Laura Gabbert and Justin Schein’s film provides an intriguing inside look into the experiment that became a national fascination and media sensation, while examining the familial strains and strengthened bonds that result from one man’s decision to completely eliminate his personal impact on the environment for one year and his wife’s struggle with their radical lifestyle change.
This one man is Colin Beavan, who lives in Manhattan with his wife Michelle and two-year old daughter. For Colin having no environmental impact means eating vegetarian, buying only local food, and turning off the refrigerator. It also means no elevators, no television, no cars, busses, or airplanes, no toxic cleaning products, no electricity, no material consumption, and no garbage. No problem — at least for Colin — but when his espresso-guzzling, retail-worshipping wife Michelle and their daughter are dragged into the fray, the No Impact Project has an unforeseen impact of its own.
Laura Gabbert earned her MFA from UCLA’s School of Film, Theater and Television. Her first documentary, THE HEALERS OF 400 PARNASSUS, aired on PBS in 1997. Gabbert then went on to develop and produce the 1999 Sundance Competition feature film GETTING TO KNOW YOU (dir: Lisanne Skyler), which had its European premiere at the Venice Film Festival. In 2003 she directed and produced the critically acclaimed ITVS documentary SUNSET STORY (Special Jury Prize, Tribeca Film Festival and Audience Award, Los Angeles Film Festival). Her future narrative projects include STARR BRIGHT, a Joyce Carol Oates adaptation, and HABEAS ON THE GATE, a feature film about the unlikely friendship between a Park Avenue lawyer and his client, a Guantanamo detainee. Gabbert is also in the research phase on two new documentaries. In 2004, she was honored with the UCLA Distinguished Alumni Award and frequently returns to the university to speak to graduate film students. She has also served on the ITVS documentary selection committee. Gabbert lives in Los Angeles with her husband and two daughters.
Justin Schein is an award-winning director/dp with over 50 credits to his name. Presently Schein is in production on UPSIDE-DOWN AND BACKWARDS, a hybrid animated documentary about dyslexia with Academy Award winners Peggy Stern and John Canemaker. He is also shooting IMAGINING PEACE, a film about Israeli and Palestinian teenage girls. Schein lives in Brooklyn with his wife, filmmaker Eden Wurmfeld, and their son Micah.
Co-sponsored by Pomona for Environmental Activism and Responsibility (PEAR).