An update from the EV folks... (was forwarded to me  - originally from the director!)

1. UPDATE

Thank you to everyone who supported "Who Killed the Electric Car" this
past year!   With your support, word of mouth, reviews and Sony marketing
muscle, the film placed 3 at the U.S. documentary boxoffice in 2006.
Today the film continues to play special events (SEE INVITATIONS BELOW) and around the world as it rolls out on cable.

Critically, the film landed a combined score of "90%" from mainstream critics (see www.rottentomatoes.com) as well as winning awards, nominations (Writers Guild and others), and global festival premieres.
Netflix has been a big boon for the DVD with over 180,000 renters giving the film an average of "4 out of 5" stars.

More importantly, the electric car is coming back.  For a great summary of some of the politics and stories, read Chelsea Sexton's email to our producers (SEE BELOW) from earlier this summer.  Independent Tesla is delivering its first sports car in the next few months, and even GM is in overdrive on its forthcoming plug-in Chevy Volt.  We'll be watching to see what happens.

Sadly, the legendary Paul MacCready passed away last week. In addition to pioneering human powered flight in the 1970s, his company designed the first EV1 for General Motors in 1990.  In 2003, Paul participated in our mock funeral when the cars were scrapped.  He was a personal hero and repeatedly proved that Americans "do more with less" through great design.

BEST REGARDS,

CHRIS PAINE

http://www.whokilledtheelectriccar.com/

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2. INVITATIONS - Please join us for these screenings if you are in town...

September 6th FREE OUTDOOR SCREENING Santa Monica Pier 7PM http://www.santamonicapier.org/smdi.html

September 8 at the Electric Lodge in Venice, CA Green Screen Environmental Film Festival

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3. EMAIL FROM CHELSEA

>> Begin forwarded message: >> From: "Chelsea Sexton" >> Date: July 21,
>> 2007


Hey all,

>From the "wonder if our little film is still making a difference?"
front... apologies in advance for the length, but I think it's good for all of us to hear these from time to time; sometimes it's hard to see the results of our efforts...

For reference, this is just a sample from one week's worth of experience- (admittedly, a very good week!) :

First, a quick local story- for those that haven't been following it, there have been some shake-ups in CARB. Robert Sawyer, the Chairman, was fired, followed by the resignation of Catherine Witherspoon, the Exec.
Officer (highest staff position). Sawyer has been replaced by Mary Nichols, who has a long enviro history in EPA, UCLA, DWP, etc. She recently had her first staff mtg, and apparently raved about the fact that she shows WKtEC in her classes at UCLA, and wanted to know if everyone had seen it. (She hosted a screening/q&a a couple months ago, and told us the film brought tears to her eyes- also called the last CARB decisions "a total failure in public policy". ;o) There's another workshop in Sacramento on Tuesday, and the Board is scheduled to vote on the new mandate in December after a few more months of lobbying by all- if we're able to get a meaningful policy this time, I strongly believe it will have been because of the collective impact of WKtEC. Not a done deal, but we're hopeful...

And on the other coast, I've recently had some adventures in DC... went last week to speak at a conference of NGOs and policymakers. Sat on a panel w, among others, Stan Ovshinsky (who was incredibly excited, and sends his regards to all of you) and Keith Cole, who is GM's policy guy.
It went well, but like many other things, the best stuff happens off the agenda. In this case, it was finding out that there was a plug-in hybrid hearing happening simultaneously in the House of Reps. So, I ditched my conference for a few hours and went to Capitol Hill. Testifying for the panel of about 10 Congress-folk were Frank Gaffney, Dave Vieau (CEO of
A123 batteries) and Rob Lowe. Amazing to see how much traction these issues have gotten, to have made it to this level, and simultaneously one of the more frustrating experiences of my recent life to see once again how totally misinformed our leaders are- including the ones that are on our side. After the hearing, I was chatting w the panel members, and the Congressional aides assumed us to be part of the group-  we found ourselves being shepherded w the others into Rep. Markey's office (Markey leads the Pelosi-created Select Committee on Energy and Cimate Change, who was hosting the hearing, and he has recently introduced policy both incentiviing PHEVs, and raising CAFE standards.)

