plan on getting it to film festivals and other venues first. It's not quite ready yet, but it should be all done by Nov. 16th.

[Revi]

I am thinking of going on a tour and showing it in a bunch of places. I might head to Northern PA and check out the oil museum and head your way around the 18th-25th of February. Let me know if that works Tanada.

[ROCKMAN]

Revi - If the opportunity presernts itself maybe you broach the ridiculous situation of PA not collecting severance taxes while Texas and La have collected tens of $BILLIONS.

[Revi]

I will mention it. Why did they not ask for them? Are they hoping that somehow the oil and gas companies are going to chip in if there's a problem?

[Tanada]

I will mention it. Why did they not ask for them? Are they hoping that somehow the oil and gas companies are going to chip in if there's a problem?

I suspect the difference is John D. Rockefeller. In the 1860-1937 period his wealth and influence in Ohio and Pennsylvania is hard to over estimate. A the first Oil Billionaire he got a lot of laws passed that favored his Standard Oil. Fighting against the very idea of severance taxes was just one more strategy for Standard Oil and the companies that came from the break up when the Supreme Court ruled it was an illegal monopoly. As a result when Spindle Top in east Texas came on in 1903 the state was not under the thumb of Standard Oil and thus taxes that compensated the state for extra expenses caused by the oil industry were quickly passed into law.

[Revi]

Interesting. I was reading about Rockefeller the other day. His family started out selling rock oil as a medicine, then moved into the big money... The story of oil in this country is very interesting. People think it started in Texas, but a lot of fortunes and flops happened in Western NY state and Pennsylvania early on. I used to live near Wellsville, NY and a lot of the families that started the oil industry went with it down to Texas, and then all over the world in search of the prize.