Although temperatures have been rising for some time, climate change is a relatively new issue. It’s only in the last decade or so that people have begun to realize its catastrophic potential. Global warming is also a very complex issue, to which people outside of the scientific community sometimes have a hard time relating. Its newness and complexity has demanded innovative thinking on how best to convey the message that climate change is happening and that people need to start doing their part to stop it.

Recently, three Seacoast filmmakers have answered that demand by creating a series of short Internet-ready videos. The series is called “Now or Never” and is produced by Court Street Media. Creating a feature-length film usually takes months of preparation, filming and editing, but because global warming is an immediate problem and poses an immediate threat, the filmmakers—Bill Rogers, Melissa Paly and Peter Vandermark—wanted to expedite the creative process.

“We really wanted to speak to a lot of people, and the way is short format, Web-based pieces,” Rogers said in a recent interview.

In addition to being co-founder of Court Street Media, Rogers is also founder of the Coruway Film Institute. “Now or Never” took some technical cues from other Web sites that use Web-based film, like the New York Times and Life on Terra. Rogers appreciates the mobility that Web videos afford. “Because you’re not locked into broadcast length, you’re lighter on your feet,” he said.

When a congressional hearing on climate change took place at the top of Cannon Mountain last May, Rogers and his team rushed to the scene to capture some of what transpired. Using footage from the hearing, they made a 90-second episode.
“It’s not really a whole show, but on the Web it doesn’t matter. We tried to keep the emphasis on doing these things quickly and not getting tied down too much by addressing a particular format or formula. We are thinking of them as one story,” he said.

“Now or Never” was created in the wake of the Northeast Climate Impacts Assessment, a study released by the Union of Concerned Scientists that evaluates how global warming could potentially alter the landscape in the Northeast. Among other things, the study found that the northeastern states represent the seventh largest source of carbon dioxide emissions in the world. The combined states of Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania produce more greenhouse gases than Canada, several European countries and a host of developing nations.   

The UCS findings instilled a sense of urgency among the three filmmakers. “It comes from recognizing that all the data and our experiences indicate that climate change is really happening. It’s happening and it’s affecting the way people live and work,” said Melissa Paly, cofounder of “Now or Never” and owner of Cross Current Productions.

She points to several facets of lifestyle in New Hampshire that have already been affected by global warming. Ice fishing, which usually begins on Jan. 1, was pushed back until the third week of January this year because the lakes took so long to freeze. Although the ski industry is enjoying a good season so far, skiing has also taken a hit from global warming.

“Ski areas can’t even contemplate functioning anymore without a tremendous investment in snowmaking,” Paly said. “There are all kinds of ways that people are feeling this in a personal, backyard kind of way.”

Climate change is a global issue, but the crew at Court Street Media is initially focusing solely on the Northeast, because that’s where they’re located. Also, it serves as a sort of fishbowl, where results can be gauged on a regional scale. Rogers believes the model is something that could be used throughout the country and around the world.

“Why not ‘Now or Never UK,’ ‘Now or Never Germany?’ But the Northeast is a pretty good place to start,” he said.
The team seems to be guided by the bumper sticker mantra “think globally, act locally.” Their films have been focused on the global warming solutions that local people are coming up with.

“It’s a great way to really bring home to a local audience that the effects are here. But the solutions are also right here. From early on, we wanted to look at what people are doing about it instead of just expressing the problems,” Rogers said.

Their solution-based approach is partly a result of past work the filmmakers have done. Working with Tom Jackson, Vandermark created a one-hour documentary called “Out of Balance: ExxonMobil’s Impact on Climate Change.” It struck Rogers that both “Out of Balance” and Al Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” only briefly touch on what people can do about the problem. “We wanted to flip that around and make the whole film about solutions,” he said. One episode shows how town councils throughout New Hampshire have adopted resolutions concerning climate change.  

“Now or Never” also attempts to make a personal connection with people. In the past, Paly worked for the Environmental Protection Agency and the Natural Resources Defense Council, both of which take a legislative and economic approach to environmental issues. She sees film as a way to connect people to the environment on an emotional level.

“Fundamentally, if people don’t care and don’t see the relationship between issues and their lives, they’re not going to make any changes. It’s a way of personalizing and connecting in ways that I think can be very effective,” she said.

Although there are still a multitude of steps Seacoast residents can take to reduce their carbon footprint, a number of current projects show that the region is moving in the right direction. Kittery, Maine, will soon install a windmill, and Saco, Maine, is renovating an old mill building that will use wind and tidal power to generate electricity.

“Learning about it just gives me enormous amounts of energy,” Rogers said. He also referenced a farmer who is growing sunflowers to use as biofuel. “On the surface, it seems small, discreet and not a viable solution for making the big change, but then you see how it adds to the mix,” he said.

Unfortunately, some people are still dubious of global warming, which is hugely disappointing to the Court Street Media crew. “This is about efficiency, common sense and cost saving. If you want to look at it from a geopolitical view, if for nothing else, do it in the name of national security,” Paul said. “The baseline assumption of ‘Now or Never’ is that climate change is happening and people are responsible. But even for those people who don’t believe in climate change, they can get something out of ‘Now or Never.’”

“Now or Never” is produced in association with the Union of Concerned Scientists and Clear Air-Cool Planet. It can be found at www.nowornevermedia.org.