We all sat around chatting w Lowe (who I think will soon get into politics
himself) and the others, talking about what got various folks interested in the issues, etc. Markey chimed in- "you know, there's this film called 'Who Killed the Electric Car?'..." and the group erupted into chatter about who'd seen it and how much they liked it. Out of context (and in a
suit!) most had no idea who I was, until someone pointed it out- at which point the whole office got very excited. Suffice to say, our film is something of a cult favorite among certain members and employees of Congress, and is helping to shape national policy as we speak.

On the other end of the spectrum, I continue to get mail every day from average people whose lives the film has touched- I imagine some of you do too. One recent one came from a high-school teacher in VA. She wrote to tell me that she'd shown the film in her class, and had given a follow-up assignment for the kids to come up with their own plan to change the world in some small way (a la "Pay it Forward", it sounds like). The kids had been very fired up about the movie, but were immediately daunted by the assignment, assuming they wouldn't be able to make a difference as just one person. She wrote wanting to know if I had any words she could pass
along- because I was going to DC anyway, I told her I'd show up instead.
It turned out that this was an inner city summer school class comprised entirely of kids who'd already flunked out once. Because the class had recently dipped below its minimum attendance requirement, it was slated to be cancelled- meaning none of these kids would graduate. The principal was swayed enough by my willingness to come talk to them, that she decided to let it continue for the time being- turns out that everyone from the kids themselves to the principal were amazed that someone would take the time on "kids like them"- an unfortunate statement in itself. By the time I got there, there were only 5 kids left- all black, all 17, and all discouraged. We sat and talked, and showed them the RAV4 EV that we'd brought down from New Jersey- let a few drive it around the parking lot. A simple, seemingly average interaction that we've all done dozens of times.

After we left, my colleague (and owner of the RAV we'd brought) relayed the following comments a student named Phillip had made to him on the
side:

"You know I used to just sit at home and watch my television and clench my fists. I'd watch the people in our government lie and cheat and do whatever they wanted to do just because no one would stop them. They think that they're above the rules. I'd just sit and get madder and madder. But mostly I was sad because I knew that I could never do anything to stop them. I used to believe that no one can. They'll just keep stealing from us and sending us to war because they want to - and we'll never really know why.

Well, that changed. I watched your movie and after I said to myself - Hey!
Wait a minute! If that little white girl can stand up to a huge company like GM and win, then man, I can do the same. If she can do it, then I can too! Now I'm full of energy. I am going down to that hill [referring to Capitol Hill, DC] in a few years, and I'm going to take back my country.
People vote. I vote. That's how we're going to do it. I'm going to make everyone see the cheating that's going on just like she did and then they'll vote for a better way. You watch and see. You're gonna see my face on the news real soon."

(I'm even more convinced that each high school needs a copy of the film- there are 15,600 public high schools in this country- can you imagine inspiring one kid like that- or better, one teacher- in each of them?)

So, from CA to DC, and from the "average" high school kid to members of Congress, that little film is continuing to inspire and empower- making people at all levels believe they can "take their country back." I remain in awe of it's continued effect, and grateful to all of you for having made it possible.

Happy weekend,

chelsea

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Lets Try this again...

the DVD is out now Click here to BUY THE DVD!

..

 Who Killed the Electric Car

Hi all, thanks for your support. We really appreciate it!

A couple of quick updates:

1. Who Killed The Electric Car has been invited to screen at the Deauville Film Festival in France www.festival-deauville.com). If you know anyone in France, tell them to go!

2.  Who Killed the Electric Car? is now one of the top 60 documentaries of all time!  In terms of theatrical grosses... this is quite an achievement.

However, we need your help. In order to keep the film in theaters and keep the nations attention on this issue, we need to keep our numbers strong for August. If you know ANYONE who hasn't seen this movie, or anyone who should, (which is everyone) please ask, beg, plead with them to go see it!  Small bumps in attendance this and next weekend could really mean the difference for the film staying in theaters till September, and throughout school season.

The list of theatres where its being played can be seen on our MySpace Page and on our official Who Killed The Electric Car? website, www.WhoKilledTheElectricCar.com.  Our website is jam packed with the latest information on hybrid and electric car technology and why driving a gasoline fueled vehicle is part of our energy past.  If it's been a while since you've been to our site, come check it out again.

Again, thanks for the support!  We in the Electric Vehicle (EV) world are fighting the good fight to STOP THE CRUSHING!

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When: Saturday Jun 24, 2006
at 12:30 PM
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