BIG NEWS! The Unforeseen DVD now Available for Pre-Order
Now that we’ve seen others begin to take preorders for The Unforeseen DVD, we realized that was our signal to join the fray. As you can see, the DVD cover artwork differs slightly from the theatrical poster at right. Obviously the same swimming elements were used in a different arrangement and proportion. Also featured is a closeup on a blueprint of a home design. The distributor Cinema Guild liked the prominent blueprint as it distinctly represents the subject matter while also connoting the housing market which is on a lot of people’s minds.
Why pre-order from us? A few reasons, in no particular order:
- We’re offering those who pre-order The Unforeseen a free copy of Laura’s Student Academy Award-winning film GREEN (A $35 value).
- Laura derives a lot more revenue when you order from Two Birds than when you buy it anywhere else.
- The orders are processed on Yahoo Store using 128-bit SSL Secure Servers
- When they ship on September 18, order fulfillment will be handled by my company, Amplifier. Amplifier provides order fulfillment/customer service/commerce and more for Two Birds. That’s how Laura and I met, she was our second customer.
- Commentary Track - Director Laura Dunn, Cinematographer Lee Daniel, Producer/Motion Graphics Designer Jef Sewell and Tom Hammond, Sound Design.
- Widescreen presentation
- Theatrical Trailer
- English 5.1 Soundtrack
- Essay by film critic Dennis Lim
- Scene selections
EXCLUSIVE OFFER WHEN YOU ORDER FROM US:
When you pre order The Unforeseen directly from Laura Dunn, we will include a free copy of Laura’s 2000 Student-Academy Award-winning documentary GREEN (A $35 value)
This offer is only available when you buy directly from Two Birds Film.
Wow… Dallas holds Unforeseen over for another week…
What can I say? I’m completely surprised. We’re still a tiny blip on the box office radar as you can plainly see. Our theatrical run ends in July in I believe St. Louis. Then it’s onto Sundance Channel, DVD and… who knows? ;-D
Laura featured on Dallas Public Radio…
Laura recently did an hour long segment on Dallas’ public radio program “THINK-With Krys Boyd.” Click the MP3 link to listen to it.
“The Unforeseen” (Thu, 26 Jun 2008 03:19:45 -0400)
Why is development such a hot-topic issue? We’ll examine a recent conflict in Austin, Texas and how it reflects similar struggles all over the country with documentarian Laura Dunn. Her film, “The Unforeseen,” is in theaters now.
Download MP3 File
Sundance Channel Premiere
We are honored to announce that THE UNFORESEEN will make its television debut on the Sundance Channel this summer.
The premiere air dates are, all EST/PST (check local listings or sundancechannel.com for air times in CST/MST):
8/5 @ 9:35pm
8/8 @ 10:35pm
8/10 @ 3:35pm
The Statesman on the Belterra Subdivision
The Statesman’s Asher Price has a piece in today’s Statesman about Belterra’s attempts to dump treated wastewater in Bear Creek
Belterra, developed by Calif.-based Makar Properties, had applied to the state environmental agency more than two years ago to expand its wastewater treatment plant, hoping to discharge some treated wastewater into Bear Creek, which feeds Barton Springs. Belterra — located off U.S. 290 in the Hill Country — originally asked to expand the capacity from 150,000 to 800,000 gallons a day. The developer, which has at least 350 houses on Belterra’s 1,600 acres now and plans as many as 2,000, said the facility will be a model for sewage disposal in a region dominated by aging septic tanks.
Quick updates…
Some small updates:
- It looks like Amazon now has a pre-order page for the DVD. The release date is September 18th. We will have much more to say about it as we get further along. (Short answer, if you’re a big enough fan to be reading this, then do us a favor and don’t buy from Amazon since we hope to be selling it from this very site.)
- Developer Robert Barnstone died this weekend. He has a small part in the film as one of the City Council members who ultimately denied the PUD for the Barton Creek development. (”We would go fight the devil himself to protect Barton Springs…”)
- Dallas’ Angelika run surprised us all with an over $3000 weekend, so it’s being held over for another week. Dallasites represent.
- We got some good press in the Metroplex which doubtlessly helped, including The Dallas Morning News, Ft Worth Star Telegram, and this Dallas Observer bit, a syndicated version of Jim Ridley’s Village Voice piece.
- There are some other really exciting developments happening right now that we can’t share yet. But we hope to be able to share the news some time soon. Watch this space.
- Also, if you haven’t picked it up, buy a copy of the Criterion Collection release of Days of Heaven. We’ve been watching it and they’ve done a truly incredible job with the transfer.
The Unforeseen gets another week in Austin’s Drafthouse
Alamo Drafthouse, the greatest theater in the US (a status they had in our hearts even prior to running the movie) has kept the film for another week. Only this time they’ve moved it from the South Lamar location to the new, awesome 6th street Ritz location. Not only is this your last chance to catch the film in Austin theaters for a while, but this is your FIRST chance to drink liquor while watching the film.
