One on One with the Oil + Water Project’s Seth Warren
Documentary film wins two awards at Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival
In December, Seth Warren and Kavu’s Oil + Water Project Documentary Film took home two notable awards at Jules Verne Adventure Film Festival–Best Picture and Youth Jury Award–in front of thousands of people in the star-studded Shrine Auditorium in Downtown Los Angeles.
Chronicling their humor, struggles, and inspiration, the film highlights the nine-month-long bio-fueled overland journey from Alaska to Argentina taken by kayakers Seth Warren and Tyler Bradt in a converted Japanese fire truck dubbed Baby. “When we set out to make it, we just wanted to tell a good story and spread the word about living a sustainable lifestyle,” says Warren, who’s also the co-founded of the Biofuels Education Coalition. “We never imagined we would get so much attention. We feel so honored to receive this kind of recognition.”
Other accolades the film has received are Best Environmental Film at the Taos Mountain Film Festival, Jury Special Prize at the Kendal Mountain Film Festival, and the Daniel DeLavergne Spirit Award at the Asheville Film Festival. The film is also an official selection at the Vancouver International Film Festival, the Wild and Scenic Film Festival, the Durango Film Festival, and the Carbondale Film Festival. Info: www.oilandwaterproject.org (sponsors: Kavu, Keen, MSR, and Clif Bar).
To get more on Warren’s new-found Hollywood stardom, we caught up with him to ask some of the following:
PL: Dude, Nice award. Whatja going to do with it?
Warren: PUT IT ON THE SHELF WITH THE REST OF THEM.
PL: Who’s that babe you’re hanging with?
Warren: I HIRED HER.
PL: How long did it take you to tie your tie (or is it a zip-on)?
Warren:IT ACTUALLY DID TAKE ME A FEW TRIES
PL: How’d ya make the film?
Warren: WITH SOME MAJOR SUPPORT FROM KAVU. THEY BOUGHT ALL THE EDITING EQUIPMENT, AND PAID THE SALARY OF MY ROCKSTAR EDITOR NICK FRANCZYK. WE HAD OVER 200 HOURS, AND I LOGGED AND CAPTURED IT ALL AVERAGING 3 HOURS FOR EVERY HOUR.
PL: What was the best and worst part about it?
Warren: THERE WAS NOTHING AT ALL GLAMOROUS ABOUT EDITING THE FILM, THE BEST PART ABOUT IT WAS GETTING IT DONE. THE WORST PART ABOUT IT IS THAT IT HAS BEEN HELD UP FOR THE LAST TWO MONTHS BECAUSE WE ARE STILL WAITING FOR THE APPROVAL TO GET IT ON THE SHELF FROM GOOGLE EARTH.
PL: What’s next on the horizon?
Warren:I JUST STARTED A PRODUCTION COMPANY RESURRECTING THE NAME NEW RIDER PRODUCTIONS. THE SPONSORS ARE PUMPING 50 GRAND INTO THE BABY THIS SPRING TO INCORPORATE A WIDE FACET OF DIFFERENT ENERGY ALTERNATIVES. OUR NEXT EDUCATIONAL/FILMING TOUR WILL KICK OFF AT THE 2008 OUTDOOR RETAILER SUMMER MARKET SHOW DUBBED “ELEMENTS”.
PL: Who’d you hang with celeb-wise?
Warren: EVERYONE IN LA WAS THRIVING ON THE SOUL OF THIS FILM. WE DEFINITELY STOLE THE SHOW, BEATING SUCH FILMS AS 11TH HOUR WITH LEONARDO DICAPRIO. I GOT TO HANG LATE NIGHT WITH THE ENTIRE CREW FROM BLADE RUNNER, STAR TREK, NASA, ETC. I MET RAY BRADBURY, BUZZ ALDRIN, PATRICK STEWART, WILLIAM SHATNER, FRANCES FISHER, TED TURNER, MALCOLM MCDOWELL, JEAN COSTEAU, AND A BUNCH OF OTHER PEOPLE THAT CONSIDERED THEMSELVES A BIG DEAL THAT I HADN’T HEARD OF.
PL: Did you blend in at the Shrine?
Warren: YOU BETTER BELIEVE IT, ALTHOUGH A COUPLE OLD LADIES COMMENTED ON MY MISMATCHED SOCKS TUCKED INTO MY KEEN SNEAKERS!
PL: What up with Tyler’s waterfall record in Canada? Did your trip help for hucks like that?
Warren: A YEAR IN A TRUCK WITH ME WOULD DRIVE JUST ABOUT ANYONE INSANE.