Showtimes and tickets are available here.
State University of NY at New Paltz Screening…
A proposed development in New York City’s watershed has citizens very agitated. Working with the Sierra Club, they’ve arranged for a screening of The Unforeseen on Tuesday April 29th at the Coykendall Building Auditorium at SUNY New Paltz.
More information here.
The Sierra Club’s Quest to Save the Mountain
http://oracle.newpaltz.edu/article.cfm?id=3728
By Christina Musso, Contributing Writer
Five years ago, a real estate developer came to Belleayre Mountain wanting to build a private resort in the Catskill Park in the New York City watershed and the constitutionally-protected borders.
The developer is “looking to develop the private resort less then 10 miles away from the Ashokan reservoir,” said Carolyn Zolas, the head of the New York City Chapter of the Sierra Club.
The private resort would be located right next to the public skiing and hiking area. The plans for the resort include adding more ski slopes for their guests, along with a golf course. The resort would be the size of 500 football fields.
Many local people were not as excited about it, and they began to protest. A campaign called Save the Mountain was created to help fight against the development.
“This plan, if it goes ahead, will turn public preserved land into private ruin,” said Donna Flayhan, an expert on public health.
The development plan has still not been resolved, five years later. Former Governor Eliot Spitzer created a Principle of Agreement contract that was supposed to please all parties, but not all parties in the Save the Mountain campaign signed onto it.
It wasn’t until the Sierra Club found out about the development, that the Save the Mountain campaign was rejuvenated,” Flayhan said. Now the Sierra Club is going full-throttle into the campaign to make sure that this resort is not built.
The biggest concern with this development project, according to the Save the Mountain campaign, is that it could cause pollution to the naturally filtered water. “A filtration plan will cost $30 billion,” Zolas said.
“New York City water is some of the purest public drinking water left in the world, because it comes from the Catskills, created by glaciers and nature, Flayhan said. “If the land is developed, the water will be polluted, not by terrorists, but by a developer.”
If that filtration system is put into place it could be the tax payers who are going to be paying for it. In addition, since this private resort would be so big, the layout for it would cause many trees and wildlife to be killed.
“We have to be able to protect this land from overdevelopment,” Rich Schaedle, chair of the Catskill Heritage Alliance, a local conservation group. “Once it’s gone, it’s gone. You’re not going to get it back,” he continued. “We need to protect it for our children and grandchildren for the future.”
Because this is such a huge issue, the Sierra Club has decided to show a movie at SUNY New Paltz to gain awareness. On Tuesday, April 29 they will show “The Unforeseen,” a film by Laura Dunn, produced by Terrance Malick and Robert Redford.
“The Unforeseen” is a film about a similar situation that happened in Texas where a real estate developer clashes with activists who want to preserve a local spring and the land surrounding it. The film will be followed by a panel discussion.
Those who attend the showing will find out about the devastation in Texas and how they can help.
Austin City Council Proclaims “The Unforeseen” Day
Austin City Council PROCLAMATION:
Be it known that
Whereas,
“The Unforeseen” is a film which chronicles how development threatens the Edwards Aquifer, Barton Springs and the natural environment, presenting a microcosm of events across the country; and,
Whereas,
“The Unforeseen” is a film made in Austin by Austinites including: filmmaker Laura Dunn, producer Terrence Malick (along with Robert Redford who spent his childhood summers swimming in Barton Springs), cinematographer Lee Daniel and starring Texas notables Ann Richards and Willie Nelson; and,
Whereas,
“The Unforeseen” was an official selection at the Sundance, SXSW and San Francisco International Film Festivals and a winner of the prestigious 2008 Independent Spirit Award honoring indie films;
Now, Therefore,
I, Will Wynn, Mayor of the City of Austin, Texas,
do hereby proclaim APRIL 6, 2008 as “The Unforeseen” Day…….
Ok, so now the million dollar question is: Has Mayor Wynn seen the film? What about the other City Council members? Given their collective record of “upzoning” developments over the watershed and the cutting of city funds for pollution monitoring at both Barton Creek and Barton Springs, well, it all just makes me wonder….
Full Blog is Back
Yahoo completed the upgrade of Twobirdsfilm.com. Now we’re running “Merchant Solutions Standard” which means nothing to virtually everyone reading this. In short, a long overdue housekeeping matter has been resolved.
(Mad props to Yahoo’s Vince Dinh, a tireless firefighter.)
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About The Unforeseen
The Unforeseen, executive produced by Terrence Malick and Robert Redford, premiered at the 2007 Sundance Film Festival. Called "the best film at the festival, hands down" by Film Comment's Gavin Smith, the film documents the struggles between development and preservation of Austin Texas.